Bicycle Mechanics - Do you rotate your tires?

I don't remember seeing a post on this subject, but if it has been discussed, forgive me.

Do you rotate your bicycle tires? I see so many bikes with the rear tire worn and the front tire in good shape that it seems many people don't rotate their tires.

I suppose if you ride on cheap tires, it wouldn't matter - just slap on another cheap tire after you wear one out.

However, if you are laying out some good jing jing for a set of primo tires, it seems you would want to keep the pair as long as possible by rotating.

My Chinese friend who lives on his bike (in China) rotates his cheapo tires like he is taking care of a Cadillac - every two months front/rear and left/right.

How about you?

Flipping a tyre's direction of rotation may help compensate for one-sided wear from the road's crown. My tyres do indeed wear more on the left than on the right.

However, NEVER move a well-worn rear tyre to the front position, because a front blowout is potentially so much worse than a rear. The only acceptable front/back rotation is documented by Sheldon -- let your rear tyre tread wear out, then move your front tyre to the back and put a new tyre on the front. Alternatively, do not rotate, but merely plan to replace rear tyres more frequently than fronts. The problem with this approach is that sidewalls do deteriorate with age. Therefore, on any bike with identical front and back tyres, I strongly advocate: new -> front -> back rotation over any other system.

You want your best tire on the front. A front blowout is far more potentially serious. Putting a worn tire on the front is dumb.

If I experienced excessive wear on one side more than the other I might flip 'em, but I've never seen this personally.

If I were trying to save money, I might consider replacing a worn rear tire with the less worn front tire, and putting a new tire on the front. But I generally get 5000 miles from a set of 700x32c touring tires, and it's not worth the trouble. I just replace 'em both when the back one's done in.

RichC

I just replace my tyres when they wear. I generally only bother buying cheap ones (I tried more expensive ones in the past and they really didn't last any longer or perform any better in the wet).

I rotate mine to the trash when they look worn. I'd rather replace them a little early than take a chance on getting more flats.

My tire rotation regimen is exactly ditto John E's description... front to back, back to trash, occasionally flipping to even out lop-sided wear. Did you ever notice how few tire companies label their tires on both sidewalls (so it really makes no difference which way it's mounted? Conti does it on a few of its tires intended for higher mileage use.

Different question. At what point do you declare a tire kaput? Barring non-wear related damage, I ride the rear tire until I start seeing threads. I noticed that some no-longer-made Michelins I got had the equivalent of auto tire wear bars... a little gash in the rubber at several points around the tire.

I ALWAYS rotate my tires when riding. Even when track standing, they rotate a wee bit. Gotta work on that...<g>

As for the meta-question: no...not really.

ride safely,
tt

My mountain bike tires are front/rear and left/right specific. They don't get rotated.

On my road bikes, when the reat tire gets thin, I replace them both--about once a year. If the front tire looks good, I save it for off-season use on the trainer.

I never rotate.
The tread design on my front and rear tires are very different from each other, so front to back rotation is not an option. The front tire is also rotational direction specific, so rotating is left to right to prevent wear isn't possible at all for the front tire . With the back I guess I could, but rotating it left to right would change the conditions the tire is meant for, so I wouldn't be getting the performance I want. So, what I am trying to say is, I don't rotate my tires.:crash:

I rotate every 500 miles or so. If there is more wear than usual on the rear I'll rotate sooner.

WOW! I didn't know you were suppose to.
Question, my 26 inch rear I can't get on my 20 inch front rim.
What wrong?
Question2, can't get my 20 inch front on my 26 inch rear rim.
Whats Wrong?
:lol:

Originally posted by fofa
WOW! I didn't know you were suppose to.
Question, my 26 inch rear I can't get on my 20 inch front rim.
What wrong?
Question2, can't get my 20 inch front on my 26 inch rear rim.
Whats Wrong?
:lol:

What you need to do is swap out your wheels. Put the 20" wheel in the rear and the 26" in the front. It will give you a better view of the sky as you ride.

Voted no because I ride a recumbent, both tires are the differant sizes, 20" on the front and 26" on the rear.

When I used to have my road bike I did rotate the tires from front to back and I flipped them left to right.

Being a automotive technician and dual shop owner I can certainly recognize the importance of rotating the tires on my car, but I really can't see the need to rotate bicycle tires. They don't wear enough or cost enough to warrant it in my opinion.

Mountain bike-NO
Road Bike-YES...front to back only

front to back, back to trash

That's my routine also. I use Continental GP3000 foldable, and they are excellent but not cheap. When the back gets a significant cut I will toss it, but at the moment all the cuts and knicks are very minor, none bad enough to have penetrated the kevlar lining.

CHEERS.

Mark