Originally Posted by Sheldon Brown
Well, a thinner tire will have lower rolling resistance. If rolling resistance is a high priority for you, you should buy thinner tires to begin with, rather than starting out with thick tires and counting on them to wear thin.
The concept of rotating tires rear to front only makes sense if you are going to replace tires in pairs, but there's no good reason to replace tires in pairs unless you run a different type/size front/rear...and if you do that you wouldn't want to rotate them either!
Agreed, thinner tires have lower rolling resistance. What I'm 'really' saying is that a thin tire will have less rolling resistance as it becomes
even thinner. Thus, rotating back to front makes sense if you are trying to achieve the lowest rolling resistance possible, and don't mind waiting a while to do so. I agree that rotating front to rear makes more sense for most riders. I discovered the 'benefits' of reverse rotation via poverty: my rear tire was getting mighty thin, but my wallet was even thinner. So, I swapped the tires. Eventually, both tires were thrashed, I bought new tires eagerly anticipating improved performance...and to my dismay, the new tires made me slower! Yes, same tires...Specialized Turbo R's, back in the '80s.
Hopefully this clarifies my stance on this issue. I'm odd, but not stupid or insane. Usually.
Bill 'Not Afraid to be Inquisitively Eccentric' Kipper