Gravel driveways
 

Can gravel driveways cause your tyres to fail, I just been looking at my tyres and there are loads or cracks where the sharp gravel has cut the tyre.

Has anyone heard of tyres failing due to this, the cracks aren't big but a few are over 1cm long and i'm begining to get a bit worried. The tyre still hold pressure so i'm sure they havnt gone through.


Cheers

The D220's I just had replaced (done just over 5000 miles) had these cracks - I get my bike in and out via an alleyway and there's always bits of gravel and broken glass down there which I reckon started off the cracks, coupled with the tyres being a few years old and not a fantastic rubber compund anyway.

With the temperature cycles of riding - heating and cooling, plus the tyre ageing, flexing during use, etc. the cracks will grow over time, plus check that stuff isn't stuck inside the cracks, as that'll penetrate the tyre faster. That was why I changed the Dunlops in the end - they worked alright but they looked like they were on the way out due to the cracks.

What tyres are they/how old are they?

Gravel and glass starting cracks in your tyres?

More likely to be the age of the tyre coupled with the sun and other chemicals.

I'm with Mike, you get the odd sharp bit of flint or something that sticks in the tyres but I wouldn't have thought that tyres in good nick would be getting cut up by gravel :?

Lay some planks down

There bt020 and in all fairness the front done 9.5k and is pretty much finished, the rear got some more left though. Both tyres are less than a year old

Do these cracks appear in all tyres then, I just assumed that it was the gravel causing the problems.

I've got a gravel drive, occasionally the treads'll pick up a stone but never for long. Can't say as I've ever seen any damage- I've occasionally found a wee sharp shard or a bit of glass stuck in a tyre but it could have come from anywhere.

Low tyre pressures over an extended period could cause cracks, usually near the edges of the tyre.

Check the accuracy of your gauge, never ever trust garage air compressors readings.

I ride my SV on gravel almost daily (gf has a dirty great gravel drive covered in it; not just a few bits of gravel on tarmac). I even spin the back wheel up on it to help with turning quite regularly. I've had a few cuts in my tyres (I can't be sure if they're from the gravel mind), but they really are minor surface ones, with nothing in them and they've disappeared afterwards as the tyre has worn, with no discernable side effects.

I'd look at it this way, even though car tyres are wider and there are more of them, I don't imagine the actual weight of a big car & occupants compared to a bike in terms of contact patch of tyre is wildly different. Cars don't generally have this problem, so I don't think bikes would, either.

As tires get to the end of their life they are getting close to the canvas inner construction. This is the most likely time that they will crack as you have described. I think it's because the rubber is so thin it moves around more and stretches causing it to breakdown.

The other reason will be the age of the rubber. Old rubber that is not used will deteriorate over time. Not likely to be the issue in your case.