Hey guys ! So recently I just bought an f4i (upgraded from an older f3) and the tires were bad, The front looked OK but the back had the chords showing so I replaced that right away. Now, last night I rode about 100 miles on the new rear and old front to san diego and it felt fine. But upon inspection of the front tire there's these weird bumps running up about half of the center of the tire. I can't feel them while riding (yet?) and I don't know if they were there before. I know i need a new front tire and I'm going to buy one asap but I just want to know what the hell could cause that ? Tire Pressure ? Balancing ? Or is it just a sign of wear ? There a little tread left on the front and thats why i didn't replace it with the rear, and upon visual inspection it looks completely fine, you actually have to feel up the entire tire to feel/realize the bumps are present! Scary !

Thanks in advance guys ! I really appreciate it and I'm quite curious as to what would cause the weird tire bumps !

 

Could be a number of factors. Since you didn't own the bike during the tire's life, there's no definitive way to know for sure. Could be a defective tire, improper inflation, heavy use, etc etc etc. Doubt its balancing, as you would have felt front end vibration & you didn't mention that. Nevertheless, as you indicated, best to replace it asap.

 

Indeed. I'm going to tomorrow. Yes, the strangest thing is that it feels fine. Since I noticed it I've been trying to ride much more conservatively until I do replace it... pretty scary ! For sure, well thanks for the reply !

 

Sure thing. Be safe out there.

 

So I've been replacing the wheel on this fine night and I think ... just maybe I could've found the problem. If it wasn't tire pressure or balancing, then I think I might be missing a spacer on the right side of the wheel. You think that could cause it ? I'm only saying maybe, because I'm not even sure if the wheel would spin without the spacer, so it might've dropped somewhere while i was working on it without me noticing it. Either way I'm about to go search for it, but I was thinking, maybe the previous owner lost it and didn't realize, put the tire on, and then it caused the issues that I was having with the tire.

 

If your were missing a spacer, the bike would be scary to ride. You probably dropped it somewhere.

How are your fork seals? Bouncy forks can cause choppy wear too.

 

Only thing I've ever seen to cause bumps in a tire is the steel belt actually coming apart. I would havw written DO NOT RIDE UNTIL REPLACED but since you've already have things should be fine. Without a pic it's hard to tell what kind of bumps were talking about but I doubt a missing spacer could cause them as the brakes should prevent sideways movement or at least indicate pretty clearly the presence of slack. If you are unsure of the correct assembly I'd advise to download a service manual and check from the picture that everything exists and are in the right places.

 

I used to despatch ride many years ago clocking up 1500 miles a week average and myself and colleagues obviously went through tyres at quite a pace. We all saw what you describe and this was the first sign of the tyre going "off ". Tyres were expensive running costs and the hand test always got done by all of us The next stage seemed to be the visual inspection and "s..t gotta change that tyre !" I still do it now. I run my hands over the tyre aswell as checking tread depth. I`m not suggesting you follow my example, but I rode through this until the tread depth determined it was time to change. Times were hard for us despatch riders and providing it was safe to ride, you didnt spend a penny you didnt need to on your workhorse. I believe that because the tyre wore to this condition, as I was actually riding, I compensated for the slow change of feeling the front end gave. It was only when I actually changed the tyre that I could feel how far it was out, but it never, and this would go for all of my colleagues, caused a blow out.

 

Yeah it wasn't missing a spacer lol. I downloaded the service manual (^good advice, for now and future use.) and I checked it. Seemed fine. I was only thinking that because the little caps on the end were sticking out different lengths but yeah, it's supposed to be like that xD So I got the tire on and i'm about to test it. My fork seals look fine, no oil or anything. I think what matson said is probably right. It was probably the steel belt coming apart because if the front was as bad as the back I would expect that (the rear tire had the chords showing). Visually it didn't look as bad but i'm sure internally it could've been that ! Maybe that could explain the uneven wear mixed with other factors. I dunno ! I will update when I test out the new tire, if it starts wearing unevenly then it's def. the bike and not the tires ! Thanks guys for all the help ! I love this place !

 

Glad you got it figured out.

Now, don't let your new tires get down to the condition that these were. ;-) Keep proper tire pressures & check them often. Take care of your tires & they'll take care of you. :-)