Tires too worn?
 

My rear marathon plus is running around 3k miles. Bad roads, heavy heavy rider plus gear and hard riding. The center is flat where the tread used to be and is pretty squared off.

This is my first marathon plus all my other tires had worn through to the cords, rotted or got torn up by the road. I'm worried I might actually be or soon be riding on that smartguard layer shown in blue here (is it really blue?):

http://www.schwalbetires.com/files/x...rathonplus.gif
Here is the front tire and you can see the treads
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2268/...a1c777.jpg?v=0
Here is the rear tire and that little circle I think is from that nail I dragged around for a couple days a while back I just pumped it back up to 95psi.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2398/...4893be.jpg?v=0

I already have a new tire or two ready to go. Could they be worn out to an unsafe level or a slow me down too much level?

Edit: They are really blue I cut open the one I broke the bead on. It looks like I could ride till I get to the blue smartguard layer but should I swap them out before then?

Unless the tire is worn enough take it is causing flats from stuff getting through the casing I would not worry about it, especially if you allready have backups there for once it does blow. Of course I am cheap and I wont throw away anything until its BROKE beyond usage.

What size are they? I might be able to dispose of them for ya :D

I've ridden far worse. It looks like there is still some life in that tire. As the rubber gets thinner and thinner, your tube will flat easier, but it is unlikely to be unsafe. So it really depends on how much you hate flat tires. When you get down to the blue, definately throw it out.

Pics aren't that great but I'd bet you could get a few hundred more miles out of that rear tire before replacing it. Some people don't replace tires until they see the chord showing through or when they start flatting repeatedly but I tend to replace them much earlier. If you get 3k miles out of a rear tire you should count that as a worthwhile outlay of cash.

700x32.
Once it wears through the outercasing it has like 1/8" inch or so of that blue stuff. It seems pretty pliable stuff so once that appears the tire could just tear to little bits and leave me stranded. Problem is where will it show up hmm..

I just realized it is only 800 grams I could stick one in my left bag and just carry a spare tire around. I started carrying around my huge krypto u-lock since people complained about me leaving it at work what is a little tire :)
I can't wait to see the look on my weekend roadie pals face when he see a spare marathon plus in my bag :eek: I don't think they'll ever let me in their rides now :p

800? the tires on my commuter are 195 grams... and i commute in nyc...

800 grams is allmost 2 lbs IIRC

Yup a little over 1 3/4lb.. Plus I have Mr. Tuffy liners and thorn resistant tubes.. If I didn't have an extra set of Marathon plus tires laying around I'd probably try something else.
For now I can just think of it as good exercise. My whole bike weighs a ton anyways what is another 605 grams per wheel

I just rotated (front to back; new one on the front) my Conti Gatorskins because the rear one had been looking quite thin and squared off for the past 2 months. When I got my first flat in a while about 2 weeks ago, that was it. Oh, and I probably had them on there for 6-7K miles.

+1 for rotating.
I find that when my rear tire is worn down about 60%, the front's only work down about 15%.

3K? If you have any doubts at all, replace them.
Maybe should get one of those new-fangled auto-focus cameras, by the way.

I have just over 4k on my vittoria randoneirs. I know I misspelled both of those words and probably others......


Anyway, I rotate mine every 1,000 miles and I expect to get at least another 1500 miles out of them.

Someone on here said they had 6,000 miles on their marathons and they looked brand new. Maybe they were lying?

I would rather replace my tires before I absolutely need to. Just not that fond of flats.
Now if I can ever practice what I preach.....

Maybe they counted miles while the bike was attached to a rack on their car? :D

FWIW, I have the same tires with about the same mileage. When I asked mechanic at my lbs about it recently, he suggested riding until the blue began to show, then replacing it.

you can ride those tires till you see the blue casing coming through.

you use those with tire liners? do you ride by multiple glass and nail factories on your way to work? :D i can't imagine you need any extra protection if you roll those.

i only ever use that tire in the back. on the front it is overkill here even on crappy philly roads.

bleh, nothing to brag about, that means the roads are nice and clear, all the traffic kicks the crap out of the way!
i was just there, and had to return to MY nasty roads ;) i use regular Marathons around 500g

evblazer, i suggest keep riding them, or rotate now. the rear may be squirrly and weird on the front but worth a shot.
cheers

I ride by alot of bars, truck frieght transfer stations, two roofing companies and a half dozen construction sites. So I guess glass and nail factories might be a good description :D I think this weekend is nascar weekend so it should be fun times!! (I live right near Texas Motor Speedway)

That was me -- over 10,000 miles and they look great. Automobile tire wear varies a lot with geography, I suspect bike tire wear is no different.

Paul

Wait. Your math doesn't make sense. Are you saying you move your front tire to the back and vice versa multiple times during their life? Sheldon recommends always having the good tire on the front. When the rear one wears out it, it goes in the trash, front one goes on the back, new one goes on the front. Ride and repeat. If I'm interpreting your post right, you are, at times, putting the more worn tire in the front. Potentially a bad move.

+1 for putting the new tire in front and throwing away the worn rear tire. More braking, more control.

For my front-wheel-drive car, it's the reverse; the rear tires barely wear at all compared to the fronts. When I wear out the front pair, the rears get moved to the front and the new tires go in the back. In this case, the fronts will still handle braking just as well, but the balance in grip between front & rear will lean towards understeer. Moving the old tires to the back can increase the chances of oversteer, especially in wet weather, which is significantly hairier, more difficult to correct, and more dangerous.

I have those tires on my (broken) mtb, awesome tires btw.

My brother is a frugal courier, and he bought some Bontrager kevlar belted tires for $80. He rode them until the rubber was peeling off in chunks, and I had to give him a pair of mine because he got so many flats.

You can keep riding on them until the rubber starts peeling off and you start getting flats from it. slick tires with treads are more of a marketing/image thing, the treads don't do much.