This tire has about 300mi on it and I am already missing a good chunk of rubber in this spot
I am riding fixed 46x17 so I have plenty of skid patches.
The Ultra Sport III I replaced was pretty evenly worn by the time I removed it
I mainly run Gatorskins but they typically hold up better. Is anyone else noticed a quality issue?
My commute used to be 52 miles every weekday. Gatorskins very quickly proved themselves to be a hard no. Those tires somehow magically merge low traction and low longevity. Tread wears out quickly, sidewalls degrade quickly, and flat resistance was on par with tires that don't claim to be hard-wearing. I've had sidewalls start to delaminate in under 500 miles. After about a year of that chaos, I switched to Vittoria Rubino Pro III on most of my bikes and never looked back.
While I have no love for Conti Gatorskins, that chunk looks like it was initiated by a lateral cut. The top edge looks very clean, while the remaining edges look torn.
I generally mistrust Conti tires regardless of mode. I had a new car and motorcycle that both came with Contis. Just terrible. Switched to Michelins on the motorized vehicles. That resulted in better traction, better ride, and better wear.
Thanks for that; I have been considering looking at some Vittorias lately!
Your tyre is also basically done already, I wouldn't keep riding that with that amount of damage and expect it not to fail on the next ride tbh
You do you obviously but that's ready to pop imho
Even if it won't fail, this gonna be a very uncomfortable and bumpy ride.