tire wear question
 

Hello all,

I have some decent training/winter tires on my rugged Velocity Areohead wheelset. Some kevlar tires by Gommitalia. They seem pretty bullet proof and have a nice ride. OK, they're not Michelin Pro Race on my Eurus wheelset, but nice for the Winter and VERY easy to change if a flat occurs in the cold.

My rear tire was just starting to wear, maybe 1,000 miles or so, and is a little flat across. I thought that if I put this on the front, and the front on the back (which doesn't show any wear at all) I could get many more miles out of them.

I'm now second guessing myself. Have I jeopardized handling in any way? Truthfully its not about the money, but just want to be smart, but maybe I waited a little too long to switch them.

EEK, this is a controversal subject. I personally believe that the best tire should be in the rear because it's easier thus faster to change a flat in the front. BUT and I mean a BIG BUT; most if not all bicycle mechanics and professionals say the best tire should be on the front because in case of a blow out it is easier to control a bike with a rear blowout. This has not been my experience in over 35 years of riding though! First off a sudden blow out is rare, thus most flats are slow leaks that allows you plenty of warning and time to slow down. Second, I have had a blow out both in front and rear and my experience was bad when when the rear went because the bike slid out from under me whereas the front did not do anything unusual. But please note, my recommendation is based on my experiences and I am not a pro, so you may want to base it on what the pros do. Hmm now what do you do? What has been your experiences or those you know?

When I got my Zurich it had Continental Grand Prix 3000 tires on it. The front one is still in great shape, but I replaced the rear tire over two months ago. I will be replacing only the tire that needs it, whether it's the front or back. It looks like I could go through two on the rear before I need to do anything about the front tire.

Every time I hear someone go on a "the best tire should be on the front" rant they also talk about how dangerous blowouts are on descents.
I take this to mean Mountains....... none of those around here. :D

It won't hurt to rotate the tires. You're really only putting yourself at significant additional risk if you're mounting a thread-bare tire up front (i.e. one that is at risk for a blow-out).

I prefer to run the rear to death, and move the front tire to the rear mainly because I don't like the feel of a tire with a "square" profile on the front.

My $0.02.