Originally Posted by
rpenmanparker
Not exactly true. Or maybe not always true. The rotation recommended here prevents the front tire from languishing for years (for a low mileage bike) and possibly suffering dry rot, ozone damage or other age-related damage. Those could cut into the eventual total mileage of the tire.
And before you say anything, yes, I'm reaching!
You're not reaching.
I'm lazy and never rotate my tires, just replacing them when they're worn, which means that I replace lots of rear tires, but hardly ever replace the front one.
I've noticed that my front tyre of my Ritchey which is approaching 2 years old, and is lightly worn, is showing cracking due to dry rot. This is not a bike that has sat unused for a long time either, it gets used at least 2-3 days of the week.
So now I'm thinking I should probably be rotating my tires to avoid this in future.