georgiaboy

Some of our commuters have gotten an amazing amount of mileage on a particular set of tires. And certainly it's sensible to get the most value from our tires.

However, at some point don't you have to be satisfied with the mileage you have gotten and go ahead and get some new tires. Or do you ride the tires until they give out. Does the rideabiltiy, gripping, puncture proof ability, decrease as you wear the tire out?

Do some commuters go ahead and buy new tires every spring? Or does it depend on the inspection of the tire?

My rear tires wear out faster than the front tire. Replace both as the same time? Or just replace the rear one?

HardyWeinberg

I've had 2 tires wear to the point that the flats just don't stop coming. They never lost their sidewalls or showed other clear signs of destruction. But there were more and more (and more and more) holes where you could see all kinds of colors from the different layers of the tire that were exposed. Both <2k miles.

martianone

i give my bike new tires every year for my birthday, in sept.
would rather not gamble with tires getting thin on my commuter
bike, i hate to fix a flat, be late for work or late for dinner.
that being said, my tires are usually have 3-4000 km on them
when i replace them and are beginning to look worn.

ghettocruiser

When they flat often enough to annoy me, I replace them. In the meantime I revel in my ever-lightening rotating weight.

straightedge

The last time I did that it backfired on me. I had some regular Conti Ultras with several thousand miles on them. I bought them in May and I only had one small flat on the rear one last June. I decided to replace them a little over a month ago because my back tire (I ride 700x23c) was worn flat on the contact surface, and I had some wire starting to show/bulge from the sidewalls. I went with the Gatorskins since my Dad has had really good luck with them and everyone always seems to praise them. I went on a 20-mile ride after I got them put on, I'm thinking that they are pretty nice, they don't feel sluggish and hopefully I don't have to worry about flats when I'm riding on crappy roads. That night we went out for a little night ride, and sure as hell I flatted the rear one (new tubes too). It was just a little bit of road cinder or whatever the black stuff is at the edges of the road during the winter, that's it. So needless to say I have zero confidence in my pretty little Gatorskins. I also got a flat less than two weeks after that but that was the tube coming apart at the stem. The good thing about the tires being hard to get on the wheel is that they also stay on so well you can ride the last 40 blocks to the train station and it stays on! Not that I would recommend that, but it would have been cheaper for me to replace my stock rear wheel than get another train ticket if I had too. Of course I got to the station with plenty of time to spare, enough that I probably could have changed the tube out. I still shudder when I recall that whole morning....

oilfreeandhappy

I'm still trying to figure out when to change my Armadillos. They keep going and going and going...

rajman

I only change tires when I need something different (like studs) or the tire has a huge cut in it (1 inch or more leading to major flats/blowouts)

Billiam

I'm having the same problem with my Vitorria Radonneurs -- 4000 miles with no flats and little sign of wear. Should I be replacing them 'just because?'

chephy

Wow, that's kind of a short lifespan for tires in my books. Maybe it's different for more lightweight racing tires - but I have maybe this much (3-4 k) on the tires on my bike right now and I consider those tires NEW. They look pretty good too. Although I did have the most hilarious exchange with a passer-by a few days ago as I was unlocking my bike at a bike rack: she said, looking at my bike: "Gee, those tires are in a pretty bad shape!" They looked to be in fine shape to me, so I asked why she thinks they are no good. She then proceeds to point at a mountain bike with really aggressive knobbies and says: "That's how they should be. Your thread is completely worn!" I swear, you could tell she wasn't kidding. I did spend a minute explaining the concept of slicks to her.

MistaMuShu

I know a guy who pads the inside of his tires with old innertubes. I'm not sure how much that affects ride quality, but it sounds like a good idea for a commuter/beater. He proudly claims no flats.

Sci-Fi

To me it depends on the tire sidewall condition, tread wear, and any punctures/belt separations that could compromise the integrity of the tire to whether or not I decide to buy new tires. Then again I may buy new tires if I want more grip/different tread pattern/lower rolling resistance/flat resistant or just want to try something else. There's no set formula or mileage and it may depend more on the local environmental and road conditions than anything else that affects tire life and performance..

aussiepug

My 2 cents worth, buy one tyre at a time, when rear is heavily worn, ie getting flats regularly, swap the still good front to the rear, mount the brand new on the front. As tyre models change over the years you will end up with slight mismatch - but who's that vain ?

I've been doing this for years.

fatbat

+1. When i start getting an unreasonable number of rear flats (2 in 2 weeks is my usual breaking point), or the tire just starts looking sketchy, i'll swap the front to the rear, and put on a new front.

HardyWeinberg

I would definitely not replace them if only to maintain karma/avoid jinxes. It would be like switching checkout lines at the supermarket, nothing good could come of it.

thdave

I don't get this. Wouldn't you want the better tire on the back? Worn tires mean more flats, and the rears are more difficult to fix. Something else must be going on that I don't get.

newbojeff

thdave, see Sheldon Brown's Tire Rotation Page.

tibikefor2

I ride on the conservative side, when my rear tire wears to the point of having a flat section it gets picthed whether or not I have gotten a flat. Why push the limits of the tires when your well being relies on them..........

max-a-mill

thdave - the theory is the front tire is the one you don't want slippin so you put your best rubber up there.

i don't buy it though... i usually just replace the worn backtire with a new one. i replace them when they get large cuts or get really old and worn.

after sometime though i do eventually put the old front tires on the back just to finish them off. i swear a front tire could last forever.....

thdave

Thanks!

tonka.toy

Changed tyres after 4 weeks. Used to have Marathon Sliks but kept getting punctures. Swapped to GatorSkins, got another puncture the day after! Since then they've lasted quite well and only had one other puncture (touch wood) both of those were from really big lumps of bottle glass.
Nice tyres about 300grams each
would have gone for Contact sports but none to be found in any of the LBSs

pinkrobe

I change tires when I can see the casing, but they usually have a big gouge out of them well before that. The shortest time I've ever run a tire was about 8 km. I pumped them to 150 psi [recommended pressure], and the rear was down to 20 psi with a slow leak. I checked the tube and had a minute pin-prick right in the middle of the tread. Boourns!

newbojeff

Wasn't happy with Bontrager Race Lite Hardcases because of a few flats and shredded tread. I switched to GatorSkins and got a flat in the first week (roofing tack). Already bought my next pair.

EDIT (6 days later): Should have said "I already bought my next pair because I'm very happy with the Gatorskins."

grolby

The only tires I've changed because it needed to be done was a pair of Panaracer Paselas (Tourguard version) at about 2,000 miles. The sidewalls were beginning to fray and come apart - there was plenty of wear left in the tread. For this reason, I'm skeptical of skinwall tires for commuting, especially high TPI skinwalls like the Pasela. Unfortunately, my mileage has been low and split between a few different bikes since changing those tires, so I haven't ridden enough on any single bike to really get a good idea of what it takes to kill my new Panaracer T-Servs, which only have about 150 miles on them right now.

I will also change tires when I get sick of dealing with them - before I got my 26 x 1.75" T-Servs, I was rolling on 1.25" Nashbar slicks. I hated 'em. They were almost impossible to mount on my rims - I dreaded getting a flat. Fortunately, it never happened.

dynaryder

Sounds like the same concept as Mr Tuffy tire liners.

Banzai

I've been wondering this myself. About 4k miles on my All Condition Armadillos, and the contact surface is beginning to look a bit flattish and "soft". (Feels a little softer too, actually.)

They're still doing ok, so I'm hesitant to replace them. I don't like to unnecessarily consume things like that.

Next in line for tryouts though will be Schwalbe Marathons. They have such a huge following here that I figure I might as well give them a try...