noglider 

What do you mean deformed?


I'm with @Leebo. I don't know how to keep track of the mileage on my equipment. Well I guess I do, but I already obsessively measure too many things.

ratell

This is my approach. If I get a second flat in a 2-3 week period I replace the tire.
Usually works out to about once a year, but a lot of it's dumb luck.

Reynolds 

The tire doesn't run true, has a lateral movement. I think it's because some ply broke inside the sidewall.

noglider 

Oh, right, it's a CST.

DowneasTTer

Well I installed 700x28 Continental Grand Prix 4-seasons tires on both my and my wife's Giant Escape RX Composites and posted this thread a while back... The front tire btw has about 8k on it and still looks quite good. Well worth the price of admission

https://www.bikeforums.net/hybrid-bic...set-tires.html

Andy_K 

That's surprising to me. I really like the GP 4 Seasons, but the casing split on my rear tire after about 2100 miles and the casing split on the front about 400 miles later. I don't think it was from any specific road hazard -- it just came apart. On the other hand, those were the only flats I got with those tires, so that was still better than I get on average from most fast rolling tires.

DowneasTTer

Well that certainly was a bummer. Maybe I'm just lucky but these are the best tires I have ever run. You can see in the pictures I provided on the reverenced thread that the rear tire did indeed wear out. Now at 8,000 miles on the front tire I am noticing a couple of cracks in the tread but as of yet no damage. Will update the thread when I change it out. So far it has lasted longer than the frame! https://www.bikeforums.net/hybrid-bic...head-tube.html

ItsJustMe

I've gotten anything from 800 to about 8,500 miles out of a tire (on the rear). 800 from some Continentals that BD puts on their bikes, just basically plys with some soft rubber formed around them, 8,500 from a Schwalbe Marathon.

I am currently running fairly slick Nashbar tires on both bikes, Prima II 23s on the road bike and Streetwise 35s on the foul weather bike. I don't know how many miles they last because I haven't worn one out yet.

I generally look to get AT LEAST 4000 miles out of cheap tires (about a year) - where "cheap" is $15 or so, about what I'm willing to pay for tires these days.

Reynolds 

That happened to Ritchey Tom Slick, Hutchinson Acrobat, Kenda and other tires on my MTB commuter after years of use, also to a Specialized Mondo on my road bike.Didn't happen to the CSTs (yet).

PatrickGSR94

I installed Conti GP 4 Seasons 25c's exactly 13 months ago today, and they currently have 3,165 miles on them, almost all commuting miles. I've only had one flat, on the rear, about 2 months ago. It was a tiny hole in the tube and I couldn't see or feel anything in the tire. The rear tire is definitely showing signs of wear.

I love the tires, but not sure if I'll be able to go with another set. I got a super deal from a friend selling them brand new for $60/pair. Not sure if I'll be able to find them anywhere near that cheap again.

Medic Zero

A lot of things are going to affect tire life. How much you weigh, what your road conditions are, etc. I'd swear road conditions vary year to year for me, one year my tires seemed to get tore up by tiny triangular shaped rocks and I only got 3,000 miles out of my Panaracer front tire (T-Serv Pro-Tex 26 x ~1.5), and yet its identical replacement (ordered at the same time even, one assumes same batch) is still going strong, with no signs of being worn out or torn up like the first one was, and it's at over 4,000 miles now. Basically two different years of riding, over the exact same commutes pretty much though, yet one tire is just starting to show wear and the other I rotated out of service because it was so cut up that it was starting to get flats.

I have yet to properly wear out a Vittoria Randoneur Pro and I've put thousands of miles on those. Conversely, I killed Continental Gatorskins (26 x 1 & an eighth) in six months on the same commute. Less than 1,500 miles on those. Probably doesn't help that I'm a big Clyde** and I ride year round. The roads seem to sprout lots of little sharp rocks once it starts raining. I suspect tires take a lot less wear and tear in the summer, when not is it not raining for cars to tear up the pot holes that appear and spread all the little rocks around, but also there's a lot more bikes out, effectively sweeping the areas bikes usually ride.

Buddy of mine that is a bike mechanic says he gets about 5,000 miles out of his Vittoria Rando Pros, this seems like a good figure for a durable tire rode by a normal sized person, both touring and year round in a wet climate. I had a couple of incidents* with my rear tires so I don't think I've put quite that much on one yet, and neglected to note down exactly when I put the last one on, it's around 3,000 miles and might as well be new as far as appearances go.


* In a rookie move, I managed to set up one of my rear pads so that it was making contact with a sidewall, and so I killed one long before its time. Got an opportunity to try out a Park boot though, and it not only got me in to work that evening and home the next morning, I felt confidant enough in it to ride one more day and pick up a new rear tire from LBS on my way home the next day. Put nearly 30 miles on that boot. I also had another one randomly blow a sidewall in my living room, I assume the delayed effect of scraping it on a hard, square, piece of concrete while loaded touring a couple weeks before. I was moving uphill and surprised by a type of speed bump I had never seen before, it had cut outs in it for a bike to slip through, but they were quite narrow and I had a load on both the front and rear racks, which combined with climbing meant it was very difficult to keep a perfect line to make it through the small gap and I ended up "kissing" the very square edge of the speed bump with the sidewall of my rear tire. Thought I was good as it didn't blow at the time, and I didn't spot any obvious damage at the time, but I assume that is why the sidewall blew a couple weeks later...

** I'm about the OP's weight.

Shimagnolo

The Marathon Supreme doesn't have GreenGuard.

Northwestrider

My Schwalbe Marathon Mondials have 8,000 miles on them and I expect to easily end up with 10k before they are retired. OTOH they are quite heavy, but then again I have had not even one flat with them. I like them.

Medic Zero

I track my mileage, mostly as a way to motivate myself to put in some extra miles some months, because I could certainly use the excercise! If I know when I replaced something (like I've got an e-mailed receipt or I remember what month I replaced it), then it's easy for me to figure out how long a part lasts, since the vast majority of my miles are commuting, so I can figure that per month or if something lasts longer than a calendar year, I know exactly how many miles it got during that year. Gives me an idea of what to plan for. For instance, I now have an idea how long shifter cables last in the conditions I ride in and my riding style. Helps me keep a stock of spares on hand when I need it if I have some idea how long something is going to last too.

To each there own though. The first six years or so I rode, I didn't track my miles, and probably would've laughed/scoffed at the notion I try. Of course, since then, it's gotten a lot easier to track your miles. Since I've started commuting again after a several year hiatus and then started tracking my miles, I've appreciated the extra motivation to get out and ride more on my days off, if I am shooting for a monthly or yearly mileage goal. This is actually what started me on seeking out routes that weren't the shortest/easiest between work and home, and my commutes have gotten a lot nicer now that I'm in the habit of exploring or taking longer routes to put in more miles. Since I'm not always taking the same route, it keeps my shortest routes fresher and gives me variety. When I started tracking my mileage, I wasn't expecting the benefit of knowing how long parts lasted, but I've gained that from it too. This is yet another thing I have to thank Bike Forums for, if there wasn't a sticky thread here where people log their miles, I probably never would've started. Thanks folks!

I can see how some folks wouldn't be interested in tracking their mileage, but I don't find it onerous (kind of fun actually) and I've gained a number of unexpected benefits from it.

TransitBiker

This can happen if the bike sits assembled on its kickstand for a while, the carcas gloms off t one side.

- Andy

ItsJustMe

I keep track mainly so that I know whether to buy those tires again. I've found sometimes two different tires that I like about as well and cost about the same, and one will last twice as long as the other.

Walter S

I ride about 10-12K miles per year. I have a set of Continential Travel Contacts. I have over 10K miles on them and they still look great. I've been surprised they last so long. I almost wanted to replace them just because they're nearly a year old. But I'm going to keep going and see how they do.

noglider 

This is news to me. In all my years, I've never heard this.

scoatw

Your right. I misquoted. Mine is just the Marathon w/green guard...good eye

buzzbee

I just replaced a rear tire 26 x 1.75 Schwalbe Marathon on my commuter bike.
I got over 20,000 miles on it in about 3 years on 2/3 paved, 1/3 gravel flat roads/paths
No punctures or issues in that time (I have the extra thick thorn resistant tubes with slime inside, slow, but reliable)
The last few months I was patching small nicks in the tire tread with Shoe Goo, just in case.
The sidewalls were still fine, but most of the tread was gone.
These are worth $60 each

acidfast7

I have to say that I am thoroughly impressed with the tire and total mileage in this thread

Very impressive guys ... keep up the great work!

TransitBiker

My one kinda spare bike that's been sitting for years has warped tires, but it rides totally normally. Sitting half or totally deflated for years probably exacerbates the issue. Keeping tires near full inflation pressure keeps them in shape better, i'm guessing. Not an expert on tires, just stating my own experience.

- Andy

jeffpoulin

One of my bikes has a pair of Schwalbe Marathon XR tires 700x37 (Schwalbe discontinued this model in 2010). They're 5 years old and have about 20,000 km. I've ridden them on all kinds of mixed surfaces and never had a flat. When new, the tires were 570g each. The tires now weigh 485g for the front and 470g rear. The tread is is a little worn, but there's plenty of life in them still.

noglider 

Thanks for clarifying, Andy.

Hangtownmatt

This last weekend I replaced both my 700x35 Schwalbe Marathon Supremes. These tires had 9,734.89 miles on them. Take a look at the cut-away view of the most worn tire. I was surprised how much tread was left. These tires had been rotated front to back three times. It become somewhat of a game to see how far these tires would go. I weigh 180 lbs and carry 10-15 lbs of food and gear. I commute 150 miles a week and these tires were installed for 2.5 years. Also worth noting: I had 5 flats in the 1st 2,000 miles running 80 psi front and rear. After that, I ran a max of 50 front and 60 rear. I didn't have another flat. That's like 7,500 flat free smiles.

Matt