ejschultz

I just finished rotation my tires on my Jeep which is something I do every other oil change. It got me thinking... Should I rotate the tires on my bike? I realize that would obviously require me to take the tires off the rims and swap them, but it seems my back tire always seems to wear slightly quicker. I'll attribute this to hard acceleration while crossing busy streets. So, for those of you who run the same tire front and rear, do you rotate them for more even wear?

Radials983

I too have noticed that my rear tire has been wearing down quite a bit faster than the front. Since I have a lot more weight on the rear wheel and run higher psi in the back I believe this is the logical explanation. Once the snow ends my riding season I plan on swapping the tires around.

ejschultz

Ha, I didn't think to contribute the extra wear to my body weight. I bet that has more to do with it than rapid acceleration.

giantcfr1

I swap my tyres every six months, but most people would suggest you don't.
I've seen a thread before about this and the general advice was to wear the back one out, buy a new one and transfer the front to the back, and put the new one on the front. Freshest always on the front.

BHOFM

I swap about every 3000 miles. I have a set of Bontrager H1 ECO with over 8000 miles I put on a flipper bike.
They still look pretty good. They are the white 700CX35.

If I have a flat around that mileage, I will do the swap a bit early.

My new build has Vittoria 700CX28, they are a real pain to mount, I may not do a swap with them.
They are the wire bead, not the folders.

ejschultz

I think I'd rather rotate them because I'd like to pick up a set of a little less aggressive tires. Right now I'm running Bontrager LT3s on my Utopia. I'd like to get some LT2s because of their less aggressive tread pattern and then pick up a second set of wheels and put some 29er tires on those for my more aggressive riding. If I waited for the rear to need replacing and put the front on the back and bought a new front tire, I'd feel very obligated to buy the same tire; I'd never end up with the LT2s. I'll probably end up rotating them soon. I have about 1500 miles on mine but they look like they could use a rotation.

WC89

Actually, I usually just buy a new rear tire. I think I rotated only once or twice in 20-some years of riding. The front tire usually maintains good tread for a long time. I'd rather not move the rear to the front and have a too worn tire on the front.