rotating tires
 

Do you guys do it? I recently started riding brakeless and thought about rotating but I wasn't sure if there were any cons to it.

Not safe, don't do it.

It's alright to rotate a front tire to the back, but a back to the front isn't safe because the tire gets squared off and is unsuitable for front tire use

Do you mean moving rear to front and vice-versa? Or do you mean on the rim to preserve skid patches? If you mean on the rim just take it off and move your chain up a tooth or two on your cog, that will do the same thing. I don't see any cons to it. but if you are flattening out a rear tire I prefer to just replace the rear as it goes out and leave the front as long as it will last.

Yeah, I meant moving front to back.
Good points from both of you, thanks. I'll try moving my chain soon once it gets a bit worse...

Indeed. Seems silly to have two compromised tires at the same time. Seems like all the flat spots vibrating would get annoying after a while, too.

those of you who rotate your back tire to avoid getting a huge flat spot, how often do you do it?

i guess it depends on the amount of epic skidzies you do

17t cog for enough skid patches that you don't have to worry about it.

I figure I take the chain off to degunk and relube it every now and then and just hope it lands on a new set of patches.

//also 15t

insert the skid patch table here.

21 skid patches for me! haha

well sheldon doesn't recommend it, simply because getting a flat on the front can lead to worse consequences than getting a flat on the back.

38 skid patches for me :D

Just how big is a skid patch anyway? Or rather, how many skid patches can you have before they all start to merge into a giant worn spot?

why not one giant skid patch? thats the ideal as far as tire wear is concerned.

wow, more skid patches than spokes. 1/3 of which are radial.

remind me never to ride behind you! :thumb:

on topic, i agree with never rotating tires. just replace rear as warranted.

rotate = bad.
Your front tire will last far longer than the back and the front is the one that MUST be in good shape. When your back get's too junked up, replace the front tire and move the old front one to the back. If you ride a fatter back than front (the fixie mullet) then that doesn't work.

If you people rode more, you'd realize that you don't need to skid to wear a tire flat. The rear tire will wear flat simply from riding it. You should never "rotate" your tires. When the rear is worn, move the front to the rear and install the new tire on the front.

Yup, was gonna say this. Front tire should always be in as good or better condition than the rear.

And how do you manage this?

19t cog skidding with either foot forward.