Yep. That's just normal wear for those tires. But if you want to change in the future buy spares in advance. You can get those online for less than $35 to you door.

Donate them to charity and take the $150 per tire off your income taxes (that works only for the U.S.)

Understood. But there is also, "I don't like the way it looks and want a new one." That can be right too.

I think some folks are sensitive to the price of biking. :-)

see comment above re wastefulness.

[MENTION=68086]coasting[/MENTION] is right. On many levels. But prophets are rarely appreciated in their own country or their own time.

Another reason to put it on the rear, and a new on the front.

Actually, I just realized that OP has a newer tire on the rear. Maybe his best bet is to switch them, though not necessarily for the reduced ability to see the ugly one. The old one will quickly wear out (it's already close) on the rear while the newer (1000 mi) tire will still be okay on the front while this is going on. Then he can get into the front to back with new on front habit after that. Done and done!

The OP is riding (probably as I write this) on a mountainous ride. I assumed that will include some mountain descents. Should the OP flat, for whatever reason, as he descends at say 45-50 mph, there is a good chance that an older tire will not stay on the rim. Should it come off, the odds of it jamming in the fork and stopping the front wheel abruptly are excellent.

Now, to answer coasting ... the ecological and societal damage caused by 1) the ambulance run to and from the site, 2) the medical waste (bandages, x-ray film, acres of packaging, etc. and the cost to society (loss of work time, etc.) will dwarf the ecological and societal costs of tossing that tire. Oh, and the fork on the bike will almost certainly be trash or highly suspect. Additional trash: bartape, brake lever hoods and possibly the levers themselves. Scrapes on at least one, probably two of bars, pedals and seat. Front wheel probably trashed.

I did this scenario except on the flat at about 23 mph and with a rear tire. Skipped the ambulance and took a taxi to a local urgent care unit. Since I was conscious, I had them only X-ray my shoulder (broken collarbone) and not my chest (cracked rib). So I minimized those costs but still, the acres of bandages I wore and changed daily added up easily to the ecological cost of a prematurely tossed tire. Had I been traveling at 1.5X or 2X that speed and had my front tire come off, my crash would have been far worse.

So, in my view, it is a matter of not just the likelihood of an event happening but also are the consequences of this unlikely event acceptable?

Ben

Oh look! BIKETIRESD has the Michelin Pro4SC on a one day sale.

https://www.biketiresdirect.com/prod...ce-course-tire

Damn, no digital blue 23s and no 25s at all.

But still, $31 !!!!!!

If I was OP, I would rotate tires. Ride that pro3 on the back for approx 1000 more miles, or til condition worsens considerably.

It doesn't look squared off at all, to me.

You can order 25s in black. In stock Feb 17 which is probably the next shipping day anyway.

Those aren't "cuts", though - my GP4Ks get "cuts". That looks like systematic tearing, and would freak me out too. None of my tires has ever looked like that.

Yep, lotta cracking along the grey/black compound barrier. I've found cracked out tires can last a surprising number of miles, however.

I wouldn't want to test "how long" that tire would last but I would deflate it, assure myself that delamination wasn't imminent, and switch it with the rear. Rotating it to the rear would be appropriate from a safety standpoint because a sudden lose of traction is far worse in the front than rear.

In this case, "if you have to ask..." Why take a chance, at any speed? Think about how long it might take you to get back on the road if you go down from lack of traction or flatting on the way down? Keep this to carry a spare if you like.

So, how was the ride?

I agree. I have never seen, much less ridden, on a tire that looks like that – and I certainly wouldn't be inclined to test it's continued integrity on steep mountain descents.

Ah, the voice of reason. I see that your sense of self preservation is as strong as mine.

Seeing it is not quite the same thing as accepting it.

The plot thickens.

The pro4 is $35 at competitive cyclist. I'd replace it.

Well yeah. I know that racing tires don't offer the same durability, in general, as training tires but I still buy them because of how they feel. It just makes riding more expensive to buy racing tires.

I concur, as noted in post 39.