Grand Bois Cypres wear

[Brian]

Hi,

I just noticed that the Cypres (650B x 32) on my Sam H are wearing
unevenly. The center treads are nearly gone on the rear tire while
still quite present on the front. This is late in the second season of
use for them. Is this normal? Should I rotate it to the front? I weigh
about 140 lbs.,am not carrying panniers and typically keep them
inflated to 70-75psi. Any insight is appreciated. Thanks.

Brian

[Steve Palincsar]

On Wed, 2011-09-28 at 13:49 -0700, Brian wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I just noticed that the Cypres (650B x 32) on my Sam H are wearing
> unevenly. The center treads are nearly gone on the rear tire while
> still quite present on the front. This is late in the second season of
> use for them. Is this normal?

Of course. Back tires always wear faster than front tires.

> Should I rotate it to the front?

No. You want the best tire on the front. When your back tire wears
out, rotate the front tire to the back and put the new tire on the
front.

> I weigh
> about 140 lbs.,am not carrying panniers and typically keep them
> inflated to 70-75psi. Any insight is appreciated. Thanks.

Too much pressure for your weight. I use the same pressure you've cited
and I weigh 60 pounds more than you do.

[CycloFiend]

Sounds pretty normal. IME, the rear always wears faster - more of your
weight is over the rear. 2:1 is not unheard of.

Sheldon said it more succinctly, but rotating rear to front is a bad idea.
If anything, buy a new tire, then put that onto the front and rotate the
front to the rear. My least favorite flat (and hardest to control) is a
front tire type, and putting thinner tread up front increases the chance of
that occurence.

Unless I have a long ride coming up, I'll run through the tread to cord on
the back. (And, YES, have had to boot a tire now and again...) As soon as
I see it (if I check, and fenders seem to make this less frequently
observed), I'll retire the tire. I've also gotten in the habit of running
my thumb perpendicular to the tire direction, from rim to rim. This gives
me a pretty good sense of how "edged" the tire is - i.e. how much meat has
worn away from the middle. If it feels square, I might pop the tire off and
get a sense of how much is left by feel (with no tube in place).

Hope that helps,

- Jim

--
Jim Edgar
Cyclo...@earthlink.net

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[David Yu Greenblatt]

When in doubt, consult the oracle:

http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-rotation.html

 

Short answer: Yes, it is normal; No, don't put the worn tire on the front.

-- David G, Madison WI

[Steve Palincsar]

On Wed, 2011-09-28 at 14:42 -0700, CycloFiend wrote:
> Unless I have a long ride coming up, I'll run through the tread to
> cord on the back. (And, YES, have had to boot a tire now and
> again...) As soon as I see it (if I check, and fenders seem to make
> this less frequently observed), I'll retire the tire. I've also
> gotten in the habit of running my thumb perpendicular to the tire
> direction, from rim to rim. This gives me a pretty good sense of how
> "edged" the tire is - i.e. how much meat has worn away from the
> middle. If it feels square, I might pop the tire off and
> get a sense of how much is left by feel (with no tube in place).

With the Grand Bois especially, when the tire starts getting seriously
thin it becomes much more prone to flats. I take this as an opportunity
to check the thickness by pinching the tire. When it gets down to
"Damn, that's thin in the middle!" -- i.e., feels like the thickness of
a few sheets of paper, even though there's no actual cord showing
through -- I'll replace the tire.

Usually it's pretty late in the season by the time that happens, and at
that point (usually some time in November or early December) I'll take
off the Cypres and replace them with Paselas for the winter season.

[Philip Williamson]

... Steve wrote:
> Too much pressure for your weight.  I use the same pressure you've cited
> and I weigh 60 pounds more than you do.

I'd go to 60 pounds pressure in the back, 40 in the front, and adjust
to taste. And also rotate the tires 'through' the bike like Steve
says.

Philip

[Shifty]

Brian,

I was considering the purchase of a Cypres pair in 700c, what mileage did you reach before this wear occurred?
Also, would you consider them supple and/or shock absorbing and fast like they're intended?

Thanks for your response,
Shifty

[CycloFiend]

on 9/28/11 6:12 PM, Shifty at seand...@earthlink.net wrote:

I was considering the purchase of a Cypres pair in 700c, what mileage did you reach before this wear occurred?
Also, would you consider them supple and/or shock absorbing and fast like they're intended?

With respect to wear and performance, I think the Cypres tires have a goodly number of threads on iBob, and even a few here.   Definitely take a cruise through the archives of both lists.

--
Jim Edgar
Cyclo...@earthlink.net

[Shifty]

Geez, you're right Jim, I immediately found an answer to a question that I hadn't even asked. It looks like JB Greens are a better fit for what I'm looking for. Thanks!

[Robert Zeidler]

My .02, they're a great tire. Not super durable, but you can get the super-hard-rubber-but-barely Cheng Shins for that. 

Sent from my iPad

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[Brian]

Thanks for the input folks.
Brian