Actually I agree with Bikes Direct advice and disagree with Sheldon Browns. The reason for that is because the majority of your flats occur on the rear so why would you put a worn tire back there? To lessen accidents? Thats stupid since 99.99% of flats aren't sudden blowouts anyway so lost of control won't be any different whether the blowout is on the front or rear and then only on corners would any problem come up. If your going around a corner and have a sudden blowout, the front your front could go skipping across the pavement similar to a car experiencing understeer; if your blowout is on the rear then your rear end will wash out from under you similar to a car experiencing oversteer...except in either case on a bike your struggle to remain on the bike will be a challenge. This I know after 30 plus years of riding and touring all over Gods green earth. So I would rather have the best tire on the rear; and besides the front tire is faster to repair!