froze

I don't subscribe to putting the good tire on the front thought-though I'm probably wrong! For over 30 years I've put my best tire on the rear?! Why? Am I a wacko? Perhaps! But here's why I don't subscribe to that thought. First off most flats happen on the rear, because either you see the offending object on the street thus you turn your front wheel to dodge it but the rear trails in and hit's it, or the front tire strikes the object without going into the tire but sets it up in a new position that the rear tire hits and gets penetrated; add to the fact most of your weight is on the rear allowing for faster penetration as well.

I've had blowouts of both front and rear and can tell you that if your going straight neither present a problem; the problem comes when you have a blowout while going around a curve. If any of you have ever descended a mountain curve at a high rate of speed and had a rear blowout your rear end will slide out from under you causing you to crash, if the front blows then the front washes out causing you to crash.

But in reality sudden blowouts are rare, and usually you have plenty of notice something ain't right.

Since the rear does wear faster I'll put the front to the rear when it becomes about 1/3rd and put a new one on the front thus by the time the front is down a 1/3rd the rear is down about 3/4ths. But I usually I replace my tires when their about 3/4ths worn. But also keep in mind that usually inspections of the tires will reveal damage to the tire that will cause it to be replaced before it's worn down to 3/4ths anyways.

But do as Sheldon says and not what some old gas passer says.

bigbenaugust 

I guess I have 1500-2000 miles on these Conti Town & Countrys, but the rear has inexplicably developed a noticeable-while-riding bulge. (Just checked-- looks like some sidewall fraying.) So I'm going to try and make it to the weekend (so 40 more miles) and swap them out with some Performance 1.75" city tires my wife bought for a commuting experiment that didn't work out.

Thanks to the Mr. Tuffys, I pulled about 5 pieces of glass and a thorn out of the Contis last night and didn't lose a thing.

tonka.toy

I think you might be disapointed with the Schwalbe Marathon (are they the slik marathon?) after your 'dillos. My Trek SU600 came stock with Schwalbe Marathon Sliks with the 3m Reflector strip. I had a pucture on average every 10 days / 175miles. They do claim to have some protection but all the puctures were from small shards that would not have gone through the 'dillos I had on my old bike.

Now it might be that you're not looking at the slicks and or that the latest incarnations might have better protection (mine have a sticker saying they are kevlar belted) but I can't recommend the Schwalbes.

There are faster and better tyres but I would include the dillos in that list

max-a-mill

there are different marathons.

the only one i have tried (and the one i believe from personal experience will survive just about anything a road can throw at it) is this one:

https://www.schwalbe.com/gbl/en/bicyc...bPoint=On+Tour

about smartguard:
https://www.schwalbe.com/gbl/en/bicyc...55&ID_Rubrik=3

and surprisingly it rolls pretty well... i have one on the back of my rain bike where i never ever want to get a flat. as soon as my GF wears out her rear tire on the commuter she is getting one too! they do "feel" a little wierd on the road with the smartguard layer but nothing i haven't been able to easily overlook.

dynodonn 

When the center ridge on my rear tire wears even with the treaded side portion is the time I swap front and rear tires, since the front still looks like new and theres still plenty of tread on the rear tire. This way, I keep the rolling resistance down on the rear tire.

grolby

See, the thing is, putting the new tire on the front has absolutely nothing to do with preventing flats or blow-outs. It has everything to do with making sure that the tire with the best traction is on the front. Why? Because traction is more critical in front. A skidding rear tire is a lot less likely to bring you down. Generally if your front tire skids, you're going down. The idea is simply to make that less likely. That's the only reason for putting the new tire on the front. Do whatever you want, you're probably not going to get hurt because of the way you're doing things, but I think that you've misunderstood the given reasons for only rotating front-to-back.

max-a-mill

you don't find cornering on the worn tire you swapped from the back to be scary??? i tried a worn back tire on the front once but cornering was really scary when you leaned it from the flatspot over onto the ridge. i think i was really young and poor at the time so i just suffered through it but it generally seems like a bad idea.

dynodonn 

Find it scary? No, not at the speeds I travel at, and difference between the two tires is very minimal when I do rotate them.

rajman

Most of my bikes have different tires front and rear - due to wear/upgrading and managing rolling resistance vs. traction. On several of my bikes I have slicks to the rear, or bikes with less agressive treads (my ice bike has a snow stud rear/nokian front) to reduce rolling resistance (and/or punctures) and better traction up front. Is this not common practice?

Artkansas 

I usually go buy a new one when I get a thin spot in the tire. Most recently though, my rim started to get untrue and I kept riding it. When I got to having it trued, I decided to replace the tire because the oscillation of the rim had torn some of the threads of the sidewalls in one spot.

o-dog

about 2200 miles and some change on the stock Hutchinson Flash's that came with my bike and they're starting to show their age but I think they have still have life left in em

RomSpaceKnight

I still have a set of Tioga City Slickers from 1995 I use in summer for commuting.

froze

That depends on how far you let the rear wear down before putting it on the front. If it's more the 1/2 worn I would agree with you, but if it's about 1/3rd worn then I don't because there are no problems with flatspotting developing yet.

I-Like-To-Bike

I have used the less expensive Marathons for the last nine years and have yet to have to fix a flat by the roadside, though I did get a few slow leaks that had to be fixed at home or at work.

The model I've been using for the last few years has the "classic" HS308 tread pattern in 622 x 47mm size; the Marathons I previously used were the HS270 pattern. I am a very satisfied consumer of this product.

https://schwalbetires.com/node/121/ok

NzAndy

IMHO Gatorskins are for road racing and less so for commuting where you will be up against more debris than on the open road. My road bike has had Gatorskins for 2 years/6,000 kms and while I've had a few flats they have done pretty well and I'll get more to replace them when they get worn too much.

For commuting I actually use my MTB with a tread that has a continual ridge along the center making it almost a slick at higher pressures. Of course my commute is pretty short so its not such a big deal for me anyway. Friends at work who have dedicated commuter bikes and ride further like the Marathons too. Most of the new touring bikes in shops here have similar treads mounted which says something for them as well.

I'd say its really just getting the right tool for the job.

gnome

Hi, I only replace the tyre when it is so badly cut up that it gets flats all the time. This usually happens before the sidewall has died. Just check your tyres regularly for cuts or other major damage.

The puncture proof ability and wet weather grip do get worse as the tyre gets more worn but ride the tyre until they are unsafe.

I have a Marathon Plus on the front and a cheap Chen-Shin tyre on the back and have not had a puncture in about 500km yet (touch wood)