Tires

[Lee Legrand]

Opinion on when to change tires.

I have a bicycle that I am changing the parts on soon for hopefully May bicycle months.  I have old tires where the treads are worn down but still there. A pair of old schwalbe 700cx38 Marathons.  I heard that bicycles do not really need tread since tires do not hydroplane (Peter White :)).  I even have an Eben Weiss book that says people throw the  tires away too early and that tires should  be ridden until you can see the casing and to inspect them every time you ride for replacement.  What are you guys thoughts on it?

[David Lucas]

I believe folks that say 90% of tire problems occur in the last 10% of tread life.

If you like fixing flats alongside the road, ride ‘em until the threads show.

For me, I believe that the only thing holding me up is those two tiny patches of rubber that meet the road.  Do you really want a front tire flat on your next quick downhill run?

Tires are cheaper than a trip to the ER.  I would rather replace them early and be safe than to have them fail on me on the road. 

Just my opinion.  YMMV.

Dave

On Apr 10, 2021, at 9:06 PM, Lee Legrand <krm...@gmail.com> wrote:

Opinion on when to change tires.

I have a bicycle that I am changing the parts on soon for hopefully May bicycle months.  I have old tires where the treads are worn down but still there. A pair of old schwalbe 700cx38 Marathons.  I heard that bicycles do not really need tread since tires do not hydroplane (Peter White :)).  I even have an Eben Weiss book that says people throw the  tires away too early and that tires should  be ridden until you can see the casing and to inspect them every time you ride for replacement.  What are you guys thoughts on it?

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[Jonathan Murray]

We had a guy from the UK stay with us through warm showers and was finishing his trip from Seattle to Cape Cod. He was running marathons and the blue liner was showing. He said he wasn't getting flats at all and had none in 3800 miles. When I was a bike messenger, I used to run my tires down to the threads, never had any real issues, except Boston drivers.

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[Old Coot]

That's the great thing about bicycles.  Everyone can pretty much do their own thing. If you are comfortable riding on the threads, go for it.  It's just not for me.

Dave

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[Larry Parker]

Replace the front, keep a good tire there because if it goes, you ARE in trouble. Put your old front on the back. Replace the back when it gets “square”  instead of round from bead to bead (obviously it will always be round in the other direction, duhh  J)

 

AND my Michelins are, if not treadless, very close to smooth but Jan Heine at Bicycle Quarterly/ Rene Hearse has presented some arguments that a little tread IS better than a smooth tire.

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[satanas]

With Marathons you're not going to puncture, so you may as well wait until the rubber is gone before replacing them. With lighter tyres, the tread rubber is part of the puncture resistance, so replacing them earlier *may* help prevent flats; it depends on the tyre and where you ride, etc.

With thin tyres and zero puncture resistant features it is more important not to let them wear down, to watch for glass, etc.

YMMV!

Later,

Stephen

[Peter J Leiss]

Just a caution about tires with a puncture resistant band .... that band usually has very little traction especially when wet. Found out the hard way. Had a set of of Vitoria Randonneurs Pro tires. The band was black and the tires did not seem to wear out but very slippery in the wet. 

Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 11, 2021, at 9:43 PM, satanas <nsc.e...@gmail.com> wrote:

With Marathons you're not going to puncture, so you may as well wait until the rubber is gone before replacing them. With lighter tyres, the tread rubber is part of the puncture resistance, so replacing them earlier *may* help prevent flats; it depends on the tyre and where you ride, etc.

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[Toshi Takeuchi]

I also do the front to back rotation.  Since the front will last way longer than the back, when the back needs replacing, I swap my front to the back and put a new tire on the front.  You can decide when the back needs replacing :).

Toshi

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[Jon]

Agree with the front to back rotation.  I once let a tread get too thin, and it started to delaminate from the casing, which led to some rather unsafe handling characteristics and a slow ride home.  Between that and flats, I'd rather change too soon than too late.  I also had a car tire delaminate (I suspect the tread got cut by something), which was very hairy (on a highway without shoulders).  

Jon Blum