Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Road Cycling
Reload this Page >

Is my tire worn out?

Notices
Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

Is my tire worn out?

Old 09-24-05, 04:08 PM
  #1  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 696
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Is my tire worn out?

I bought a Giant OCR2 over the summer and love the bike. I have about 700 miles on it and notice little spots here and there of yellow showing through the center of the rear tire. I would say there are four or five spots of yellow a little larger than pin heads, some like two pin heads. These are Kenda Kontenders and are size 700x26c. If necessary, what can I use to replace? I cannot find it anywhere, if I need to.What is a longer lasting tire of these are worn? They do not look bad at all. Also, I have the Xero-LIte XSR-4 Wheels. Are these wheels causing tire wear? Please help me out here.
Danielle is offline  
Old 09-24-05, 04:21 PM
  #2  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Toronto
Posts: 490

Bikes: '05 Bianchi Eros; '06 Bianchi Pista

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Hmmmm. 700 miles sounds very early for a tire change. Do you keep your tires properly inflated? Do much skidding when you stop? Do you ride on a trainer?

Seems to me you should get at least 2x your current mileage out of even an inexpensive set of tires. Is the front wearing like the back?

As far as replacing, as long as the tire fits the rim, you're good to go. No need to go with Kenda, unless you want to. Continental, Michelin, Vittoria, Specialized ... the list goes on.
dcon is offline  
Old 09-24-05, 05:14 PM
  #3  
JOCP Lives!
 
TheDTrain's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Malden, MA (near Boston)
Posts: 794

Bikes: 2005 Felt F90 (my pride and joy)

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
How about putting up some pictures?
TheDTrain is offline  
Old 09-24-05, 05:44 PM
  #4  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 696
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts


Danielle is offline  
Old 09-24-05, 05:48 PM
  #5  
Senior Member
 
biker7's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 2,850
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by Danielle
I bought a Giant OCR2 over the summer and love the bike. I have about 700 miles on it and notice little spots here and there of yellow showing through the center of the rear tire. I would say there are four or five spots of yellow a little larger than pin heads, some like two pin heads. These are Kenda Kontenders and are size 700x26c. If necessary, what can I use to replace? I cannot find it anywhere, if I need to.What is a longer lasting tire of these are worn? They do not look bad at all. Also, I have the Xero-LIte XSR-4 Wheels. Are these wheels causing tire wear? Please help me out here.
Dannielle,
First you have to make sure that you are seeing cord and not just some paint you picked up off the road surface. Do you keep your tires properly inflated? Most get over 2k miles on their tires without replacement...I do and I weigh about 180 lbs. You have many options for tires. Do a search. You can even find colored tires if that suits your fashion sense. Is it your rear tire that is showing wear? Is it significantly flat spotted? Rear tires wear 2-3X's to one versus front tires due to the rear wheel being the drive wheel and weight distribution.
HTH,
George
biker7 is offline  
Old 09-24-05, 05:50 PM
  #6  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 1,664

Bikes: See sig.

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 5 Post(s)
Liked 2 Times in 2 Posts
I have the same tires. Got about 1300 miles on them without complains, so far, although they do wear a little fast.

Make sure that it's cord that's showing through. Do you have a digital camera? Pics work well.
ivan_yulaev is offline  
Old 09-24-05, 05:57 PM
  #7  
Senior Member
 
biker7's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 2,850
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by Danielle


Take some mineral spirits and wet the yellow spots. Then take a paint scrapper and try to remove the spots...scrape the spotted areas....likely just paint you picked up from the road.
Let us know,
George
biker7 is offline  
Old 09-24-05, 06:07 PM
  #8  
Resident madman
 
Crayon's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 213
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Danielle,

You aren't locking up the rear wheel when you apply the brakes, right? Locking up the rear will rapidly trash the tire.

It is very easy to lock up the rear wheel, so go light with the rear brake. The bulk of the braking should be in the front.
Crayon is offline  
Old 09-24-05, 06:23 PM
  #9  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 696
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
No, I am not locking the tires up.
Danielle is offline  
Old 09-24-05, 06:23 PM
  #10  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Herndon, VA
Posts: 592

Bikes: 05 Fuji Pro, 06 Mercier Serpens, 00 Ducati 750ss

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
I did a search here a little while ago on tire wear and someone mentioned they only got 600 or 700 miles out of their stock Kendas (only sticks out in my mind cuz I was looking into my mercier at the time and it comes with the same tires). Just order another rear, tires are cheap. If color isnt an issue, these look like a good deal (I replaced my kendas with them)

https://www.performancebike.com/shop/...tegory_ID=5420

Might wanna rotate the front to the back so you can use that one up too.
No Exit is offline  
Old 09-24-05, 06:38 PM
  #11  
A/K/A "Alpha Male"
 
sandy_pangle's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: NW Georgia
Posts: 330

Bikes: 2005 Trek 1200 (Upgraded)

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by No Exit
I did a search here a little while ago on tire wear and someone mentioned they only got 600 or 700 miles out of their stock Kendas (only sticks out in my mind cuz I was looking into my mercier at the time and it comes with the same tires). Just order another rear, tires are cheap. If color isnt an issue, these look like a good deal (I replaced my kendas with them)

https://www.performancebike.com/shop/...tegory_ID=5420

Might wanna rotate the front to the back so you can use that one up too.

DO NOT..... I repeat..... DO NOT.......Rotate your tires. Go buy you a set of hard compound tires and make sure you inflate them to the recommended pressure on the sidewall every time you ride. A worn back tire rotated to the front gives you a severely elevated risk of blowing one out. If that happens while going 30 miles per hour and it is the front tire there will be lot's of "sad singing and slow walking" in the coming days.

Does your tire apear "squared off" in the middle part of the tire? Is the back tire alot more square than the front tire? If so.... Go buy you a new rear tire and don't chance it.... and never ever rotate your tires because of excessive wear. I may be drafting you when you go down.
sandy_pangle is offline  
Old 09-24-05, 06:39 PM
  #12  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Herndon, VA
Posts: 592

Bikes: 05 Fuji Pro, 06 Mercier Serpens, 00 Ducati 750ss

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
NOOOO... I said rotate your good front tire to the rear so you can use that one up.. not put your nasty tire on the front. Get a new tire, put it on the front and put the front tire on the back.
No Exit is offline  
Old 09-24-05, 06:41 PM
  #13  
Frosted Flake
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: The Land of Ice, Snow, and the Occasional Beaver
Posts: 126

Bikes: 2004 Kona Blast

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
I'd try some Continentals if it were me, assuming these are actually worn out. I estimate I have nearly 1000 kms on my Countryrides, and there are still traces of the center ribbing where the tire came out of the mold.
chilly is offline  
Old 09-24-05, 06:53 PM
  #14  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 696
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
What is compatible with a 700x26c? I cannot find this size anywhere
Danielle is offline  
Old 09-24-05, 06:56 PM
  #15  
CAT6 UTP 568B
 
thewalrus's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Bellingham / Vancouver
Posts: 2,548

Bikes: 2005 Allez Elite

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Originally Posted by Danielle
What is compatible with a 700x26c? I cannot find this size anywhere
23-26mm will work fine, 26 is probably some weird marking your tire manufacturer used.

a lot of 622-25 tires are actually 26 when fully inflated, if you grab it with a digital caliper.
thewalrus is offline  
Old 09-24-05, 07:10 PM
  #16  
Blue Straggler
 
Starclimber's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Delta
Posts: 1,187

Bikes: Miele Pisasheeta, Airborne Thunderbolt

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
That 'don't rotate your tires' thing is crap. I 'know' that's what it says on Sheldon Brown's site. He also says to not retire tires until cord is showing...on the front. Soooooooo....Let's say you still have some viable rubber on the rear. Rotate the tires, and you'll notice one thing, and that won't be a blowout. You'll notice some steering 'oddness' due to the flattened portion of the worn tire. You'll get used to it. The front will stay pretty much in whatever shape it's in since it was rotated from the back. Meanwhile...In time, the rear will begin to show wear, and I bet you this: you'll notice lower rolling resistance. Furthermore, I hereby posit that the 'myth' of aging tubulars for better performance is essentially correct, but it doesn't mean what is commonly understood and derided. Aging a tubular by using it on the bike wears down the rubber, thereby reducing the rolling resistance. The downside to this 'aging', and rotating your tires is pretty simple: more flats. I ALWAYS rotate my tires. I've NEVER had a blowout. Never. Not one. Oh, except for the overinflated brand new rear tire that was in the back of the car...and that was a pinched tube, the tire itself was fine.

Or, listen to everyone else, and chuck it. It's only money.
__________________
Coach Bill
Starclimber is offline  
Old 09-24-05, 09:10 PM
  #17  
Gone, but not forgotten
 
Sheldon Brown's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Newtonville, Massachusetts
Posts: 2,301

Bikes: See: https://sheldonbrown.org/bicycles

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 24 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 6 Times in 5 Posts
Originally Posted by Starclimber
That 'don't rotate your tires' thing is crap. I 'know' that's what it says on Sheldon Brown's site. He also says to not retire tires until cord is showing...on the front.
That's false, I never said that or anything like it.

Originally Posted by Starclimber
Soooooooo....Let's say you still have some viable rubber on the rear. Rotate the tires, and you'll notice one thing, and that won't be a blowout. You'll notice some steering 'oddness' due to the flattened portion of the worn tire. You'll get used to it. The front will stay pretty much in whatever shape it's in since it was rotated from the back. Meanwhile...In time, the rear will begin to show wear, and I bet you this: you'll notice lower rolling resistance.
Huh? Why would there be lower rolling resistance? I don't see what this accomplishes, you don't get any more lifespan out of your tires by rotating them this way.

See: https://sheldonbrown.com/tire-rotation

Sheldon "Full Of Crap" Brown
Code:
+-----------------------------------------------+
|   Who has deceived thee as often as thyself?  | 
|                        -- Benjamin Franklin   |
+-----------------------------------------------+
Sheldon Brown is offline  
Old 09-24-05, 10:24 PM
  #18  
Blue Straggler
 
Starclimber's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Delta
Posts: 1,187

Bikes: Miele Pisasheeta, Airborne Thunderbolt

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Hey, Sheldon. Thanks for stopping by. "or the fabric shows through the rubber." My experience is that the rubber becoming absent occurs at about the same time. I must have melded our experiences. A mindless meld, perhaps. My apologies. Seems pretty close to me, though. You don't mention front or rear, so I'm guessing this advice applies to either.

Less rubber to deform equates to less rolling resistance, also in my experience. Experiment: Take two brand new tires, mount them on the bike, ride'm. Take two 'experienced' same brand tires, ride'm, and let me know what you think. I say the 'seasoned veterans' roll better.

Lastly, assuming one puts a 'seasoned' rear tire on the front, and a newbie on the rear, one would tend to purchase fewer tires in the long term. Perhaps your experience is that front and rear tires wear at the same rate, but I don't think you'll back that horse.

Again, thanks for the reply/riposte. Rarely have I found anything you've written to be contentious, or inaccurate, or a waste of time to read. I value your input, and have read MANY of your articles and humorous essays. I'm still hoping a FasterCard application will appear in my mailbox...

PS: I still wipe my tires...and I'm pretty sure I get fewer flats because of that silly habit.

Bill "Somewhat Full of Crap" Kipper, aka Starclimber
__________________
Coach Bill
Starclimber is offline  
Old 09-25-05, 04:52 AM
  #19  
Senior Member
 
biker7's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 2,850
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by Starclimber
Hey, Sheldon. Thanks for stopping by. "or the fabric shows through the rubber." My experience is that the rubber becoming absent occurs at about the same time. I must have melded our experiences. A mindless meld, perhaps. My apologies. Seems pretty close to me, though. You don't mention front or rear, so I'm guessing this advice applies to either.

Less rubber to deform equates to less rolling resistance, also in my experience. Experiment: Take two brand new tires, mount them on the bike, ride'm. Take two 'experienced' same brand tires, ride'm, and let me know what you think. I say the 'seasoned veterans' roll better.

Lastly, assuming one puts a 'seasoned' rear tire on the front, and a newbie on the rear, one would tend to purchase fewer tires in the long term. Perhaps your experience is that front and rear tires wear at the same rate, but I don't think you'll back that horse.

Again, thanks for the reply/riposte. Rarely have I found anything you've written to be contentious, or inaccurate, or a waste of time to read. I value your input, and have read MANY of your articles and humorous essays. I'm still hoping a FasterCard application will appear in my mailbox...

PS: I still wipe my tires...and I'm pretty sure I get fewer flats because of that silly habit.

Bill "Somewhat Full of Crap" Kipper, aka Starclimber
I have read both of your posts and there is no veracity to either one. Rolling resistance difference between a worn versus new tire is noise...nothing...nada...and most importantly irrelevant to 98% of the cycling community. Good or new tires have a perfectly acceptable range of rolling resistance when properly inflated...top racers ride on nothing but. You don't rotate your tires if you know what you doing front to back and back to front. You do what bicycle expert Sheldon Brown suggests. Start with two new tires and when the rear tire shows cord you discard it. Then rotate the front tire to the rear and put a new tire on the front...period. Its simple and makes sense. You don't want to be descending at 35 mph and get a front tire blow out due to having a worn tire in front. Again your comments about rolling resistance versus safety are irrelevant. There is no further or improved economy in rotating tires as you suggest either because per Mr. Brown's method there is full utilization of every tire with more importantly much greater safety.
George
biker7 is offline  
Old 09-25-05, 09:10 AM
  #20  
Gone, but not forgotten
 
Sheldon Brown's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Newtonville, Massachusetts
Posts: 2,301

Bikes: See: https://sheldonbrown.org/bicycles

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 24 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 6 Times in 5 Posts
Originally Posted by Starclimber
Hey, Sheldon. Thanks for stopping by. "or the fabric shows through the rubber." My experience is that the rubber becoming absent occurs at about the same time. I must have melded our experiences. A mindless meld, perhaps. My apologies. Seems pretty close to me, though. You don't mention front or rear, so I'm guessing this advice applies to either.
If you follow my rotation recommendations, this will never happen in front.

Originally Posted by Starclimber
Less rubber to deform equates to less rolling resistance, also in my experience. Experiment: Take two brand new tires, mount them on the bike, ride'm. Take two 'experienced' same brand tires, ride'm, and let me know what you think. I say the 'seasoned veterans' roll better.
Well, a thinner tire will have lower rolling resistance. If rolling resistance is a high priority for you, you should buy thinner tires to begin with, rather than starting out with thick tires and counting on them to wear thin.

Originally Posted by Starclimber
Lastly, assuming one puts a 'seasoned' rear tire on the front, and a newbie on the rear, one would tend to purchase fewer tires in the long term. Perhaps your experience is that front and rear tires wear at the same rate, but I don't think you'll back that horse.
They don't wear at the same rate front and rear, nobody says they do. If you follow my recommendation, when you replace a worn out rear with the tire that was on the front, that tire will likely have lots of life left in it. Tire consumption will be [exactly] the same, only you'll never have to ride on a worn-out front tire.

The concept of rotating tires rear to front only makes sense if you are going to replace tires in pairs, but there's no good reason to replace tires in pairs unless you run a different type/size front/rear...and if you do that you wouldn't want to rotate them either!

Originally Posted by Starclimber
PS: I still wipe my tires...and I'm pretty sure I get fewer flats because of that silly habit.
I don't think it's silly, do it myself sometimes, though since the passage of bottle deposit legislation here in Massachusetts, it's much less of an issue than heretofore. Also, most of my riding is on bikes with fenders, where tire wiping isn't possible.

Sheldon "Sssssssssssss..." Brown
Code:
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
|   Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge.  |    
|                                      -- Benjamin Franklin   |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
Sheldon Brown is offline  
Old 09-25-05, 09:13 AM
  #21  
Senior Member
 
Bolo Grubb's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Tucson, AZ
Posts: 1,892

Bikes: 1984 Trek 720 with a Nexus hub, 2016 Cannondale Synapse

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 35 Post(s)
Liked 17 Times in 10 Posts
My mercier came stock with Kenda koncepts (the base model tire) I got between 900 and 1000 miles out of them.

I bought 2 brand new tires. Serfas Secas.

I find that my front tire last over twice as long as the back. So I sometimes I have to buy just a new tire for the back, sometimes I buy a new tire for both front and back.

Be sure to keep your tires at the reccomended pressure, this will help them last as long as possible. If you are a heavier rider, your tires will wear quicker then a lighter rider.

When I had the Kendas on my bike I was over 200 pounds. Now that I am 30 pounds lighter the same tire just might last me longer.

Road condition plays a factor too.
Bolo Grubb is offline  
Old 09-25-05, 09:22 AM
  #22  
Orbea Crayola Rider
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Madison, MS
Posts: 755

Bikes: '05 Orbea Onix

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by Crayon
Danielle,

You aren't locking up the rear wheel when you apply the brakes, right? Locking up the rear will rapidly trash the tire.

It is very easy to lock up the rear wheel, so go light with the rear brake. The bulk of the braking should be in the front.
I'm no expert here, but I remember reading somewhere that you should always get your water bottle out of the vage with your left hand. That way, you still have your right hand for rear braking. I would guess that you would need your rear brake much more than you would your front. I know on motorcycles, you use your rear brake much more than the front...for control purposes...what would make a bike any different???

mscycler
mscycler is offline  
Old 09-25-05, 09:48 AM
  #23  
Resident madman
 
Crayon's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 213
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by mscycler
I'm no expert here, but I remember reading somewhere that you should always get your water bottle out of the vage with your left hand. That way, you still have your right hand for rear braking. I would guess that you would need your rear brake much more than you would your front. I know on motorcycles, you use your rear brake much more than the front...for control purposes...what would make a bike any different???

mscycler
With a bicycle and one hand free, you wouldn't want to panic stop with the front brake, so use the rear brake when drinking from a bottle. With both hands on the bars, the bulk of the braking should always be on the front as that's where most of your braking "power" comes from. Plus it's far too easy to lock up the rear wheel.

I don't know what the MSF is teaching motorcyclists nowdays. Just last week, I heard "use the rear brake more" from a new rider. When I took the rider safety course and the advanced course many years ago, they taught us to use the front brake with more force than the rear.

Physics dictates that the front brake provides the bulk of the stopping power. The rear end of the bike unloads when braking making it far too easy to lock up the rear tire. Not to mention, you have more "control" of a hand brake than a foot brake.

Last edited by Crayon; 09-25-05 at 01:52 PM.
Crayon is offline  
Old 09-25-05, 10:13 AM
  #24  
Resident madman
 
Crayon's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 213
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Oh, I should have mentioned Campagnolo Record brakes. The front is dual pivot, providing greater stopping power, and the rear is single pivot, providing lesser stopping power.
Crayon is offline  
Old 09-25-05, 10:35 AM
  #25  
Blue Straggler
 
Starclimber's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Delta
Posts: 1,187

Bikes: Miele Pisasheeta, Airborne Thunderbolt

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by Sheldon Brown

Well, a thinner tire will have lower rolling resistance. If rolling resistance is a high priority for you, you should buy thinner tires to begin with, rather than starting out with thick tires and counting on them to wear thin.


The concept of rotating tires rear to front only makes sense if you are going to replace tires in pairs, but there's no good reason to replace tires in pairs unless you run a different type/size front/rear...and if you do that you wouldn't want to rotate them either!
Agreed, thinner tires have lower rolling resistance. What I'm 'really' saying is that a thin tire will have less rolling resistance as it becomes even thinner. Thus, rotating back to front makes sense if you are trying to achieve the lowest rolling resistance possible, and don't mind waiting a while to do so. I agree that rotating front to rear makes more sense for most riders. I discovered the 'benefits' of reverse rotation via poverty: my rear tire was getting mighty thin, but my wallet was even thinner. So, I swapped the tires. Eventually, both tires were thrashed, I bought new tires eagerly anticipating improved performance...and to my dismay, the new tires made me slower! Yes, same tires...Specialized Turbo R's, back in the '80s.


Hopefully this clarifies my stance on this issue. I'm odd, but not stupid or insane. Usually.

Bill 'Not Afraid to be Inquisitively Eccentric' Kipper
__________________
Coach Bill
Starclimber is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.