Tire replacement - rotation
 

Today, while cleaning the bike, I noticed that my rear tire it almost down to the wear marks. It will last to the end of the season and need to be replaced. The front tire has plenty of meat left.

Not my tire
http://lh5.ggpht.com/-J_RLebbHGCw/Tb...Y/s400/004.JPG

So do i just replace the rear tire or do I move the front to the rear and put a new tire on the front?

my tire.
http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r...531394_HDR.jpg

Yes

Man of few words.

1) Yes replace it?

2) Yes put the new tire on the rear?

3) Yes move the front to the rear and put the new tire on the front?

I would not rotate. Just buy a new tire for the rear and replace the front when it needs to be.

+1

You probably will go through 3 rear per 2 front

:popcorn Your opening up a debate here. I for one rotate my tires until evenly worn out. Do I get more mileage this way? Some say nay, some say yeah. Personal preference I would say. .......................

You get the most wear from tires and have the best traction up front by moving front to back and putting new on the front. It is by far the best plan.

By the way that tire has plenty of wear left. You aren't even close.

Never mind. I just saw that wasn't your tire.

+1, that continental has lots of life left in it.

So that way your rear tire, that is most likely to be punctured/flatted...starts out its life already worn and more puncture prone? Sounds like by far the best plan to me. LOL :innocent:

Replace rear when worn. Replace front when worn. The whole rotating dogma is kind of funny.

I wait until the cords are about to show.

I don't bother rotating. I ain't got time to take off a perfectly good tire, just to move it.

Here's my tire.

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r...531394_HDR.jpg

I wait until the cords begin to show as well, but I do rotate front to back. No big deal to pop the tires off and rotate. It takes 10 minutes tops.

IMO the tire in your photo has a lot of life left in it.

Since when is a rear tire more prone to puncturing? Spoke breakage, yes. Puncturing, nope. Much better to have a new tire on the steering wheel.

You shouldn't be so smug. It isn't becoming.

Still plenty of wear left. I wouldn't even be thinking of changing that one.

I've always replaced the rear when it looks worn and then replaced both when the front is ready to be replaced.

The holes are only 2mm deep.

I'll wait until they are flush or the tire gets cut.

Correct.

BTW, I do replace the rear tire when it's truly worn and move the front to the back. That is Sheldon's way and it makes the most sense. But nothing terribly wrong with doing it differently.

It is generally accepted that moving front to back and putting the new tire on the front is the safest thing to do.

The reasoning is that a blowout is more likely on a worn tire and a blowout on the front is harder to control, so put your best tire on the front.

Also, unless there is other damage, or you are starting to get too many flats, you can ride those Contis to the bottom of the dots.

You're right of course, as far as you take it. Yes, if you only own 2 tires, and both of them are the on the bike, and you're worried about finishing that 500 mile tour thru Europe that you're on because the rear is more worn than the front, then rotate them to maximize the lifespan of this finite pair of tires. Otherwise, scrap the rear tire when it's worn out and replace with a new one.

EDIT: Re-read your post. I guess I might ask though what constitutes or how do you figure out when the rotation is supposed to happen, assuming you have two tires both of which are not worn past a place where you'd want to use them (on either wheel)? I guess I'm of a mind that if I'm unsure whether a tire is prone to blowing out, on whatever wheel, then I'm not going to want to put it on either wheel.

So you rotate at some point before the cords start showing? At what point or how do you determine when this is?

Where's the data to back this up, anecdotal?

Presumably the rear tire is more prone to pinch flatting since there is more load?

I don't rotate, because I get 2x the life out of a front compared to a rear. I get right about 3,000 miles out of my Maxxis in the rear. By that point, the front is just starting to flatten out in the center of the carcass. If I were to switch it to the rear, it would be dead within 1,000 miles, while the brand new front would have a good 5,000 left in it (give or take.) The vicious cycle of rotating would go on forever. So I replace one rear at ~3k, then both tires at ~6k. While it might work out the same in the end, I feel like replacement + rotation would just have me constantly buying new tires, and having to keep a detailed log telling me when to move what tire where.

That's why you should rotate, because the front lasts longer. You want a fresh front as much of the time as possible. It is so much simpler than you are making it. Rotating as described here automatically gets the most wear out of your tires. No thinking about it needed. When the rear is worn out, it is time to move the front to the rear and buy a new front. No mileage concerns needed.