Tires

sunnysang said:

Hey i was wondering, how often do you change the tire part of the wheel. The rubber part on top of the tube, the part of the tire that actually touching the road. Its been aabout 750 miles since i got my bike and they are looking worn out.

750 miles is pretty low mileage for bicycle road tires. Typical tread wear mileage is probably around 3,000 miles but tire life can be affected by other factors. I can't remember the last time that I actually wore a tire out. I usually cut down a sidewall or something like that while I still have tread left.

Retro Grouch said:

750 miles is pretty low mileage for bicycle road tires. Typical tread wear mileage is probably around 3,000 miles but tire life can be affected by other factors. I can't remember the last time that I actually wore a tire out. I usually cut down a sidewall or something like that while I still have tread left.

o ok, thats good. I just wanted to be safe because it would not be fun to find the tire worn out 40 miles from home :P.

sunnysang said:

o ok, thats good. I just wanted to be safe because it would not be fun to find the tire worn out 40 miles from home :P.

I just had a sidewall blow out at 3500 miles. The tread was not badly worn. In fact my LBS told me the tires looked ok. It is no fun have a flat particularly where you can not fix it with a new tube. My new rule of thumb - A new tire each season regardless of the appearance of wear. I ride about 3,000 miles during the spring and summer.

also depends on the tire you're using now and how you're using it. a cheap tire will not last as long as a better one and knobby tires won't last too long if used primarily on a lot of paved surfaces, but i agree with above posts that 3000mi is not uncommon and even 5000mi is not unheardof if you get a lot of good roads!

I've got tires that are 15 years old. :eek: They dry rot before I can wear them out. :o

gfspencer said:

I've got tires that are 15 years old. :eek: They dry rot before I can wear them out. :o

As a bit of a counter-example, I've got a pair of Vittoria road tires that had a very shallow tread pattern, almost to the point of being slicks to begin with. My front tire still shows this tread pattern, but it is completely worn off of the rear tire, after less than 1,000 miles. That said, I don't think the tire is near being worn out yet - it's just that it's basically a slick at this point.

sunnysang said:

o ok, thats good. I just wanted to be safe because it would not be fun to find the tire worn out 40 miles from home :P.

I get around 3000 miles on Conti GP rear tires. When they start looking worn, will inspect them frequently, but only change them out when I see the casing start to peek through the tread in one place. The front wears much slower, so when the back is shot, I usually rotate the front tire to the rear and install the new tire on the front.