Rear Tire Wear

mseanschmidt said:

I've noticed I've wearing out my rear tires before my front. I'm 185lbs. and run my front tire at 110lbs. and rear at 115lbs.

I current have on a set of Gommitalia Calypso Tires with about 250 mile or so. The tires have a heeringbone tread. The front tire is completely fine with the tread showing no wear. The rear tire has worn away all the heeringbone tread into a small flat spot about 1/2 cm in the middle of the tire.

Should I be running my rear tire at it's max 120lbs? Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks!

Check your crosspost on BF .............

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=313597

A rear will wear out before a front for the same reason FWD cars wear the front faster and RWD wear the rear faster. Get an all-wheel-drive bike and you won't notice this.

mseanschmidt said:

I've noticed I've wearing out my rear tires before my front. I'm 185lbs. and run my front tire at 110lbs. and rear at 115lbs.

I current have on a set of Gommitalia Calypso Tires with about 250 mile or so. The tires have a heeringbone tread. The front tire is completely fine with the tread showing no wear. The rear tire has worn away all the heeringbone tread into a small flat spot about 1/2 cm in the middle of the tire.

Should I be running my rear tire at it's max 120lbs? Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks!

I weigh about the same as you. Strangely enough, I've never noticed any visual difference in wear between my front and rear tyres. Even after a couple thousand miles, the rate of wear seems very similar (at least visually). I usually replace both tyres at the same time. Regarding pressure, I now inflate both tyres to 90% of recommended max (as indicated on side walls). I find I now get fewer flats, although it is still mostly the rear that gets the puncture.

mseanschmidt said:

I've noticed I've wearing out my rear tires before my front. I'm 185lbs. and run my front tire at 110lbs. and rear at 115lbs.

I current have on a set of Gommitalia Calypso Tires with about 250 mile or so. The tires have a heeringbone tread. The front tire is completely fine with the tread showing no wear. The rear tire has worn away all the heeringbone tread into a small flat spot about 1/2 cm in the middle of the tire.

Should I be running my rear tire at it's max 120lbs? Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks!

I can wear out a rear tyre before the moulding seam has completely disappeared from the front tyre, fitted at the same time. Your wear pattern is normal. When the rear tyre goes, move the front to the rear and fit the new tyre to the front.

+1 for tire rotation. Otherwise, have found it's easy to let the front stay on too long because the wear rate is so low. Fresh rubber with max grip is always good up front.

But any tire should last longer than 250 miles. Conti GPs last 2500-3000 miles on the rear for me. At 180 lbs, 105-110 psi in the rear is what I like. Less pressure is better for tire life, IMO. Using max pressure will likely make the center of the tread wear through faster, and makes the tire more prone to cuts and punctures.

dhk2 said:

But any tire should last longer than 250 miles. Conti GPs last 2500-3000 miles on the rear for me.

His description doesn't sound like a dead tyre, it sounds like a slightly worn tyre. I don't decommission a tyre until it has a fair few threads peeping through the rolling surface.

artemidorus said:

His description doesn't sound like a dead tyre, it sounds like a slightly worn tyre. I don't decommission a tyre until it has a fair few threads peeping through the rolling surface.

a tire shouldn't get flat spots after only 250mi or anywhere close (unless you re-inact the Dukes of Hazzard) 😄 never heard of the brand so maybe quality's an issue; have you used these before? looked up on the web and they 'seem' okay. maybe a poor batch? maybe try returning them if it's not to much hassle or just chalk up to "experience" but should definately last longer than that.

sorry to hear

Skoorb said:

A rear will wear out before a front for the same reason FWD cars wear the front faster and RWD wear the rear faster. Get an all-wheel-drive bike and you won't notice this.

Enlightenment at its finest...

call the patent office as Shimano or Trek may beat you!!😉

Rustyhole said:

a tire shouldn't get flat spots after only 250mi or anywhere close

I may be wrong but I interpreted his "flat spot" as the normal central wear band extending around the tyre circumference. Perhaps the OP could clarify?

mseanschmidt said:

I've noticed I've wearing out my rear tires before my front. I'm 185lbs. and run my front tire at 110lbs. and rear at 115lbs.

I current have on a set of Gommitalia Calypso Tires with about 250 mile or so. The tires have a heeringbone tread. The front tire is completely fine with the tread showing no wear. The rear tire has worn away all the heeringbone tread into a small flat spot about 1/2 cm in the middle of the tire.

Should I be running my rear tire at it's max 120lbs? Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks!

Keep usin' your tires.....I think you're tossing them too early.

First, don't worry about the herringbone tread going away: it does nothing functional. Second, don't worry about that 1/2" flat spot: bike tire tread isn't so thick that squaring of the tread adversely affects handling. Granted such things do affect motorcycle handling, but there's a huge difference between motorcycles and their tires, and bicycles and bike tires.

I've noticed zero change in handling with squared off bike tires. Nada. Zippo. Nichts. I noticed it racing motorcycles, but never on a bike. FWIW, with less tread, your bike gets faster anyway 'cuz the rolling resistance goes down. And the weight goes down. Bonus! Waynar! 😄

Do NOT ride your tires at max pressure. Even if 120 psi isn't your max, I think that's too much. I weigh 175, and I run 110f and 115r in my Schwalbe Ultremos (23mm). To be honest, I could run less, but I'm satisfied with the ride quality. There are more than plenty of people who weight what we do and run 23mm tires at 95-100 psi. I do run less pressure if it be raining.

artemidorus said:

I may be wrong but I interpreted his "flat spot" as the normal central wear band extending around the tyre circumference. Perhaps the OP could clarify?

Yep, again displayed my lack of reading comprehension. A 1/2 cm flat band on a rear tire is nothing to be concerned about. Like you, I keep them on until the casing starts peeking through the rubber in spots.

dhk2 said:

Like you, I keep them on until the casing starts peeking through the rubber in spots.

FWIW, you should never use a rubber that has holes in it. Even if it has a spermicidal gel on it, the holes will reduce protection by a severe amount! So if John Thomas peeks through the rubber, bin the rubber immediately!

alienator said:

FWIW, you should never use a rubber that has holes in it. Even if it has a spermicidal gel on it, the holes will reduce protection by a severe amount! So if John Thomas peeks through the rubber, bin the rubber immediately!

As long as cadence stays low, you should be ok 😄

alienator said:

FWIW, you should never use a rubber that has holes in it. Even if it has a spermicidal gel on it, the holes will reduce protection by a severe amount! So if John Thomas peeks through the rubber, bin the rubber immediately!

Now that's good advice.

Just a thought, but is the wheel exactly centered between the chainstays? If you have any bias towards a side this will greatly accelerate rear tire wear.

p38lightning said:

Just a thought, but is the wheel exactly centered between the chainstays? If you have any bias towards a side this will greatly accelerate rear tire wear.

I don't see it. With only two wheels, if the rear wheel is at an angle (say 5 degrees), then the front wheel will need to be turned the same angle to go straight. Then the bike goes straight, but crooked (upwards moving " / ", if you follow). There would be no increased tyre wear.

I have a rear tire that's squared off quite a bit, and there is also a slight bulge in the sidewall in one spot. Barely discernible, but it's there. Would this warrant a new tire?

lava said:

I have a rear tire that's squared off quite a bit, and there is also a slight bulge in the sidewall in one spot. Barely discernible, but it's there. Would this warrant a new tire?

On the basis of the bulge, yes.