floridamtb

After 20+ years of mountain biking I've finally bought a road bike, I gave up on the hope that mountains would spring up in South Florida. I have a Trek Madone 4.5 with Bontrager Race 2 tires, since there are no real curves/turns to take on the rides I'm guessing that the ridge on the tires is going to eventually square off (is this true?) and if so how often would you say I should rotate them? I know I know, someone will say when they look like they've been squared off, but after 2 weeks and about 300 miles they already seem a little squared off. Is there a better tire to run when I replace them that might be a little more durable.

canam73

Squaring off is normal, especially on the rear. I don't rotate, I wear out the rear and then move the front to the rear and put a new one up front. That way you get maximum wear and the steering tire is the freshest.

Everyone has favorite tires and acceptable levels of flat protection. I use Conti 4000s & GP4Season or Michelin Pro 4 Race or Endurance. Others have good luck with Vittoria and Schwalbe.

stilltooslow

Once I find a tire I like, I never rotate. I replace the rear when it's worn, and generally replace the front after the third or so rear is worn out.

Campag4life

Welcome to roadie land. I have ridden both also for many years but prefer the speed of the road.
First, a public service announcement. Never...repeat...never rotate road bike tires front and back. Objective isn't to gain equal wear front and back. Oh no. Even in Florida you may find some hills to descend where you will hit speeds of 30mph...maybe higher. Always ride your road bike with a pristine front tire. I won't get into the horror stories if you don't. It ain't pretty. Front blow outs on fast descents can be life changing. Hey...rear blow outs on fast descends aren't pleasant either but you will likely survive.

So what to do. Tires generally last 1.5K-3.0K miles in back. Ride the rear tire until it thread bare then remove the front tire and place it in back. Install a new front tire in front. Generally a worn rear tire in back will show little wear in front. The reason for the discrepancy btw is weight distribution...you carry more weight over the rear wheel and also you power the wheel and the tire in back wears out a lot faster. Btw, the added weight in back is why many ride with a few more psi in back for equivalent footprints front and back...a good thing when braking in descents in turns with limited tire contact.
HTH.

PS: as to tire recommendation...there are training tires and racing tires...normally not the same. Former generally has better flat protection, a bit fewer TPI and not as supple a tire casing and slightly higher rolling resistance. The tradeoff is worth it however for a more robust tire. My favorite training tire is a Vittoria Rubino Pro III which is 150 TPI. A very fast tire for its durability and puncture protection.

10 Wheels

You can get some high miles from these. 700 X 25's

https://www.biketiresdirect.com/produ...thon-plus-700c

floridamtb

Thanks!!

Velo Dog

This makes theoretical sense, and I've heard it since I bought my first decent bike in the '70s, but it's nowhere near a disaster if you do it. I was a penniless college student at the time, and I rotated tires every few hundred miles to equalize the wear (it doesn't prolong tire life, as many people think, but it does postpone the day you have to buy a new tire--but then you have to buy two instead of one). I've never had a problem swapping front to rear.
FWIW, I also reverse the direction of rotation sometimes, turning a tire around on the rim. Tire tread is almost meaningless on dry pavement, and some shoulders here are steeply cambered. If you ride on the right shoulder all the time, you wear the left side of the tire much faster than the right and have to toss it with 50 percent or more of the tread left.

gregf83 

I've had lots of flats but never a blowout. I replace my tires, front or back, when they're worn out. I don't see the point in moving the front to the rear.

rjones28 

I don't rotate bicycle tires.

Bah Humbug

I rotate them about once per two meters.

Cyclelogikal

Never..............ride them til they need replacing.

Homebrew01

I never rotate. When 1 is worn, I replace it.

KypD

I tend to go the replacement route myself, but I admittedly wore some pretty damn threadbare tires when I was fairly broke.



...and here I expected the old 41 to come up with a "DEPENDS ON HOW FAST YOU'RE GOING" reply fairly quickly...no dice.

the sci guy 

dumb noob question:
how can you tell when a tire is worn? especially if they are slick? the hybrid tires that came on my craigslist bike are in decent shape i think, they were fairly new when he sold the bike. i've since put over 500 miles on them. they are 26"x 1.5 and are slick down the center with some light tread only on the outer sides.

gsa103

If you start seeing cords or you suddenly start getting lots of flats because the tire is too thin.

Cookiemonsta

I ride them until they need to be replaced, then replace both at once.

catonec 

+1

datlas 

This would happen rarely. Rear wears faster. When rear is worn, put new one on front and move partly worn front to back, as suggested above.

/thread

deanp

I rotate every 1000 miles. I get about 6000 miles per set, have about 30000 miles on combined bikes, descend hills over 50 mph, and don't have blowouts or other tire drama. It's not really a big deal.

Machka 

How often do you rotate the tires?


1. My tires rotate round and round when I'm riding.

2. I never exchange my front and rear tires. When my tires look worn, I simply replace them.

amit_shah25 

I replace both at once. I guess I could get a bit more juice out of the front tire, but ... meh ...

2 wheeler

Replacing a worn out rear tire with the front tire and installing a new front tire is the way to go, IMO.

Cookiemonsta

Obviously what I meant is that I replace the set when one of the tires is worn to the point that it needs replacing. I think the /thread is unwarranted, since people have legitimate reasons to do either depending on their circumstances, or maybe just because they use the old tire as an indoor spare tire in winter or they tend to try out different kinds of tires.

I thought this link might be helpful in this thread.
https://sheldonbrown.com/tire-rotation.html

Kai Winters

hehehe love it

coasting 

on a bit of a tangent, I think peaople are a bit hasty in replacing tyres. I use mine forever.