I noticed yesterday that when I flatted my front Mavic R-Sys wheel about 500 miles ago, I re-mounted the Mavic directional tire backwards on the rim after replacing the tube.

Stupid question: Can I be lazy and just flip the QR skewer around in the hub or do I need to remount the tire on the rim?

Thanks,

Tom

It's a free country. Do what you want. If you take the lazy route and have a computer magnet, make sure you flip that as well.

Doesn't really matter on road tires. They must have extra arrows they needed to use up, so stuck them on some tires.
You'll get better traction once the tread is worn down.... it's just for decoration.

Just flip the wheel around and keep the skewer in the same orientation. Is that what you meant?

I think so. I meant flip the skewer so when I flip the wheel the QR is on the same side as the rear.

On a rim brake front wheel there's no functional difference related to the orientation of the q/r.

I built my wheels so that the label is in the correct position to be read by the rider. I read this is the correct direction for the hub. But I am sure it is only a cosmetic OCD thing. It would bother me if it were't in the correct position. Although some labels are wrapped around the hub so I am sure it does not matter to people who don't care about things like that. You know, lining up the tire label with the valve, trailing spokes running in the correct direction type issues.

Yes. Do this. 30 seconds. Done.

First of all, tread direction makes little, if any, difference on pavement, though it can be important with dirt tires.

Second, rolling direction makes absolutely no difference to a front wheel with a plain front hub (no brakes, no generator, etc).

So, if you'd prefer the tire rolls the way the arrow points, feel free to flip the wheel. Don't forget to remove the QR skewer, because most are easier to use with the lever on the left side.

BTW - it's common for folks using tubulars in alpine conditions to reverse the front wheel from time, because the braking action can cause them to creep (look for an angled valve, that wasn't installed that way) and reversing the wheel lets them correct themselves rather than making you work for your supper.

Really, you're only limited by the level of your OCDness in this situation.

Take 5 minutes and mount it properly.

You REALLY need a new user name. Lazyass, my ass.

What? Doesn't everybody flip their wheels around every hundred miles? You have to even out the wear on the hub bearings!

If a guy named lazyass tells you not to be a lazyass - you should probably obey.

great now i have to go check my tires

Is this true? What about tires with water-clearing swipes? Wrong direction channels to /leaves water on the contact patch. Correct direction, away from contact patch.

Depends a bit on the width of the tire, but if we're talking your standard road tire sizes, the water-clearing swipes are there more for looks than function.

Do you hydroplane much on your bicycle?

Also my building technique back in the 70's/80's and rim decals facing right side. Nothing wrong with being picky.

There are many who say that all tread on bicycle tires is meaningless. I'm not all the way with them, but I do agree that tread is meaningless as far as water goes.

There's a fundamental difference between car and bicycle tires, which explains why one needs tread to pass water and the other doesn't.

A car tire presents a broad flat surface to water as it rolls through it. In thus way it's like a flat bottom planing boat or water ski, and can ride up onto the water, something called Hydroplaning. The cuts in the tread act as escape channels allowing the water to escape and prevent the hydroplaning.

But a bicycle tire is crowned, and cuts through water like the V shaped bow of a boat. This pushes the water out the side, so there's no ability to climb up onto it, and no escape channels are needed. The much higher pressure of bike tires ensures that the amount of surface needed to support the bike will be small, so there's not enough surface to support the tire on water.

Of course, if the speeds are higher, hydroplaning might become possible, but we're talking about speeds far above anything a bike will ever reach except maybe on the Bonneville flats behind a pacer.

BTW - if you're not convinced, take a look at modern motorcycle tires which are roughly the width of car tires, and yet are mostly treadless, because the crowned shape solves the problem without help.


Side note. I mentioned that I thought that there is some benefit to tread. It's not for rain, but I suspect (based on experience) that minimal tread or grooves can act as interrupts and reduce the amount of sliding in shallow sand or find gravel patches. As the tire slides on these "ball bearings" the particles can fall into the groove, rather than continuing to roll across the entire width of the tire. It's marginal but I've ridden the same basic tubulars for almost 50 years, and have noticed the variation in sand skid performance between various tread designs. I don't make big claims for this benefit, more by way of beats nothing.

Doesn't matter as long as both arrows point in the same direction. If one points one way and the other opposite, the bike will stand still when pedaling. If being carried it, of course, moves.

I'm glad you got that sorted out, but did you check to see if the tire was on upside down after you flipped the wheel?

Gotta love these forums to take something simple and ...

I hate when that happens!!

Oh come on, no one told him the proper solution is to move to the Southern Hemisphere?