Aside from punctures or the tire wearing through, when do you replace a clincher? Is there a rule-of-thumb on this? Thanks!
Mulligan
Columbus, Ohio
I heard around every 2000-3000km is a good mark to switch. Most tires have some sort of wear-indicator on them (like I think continental has color indicators) so you know when you need to change. It really depends on the amount you ride and the types of roads you do that riding on.
For me, using milage alone as a gauge is tough, as I never know exactly how many miles I have put on tires. Also, tires wear at different rates, depending on whether it is a front or rear and how much climbing, descending, accelerating, and braking you do.
For training clinchers (and I use at least 700 x 28c tires–or wider–for comfort and traction), if one is fairly cheap like me, I toss the old tire when I see casing threads (tan color in my case) poking through the black rubber tread.
For racing clinchers, it can be a bit more tricky. You definitely want somewhat good and fresh tires for races that entail numerous high speed turns, as the rubber on tire treads gets slightly harder (and less sticky on the road) over years (even years of new storage). For races that are mostly straight line (a lot of triathlons), then the age of the tire is a little less of an issue. In any case, if you see any defects in the sidewalls (cracks, etc.) or significant tread cuts, it is probably time to get new race tires. The higher stakes (outcome of the race; no time to fiddle with flats) and the higher air pressures one typically uses in a race warrant playing it safe with race tires.
I start the year with two new tires and new tubes. Sometime around the middle of the summer I notice that the rear will be loosing it’s shape, getting flat on the rolling surface. Once it looks really bad I change it. So I usually go for three tires a year and start over the next spring. Some people will tell you to rotate your tires. Don’t do it. Although the front tire doesn’t appear to wear, it gets a lot of nics and small cuts that you don’t see. Put it on the rear with more of your weight and one of those nics can blow out.
Well, if there is a lot of visible wear to the point that the original shape of the tire has been significantly deformed. Then it is time for a change. It also depends on your level of aversion to long walks…