Bicycle Mechanics - Rear Tire Wear

I've noticed I've wearing out my rear tires before my front. I'm 185lbs. and run my front tire at 110lbs. and rear at 115lbs.

I current have on a set of Gommitalia Calypso Tires with about 250 mile or so. The tires have a heeringbone tread. The front tire is completely fine with the tread showing no wear. The rear tire has worn away all the heeringbone tread into a small flat spot about 1/2 cm in the middle of the tire.

Should I be running my rear tire at it's max 120lbs? Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks!

Rear tire will always wear before the front. Buy a new tire, put it on the front and move the fron to the rear. Pressure sounds about right.

Yes. Your rear tire will always wear at least twice as fast as your front. I personally don't like the idea of rotating your front tire to the back. They have different wear patterns. I would just replace each tire as they wear out. That means that you will replace your back tire twice as often as your front.

You're always going to want your best/newest tire in the front for safety reasons.

Why?

Why?

I'm not sure which statement you're asking "why" to, but I'll guess it's the statement that you should have your best/newest tire in front. My personal rationale for that is that you want to minimize the chance of the front tire going flat because it's more difficult to control a bike with a flat front than a flat rear.

You're always going to want your best/newest tire in the front for safety reasons.


Why?

Front wheel is the main wheel for steering and controlling your bike. Imagine descending at 35mph. Which tire (front or back) would you prefer to go flat?

Bob

Have a high speed blowout in the front and then one in the rear. Which one made you crap your bibs more? It's all about control and that comes from the front of your bike!

A flat rear tire is often just a nuisance and at worst can make the bike difficult to handle if you are turning at speed. A flat front tire at best makes the bike very difficult to handle even in a straight line and at worst is a nearly instant crash. You always want the best tire in front.

BTW, front tires show almost no wear after thousands of miles and you can demonstrate this by weighing a new tire and weighing it again after several thousand miles of front wheel service. The weights will be within a very few grams of each other.

That doesn't mean front tires can be used forever since they are subject to flexing, light exposure, heat and oxidation hardening. You just can't judge the status of a front tire by it's appearance.

I also follow the "replace the front tire after two rear tires have worn out" schedule.