Wise/unwise to rotate tires?
 

While cleaning the tandem I noticed the rear tire is flat on top and not rounded. While the front is still rounded.
Is it smart/not smart to rotate the tires front-to-back-to-front so they wear out at the same time?
Approximately 2,500 - 2,800 miles on Conti Gatorskins.

Thanks

Not wise....

The tandem won't corner worth a hoot with a front tire that has lost its radius. In fact, you'll even find that your cornering suffers a bit once the rear tire is well worn.

Assuming you start with a new tandem or a new set of tires, here's what you want to do:

1. Just ride the set of tires until the rear tire is no longer serviceable. This varies for different riders / locations. Some folks can get away with using a tire until the casing peeks through the tread; not recommended. Others will find cuts in their well-worn, squared-off rear tires as they wear out. Figure out how long you're willing to go, and then manage your expectations around that. I recommend that folks always have a spare tire on hand, just in case they mis-calculate when a tire will wear out and/or to deal with a tire that's done-in prematurely by a road hazard.

2. Once you've reached the point where you're ready to replace the rear tire, remove it and replace it with the front tire from your bike/tandem. Yup, just move the front tire to the rear.

3. Replace the front tire with the new tire.

What this does for you is to ensure you're always riding your newest / best tire on the front of the tandem. If you simply replace the rear with a new tire when it wears out, your front tire will eventually become dried-out and riddled with pockmarks from road debris well before it ever begins to develop a significant flat spot.

I totally agree.

Would like to add that when I wore out my first set of tandem tires to the point of a flat centre our tandem felt like the bearings were shot in the headset. took me a while to realize it was the tire.

I find that by the time my rear tire has worn flat the front has so many cuts and nicks that I keep it as an emergency spare.

I use the above method on all my bikes. Best life of the tire in my experience.
I have tried putting a new rear on and leaving the front in place.
Took 4 rears to 1 front that had cracked sidewalls from age before it wore down.

I ride all my bikes enough that I don't worry about a tire aging in place. However, I do it exactly per TandemGeek. My reasoning is, the most likely tire to have a rapid deflation event is the well-worn tire. If I'm going to deal with one of those, I'd rather it was on the rear, especially on the tandem (even though I actually descend faster on my half-bike owing to my greater stupidity relative to my better half).

While I've considered what Mark et al have recommended (& my LBS for that matter), but I generally just replace the rear tire and also replace the front tire every other rear-tire change. It's arbitrary, but it works for me. YMMV. Pun intended.

We do not swap tires back 'n forth in our decades of cycling.
Have never had a tire on tandem (or my single) that have 'aged' and cracked.
And . . . we live in a super warm/dry climate. In Tucson our bikes are parked inside the garage when not being ridden, shielding the rubber from the UV rays.
We do keep a close eye on tire wear and minor cuts are usually filled in with Gorilla glue.
Different strokes for different folks!

We also just run em' where they are. Front's last forever.

[QUOTE=TandemGeek;16110212]Not wise....

Thanks TG.

Your reply was concise and logical.
I will rotate tires on my bikes using this method.

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