jcpups608

Do you rotate your tires so that they wear evenly or just replace each tire when necessary?

Beaker

Nope - I'm with the late/great Sheldon. Rears wear out first, and you want the best tire up front. When the rear is worn out, put the front on the rear and put a new tire up front.

Busta Quad

Just buy a new bike. Duh.

DScott

+whatever.

StanSeven

Tires are cheap and it's a pain switching them. Even high end tires can be inexpensive (brought Conti GP4000 S from PBK for $27). I just ride them end the rear gets worn and put on a new one. I get usually the equivalent of three rear tires wear out of one front.

queerpunk

My fronts last almost forever. My rears do not (hockey stopping is fun).

Futhermore, I generally select a different tire for my front and rear wheels. Front gets something more racing-oriented, rear gets something slightly tougher and more durable (especially in the winter). I rarely get front flats, so worry very little about that.

and +1 about not putting a worn tire on your front wheel.

bostongarden

I follow Honda's recommended guidelines...

johnny99

Another option is to put a lighter weight tire on the front. I don't like keeping tires for more than a year since they will deteriorate due to rot, etc. No point in putting an expensive super-durable tire on the front if it dies from rot long before the rubber wears down.

merlinextraligh

If your tires are dying from rot, you're not riding enough.

johnny99

I ride 5000 miles/year. The rubber on my front tire often lasts longer than that, but the tire dies anyway from peeling and cracking on the sidewall.

alancw3

i buy four tires at a time. then i use three on the rear and one on the front. years ago i use to rotate but that got old. three rear to one front seems to work great for me. even wear by the time i have to replace the front.

merlinextraligh

Either the sidewalls are getting damaged from road hazards, which isn't dry rot, or you've got defective tires.

My 1986 MTB has tires that have been on there since the 90's that haven't rotted. My disc rear, and trispoke front which see about 200 miles a year have 4 year old tires on them that are still fine.

If you're riding 5000 miles a year, it is highly likely any decent tire is going to run out of tread, or fall victim to a road hazard before it "rots"

Velo Vol 

I rotate front to rear when the rear wears out.

Now I've got mismatched tires.

Tires "rot"?

garysol1 

That's what I do as well....

Patriot

I know Sheldon always said to rotate the tires to the rear. This is the most frugal practice, to maximize the use of the tires. However, I find I can usually get two tires on the rear before the front even looks all that worn. So, I usually just add one to the rear. After the second rear is worn out, then the front looks like it's on it's way out as well, but still in fair shape. I then change both.

Of course, when tires are on sale, I have a tendency to buy in pairs, and just change both. Then, keep the older one as an emergency spare, or toss it.

Ok, I'm lazy....and a bit wasteful. So, SUE ME!!!

JamisVE

nuff said

Machka 

1. Yes, I rotate my tires every time I ride my bicycle ... the wheels on the bicycle go 'round and 'round .....

2. I just replace each tire when necessary.

3. I don't see how moving the front tire to the rear when the rear tire wears out, and then replacing the front tire is frugal or makes any beneficial difference at all.

Suppose my rear tire wears out at 3000 km, and my front tire wears out at 6000 km. If I take my front tire which has 3000 km on it, and put it on rear (where it wears out twice as fast), I end up with 4500 km on each tire or a total of 9000 km on two tires ...... as opposed to my method where I replace each tire when it wears out, and I end up with a total of 9000 km on two tires.

MetinUz

With your method, you have a marginal tire on the front for the last few thousand miles. A front tire blowout could be a bit more dangerous in a descent...

DiabloScott

The benefit to the half-rotation method is that your front tire never gets more than half worn out; people can decide for themselves if that's enough of a motivator. It's only frugal if you would otherwise throw out a semi-worn front and replace both tires when the rear is worn.

Beyond that your math is wrong. With your method, at the end of 6000km, you've gone through three tires (two rear and one front)... at 9000km you've gone through three rear and 1-1/2 fronts.

So the summary is 6000km on three tires for your method (all tires completely worn) or 6000km on 3-1/2 tires for the half rotation method.

BHBiker

+1