Anyone have a Michelin Commander II rear tire off their bike?

[scottolds]

I picked up a set of Michelin Commander II tires for my Voyager. The current set on it has about 23,000 miles on it and they are close to being ready for retirement.

JP Cycles has a good sale on tires and got this set at what I felt was a pretty good deal. Though I ended up having RevZilla price match so I could use some of my reward money.

Anyway, I noticed that there is a what feels like a raised line. Either excess rubber or maybe a seam of some sort along the cross section on the rear tire.

The front tire doesn't have the same raised section.

While it is not huge, it is noticeable and I wonder if it will at the least affect the ability to balance the tire and at the worst affect the integrity of the tire for the long term.

I have attached a picture where you can see the area I mention. It is definitely raised up from the rest of the tire about 3/8 in wide and easily felt by hand.

If anyone has a rear tire off, do your tires have any type of seam on the inside like this one? The outside of the tire is perfectly fine.

[ghostler]

I think it may be normal, how the tire is constructed. I'm using Metzeler as an example, couldn't find a good one for Michelin. See:

http://www.metzeler.com/site/us/tech-an ... ction.html

Following is from the 3rd tire construction explanation at bottom of the page:

Might have to do with the way the belt chords are laid / layered. It is possible that the rear tire is constructed slightly different than the front, since loading and handling vary between front and back.

[voyager55]

Contact Michelin with your picture, See what they say

Or return the tire & have them send you a new one

[scottolds]

So I rode to JP Cycles in Ormond Beach today and had them pull a random Michelin Commander II rear tire so I could inspect it.

Turns out that rear tire has the same type raised section.

The guy behind the counter felt it was normal and said in his opinion the reason why it was like this on the rear tires and not the front tires was the dual compound tires used in the rear.

I think I will go ahead and pull the old Commander off and put this new one on soon. Since the new tire doesn't have a balance mark on it, i will just install it with this spot opposite the valve stem and see how it goes.

[cranky]

... I've run Michelin for years, they do not have a balance spot..... FWIW