When is a tire worn out?

It's worn out for the road. Did you know that trainers wear tires more quickly than the road? You might save these old tires to use with the trainer cause you're not going to pick up a nail or glass with it on a trainer. I am not certain that I would use it on rollers though. Time to go visit Montgomery Cyclery, or the LBS of your choice, eBay?

It depends on what you are willing to put up with: I've used tires until the threads from the casing are showing through....but I wouldn't use them if they aren't grippy anymore on the shoulders of the tire, because it makes it dangerous in corners and downhills. Having said that though, you can get away with using a rear tire that is quite bald (if you are willing to put up with more flats!). The front tire, otoh, I think should be kept in fairly decent shape, as a worn front tire can slip very easily.
I do the opposite of what you have done: because a trainer will prematurely wear out tires, I only use old, crummy tires on the trainer...and NEVER use those same tires again out on the road.
Another good way to prolong tire life: rotate them front-to-back. That is, when the rear tire is getting worn, put a NEW tire on the front and put the previous front tire on the REAR; since a slightly worn rear tire doesn't affect handling, you will be ok, and get more life from it. And, the front tire that was getting worn down will be new!

Oh....USUALLY, I don't use tires until they are so bad that the threads are showing....I only mean in emergencies, like when I am too poor to buy new tires :o

It's officially worn out when there are threads showing. Being squared off means nothing and has zero adverse effects on bike handling/performance. Tire tread is so thin to begin with that there really is no correlation between flats and tire wear.

The one thing that does happen is that rolling resistance goes down as the tire wears, so the tire should become "faster" as it wears.

alienator said:

-snip- Tire tread is so thin to begin with that there really is no correlation between flats and tire wear.

Interesting, didn't know that! Good news for the budget-conscious 😎

[/QUOTE]
The one thing that does happen is that rolling resistance goes down as the tire wears, so the tire should become "faster" as it wears.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I've read this on Bike Tech Review....so I can sort of understand for TT use it might be an idea to use "pre-ridden" tires....but what about crits or circuit races where traction is a factor?? Wouldn't that override rr concerns?

alienator said:

Tire tread is so thin to begin with that there really is no correlation between flats and tire wear.

Sorry but based on the last 5-8 sets of tyres that i have gone through.... i'd have to disagree. After i get to around the 2000km mark i suspiciously start to get a series of flats just like what rwinthenorth is reporting - so i bin them & replace both front & back with new tyres. Problem simply goes away😉

There has to be a correlation between when a tyre is 'worn' and flats, as the smaller the amount of rubber on it the less puncture protection there is.

am using only Michelin pro 2 race's

anyway - my 2c worth

Lama said:

Sorry but based on the last 5-8 sets of tyres that i have gone through.... i'd have to disagree. After i get to around the 2000km mark i suspiciously start to get a series of flats just like what rwinthenorth is reporting - so i bin them & replace both front & back with new tyres. Problem simply goes away😉

There has to be a correlation between when a tyre is 'worn' and flats, as the smaller the amount of rubber on it the less puncture protection there is.

am using only Michelin pro 2 race's

anyway - my 2c worth

Correlate all you want, but there are even more riders who find that they don't get any more flats when running tires to the threads. There is also no physical reason to get more flats.

kdelong said:

It's worn out for the road. Did you know that trainers wear tires more quickly than the road? You might save these old tires to use with the trainer cause you're not going to pick up a nail or glass with it on a trainer. I am not certain that I would use it on rollers though. Time to go visit Montgomery Cyclery, or the LBS of your choice, eBay?

Thanks for info. I knew the trainer would prematurely wear the tire some, but It doesn't justify those "training tires" and the hassle of changing out every time I want to use the trainer. Or the cash for another wheel. (MC to $$$$:eek🙂. I'll keep it for training in the winter, though.

Lama said:

Sorry but based on the last 5-8 sets of tyres that i have gone through.... i'd have to disagree. After i get to around the 2000km mark i suspiciously start to get a series of flats just like what rwinthenorth is reporting - so i bin them & replace both front & back with new tyres. Problem simply goes away😉

There has to be a correlation between when a tyre is 'worn' and flats, as the smaller the amount of rubber on it the less puncture protection there is.

am using only Michelin pro 2 race's

anyway - my 2c worth

That's not a lot of wear. My guess is your spending more on tires for the bike than tires on the car. It seems that one should be able to get at least 3000 miles (4,828km) from a good brand tire?😕 This sport eats more of my wallet than my 16yr old son!

rwinthenorth said:

That's not a lot of wear. My guess is your spending more on tires for the bike than tires on the car.

hmm yeah - at a $ per km rate - around double, even though i buy them online at a very cheap rate - just glad i dont do 15000kms a year on my roadie😄

rwinthenorth said:

It seems that one should be able to get at least 3000 miles (4,828km) from a good brand tire?😕

pro races are a pretty soft tyre - i may have got the occasional 2500kms out of a set - what do other users of pro races expect out of a set, milage wise?

rwinthenorth said:

one should be able to get at least 3000 miles (4,828km) from a good brand tire?

Damn! I replaced my last tire after only 4826 km. Two km of capacity, down the freakin' toilet.

Dan