I bought a pair of Michelin Pro 4 Tires about a month or so ago. I’d have to find the receipt to get the exact date. Anyway, the tires have not even been on the road yet. I have only been on the trainer and less than a couple hundred miles. The rear tire has been splitting on both sides all the way around the whole tire - looks almost ;like dry rot. See picture. I bought these out of town at a bike shop (not sure if the bike shop would back these tires or not anyway). Anyone have any luck contacting Michelin directly with warranty issues. Other than a receipt, there is no way to prove miles, etc. on the tire.
trainers eat tires
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Well yeah - duh, but this is the result of only 114 miles on a trainer - I just added them up. I ride a lot on the trainer and have never had tires wear this quickly.
duh, exactly, never use new tires meant for outside on the trainer. this is why people, duh, use old tires on trainer. then they don’t care and make silly posts
I blew through 3 pro 4s within a month between outdoor and indoor riding. Each tire had about 200 miles by the time it had too many splits. Contacted Michelin and they were unable to do anything without me taking the tires to an approved store and having them assessed, which would have been a half day trip or more. I switched to Vittoria Rubinos for my training tire and have had zero splitting (not even a flat, knock on wood) in over 2000 miles. I will never purchase another Michelin tire. Expensive product, not durable, and poor customer service.
My experience is the opposite of yours. My Michelin tires work very well and have ridden this brand since sometime in the early 1990s. No, I do not use them on my Comptrainer. I have an indoor trainer tire for that and it lasts around 2500 miles before I need to replace it.
They sure do, been there and done that.
The only tires I’ll use on a trainer now are a conti gatorskin or a dedicated trainer tire.
jaretj
Entirely the wrong tire to use on a trainer, use a dedicated one as others have suggested. On the road I’ve seen over 3,000 miles out of each of my last 3 pairs of Pro4 SC.
Could have been sitting on the shelf at the bike shop for a year, slowly decaying before you even bought them.
duh, exactly, never use new tires meant for outside on the trainer. this is why people, duh, use old tires on trainer. then they don’t care and make silly posts
I never had a trainer eat up Michelin Pro Race tires (well over 5000 miles on a set of 3s.). Haven’t tried any 4’s yet, but your generalization is not appropriate here.
guess it depends on your wattage and trainer model then. is that better? 
I once tried a new tire and chunks were flying off the back, small chunks anyway)
I use old tires and current one is really old(some mich species), and very little actual rubber is left on it. that which is there resembles the surface of the moon, if the moon were partially melted
Could have been sitting on the shelf at the bike shop for a year, slowly decaying before you even bought them.
Something is up with that tire. Either it’s really old or defective. I get crazy mileage out of Michelin Krylion Carbon tires (predecessor of the Pro4 Endurance) doing double duty on the trainer and outside. I’m currently running an ancient Pro3 on the trainer and it’s only showing the first hint of cracks. IME, trainers don’t cause cracking, but age does.
Hi - so this is a know issue with a batch on Pro 4 Tires. I bought 2 pair last year for both race and training wheels - now over 1,250 road miles and 450 race miles. Both sets had the exact same issue with cracking in the same exact spot as your tires did. You can try to see if Michelin would replace them, but don’t know if they are that responsive. I bought mine on e-bay, chalked it up to bad luck, but then found info about this online.
I am speculating, but they trainer usage may have exacerbated the cracks and how fast they appeared. FWIW, I have been using mine regardless and have had no issues or flats or blow outs.
Good luck and let me know if you can get Michelin to warranty them. They are great tires and I luck with my Pro 3s for years.
duh, exactly, never use new tires meant for outside on the trainer. this is why people, duh, use old tires on trainer. then they don’t care and make silly posts
If it acts like a dick, and speaks like a dick…my guess is it’s a dick. Keep it classy there big guy - you’re a real man.
take a look at who is talking there mr classy
my first response was that trainers eat tires. you dickedly responded duh, yet as the op you were the one asking what is up. so I responded in kind. you bring out the lowest common denominator with yourself
edit: that denominator is too bothersome to deal with, so I am done with you
take a look at who is talking there mr classy
my first response was that trainers eat tires. you dickedly responded duh, yet as the op you were the one asking what is up. so I responded in kind. you bring out the lowest common denominator with yourself
edit: that denominator is too bothersome to deal with, so I am done with you
When the day arrives that you grow up and move out of your moms basement, look me up. Maybe I can hook you up with a job.
I have almost exclusively used Michelins and never had problems with them. I don’t use new ones on a trainer.
I did have one Michelin tire that kept coming off the rim (twice in a race, both times remounted by a shop mechanic that sells Michelin). Two times was enough for me. I contacted Michelin and they replaced the tire at full price. They were great about it.
I think if you used it on a trainer they can say that voids the warranty. Also, those tires just look old and dried out, as though they have been sitting on a shelf for a while, as someone else noted. Normally I have gotten at least 2,000 miles out of every Michelin tire I’ve used (and I’ve used a lot). The Pro 3’s wore down faster but had great grip. The Pro 4’s are longer lasting – should be good for 2k - 4k miles. So the problem is likely on the shop side of things. That’s the problem with tires at some local bike shops: they have been sitting there forever because no one buys $80 tires at a local shop.
They sure do, been there and done that.
The only tires I’ll use on a trainer now are a conti gatorskin or a dedicated trainer tire.
jaretj
+1
Gatorskin has been a good indoor/outdoor tire - it lasted me 2 full years, and I ride a lot of hours on the computrainer. But also good enough to pop the bike off and ride outdoors.
I’ve always rode Gatorskins as well - the bike shop didn’t have them at the time and I had to go with the Michelins. I’ve used Michelins before without any issues, so this surprised me. I’ll be going back to the Gatorskins, though.
I just purchased a pair of Pro 4 in size 650c. I probably have ridden at least a couple of hundred miles on the trainer and have not had any issues. I probably have a couple of hundred miles outside as well and no issues.