I have logged just over 900km on my tires and the threads are wearing off. How many miles/kilometers should one ride their bike until the tires need replacing?
Depends on the tire and the roads you are on. I replace my Pro Race every 1000mi or so. Corsa CX TT about every 500ish or every spring. I weekly go at my tires with tweezers and a magnifying glass to get out any grains of sand and or glass that has worked its way into the tread.
Probably more often than you think. As the rubber oxidizes and the tread is worn thin, the tire becomes less puncture and tear resistant. You will notice that the rear tire typically wears out faster than the front. I get some extra life out of my tires by rotating them (move the front tire to the back and vice versa) after 500 miles.
Like other posts said, it depends on what tire you ride and the quality of the roads you ride. Generally, if you start getting a lot of flats, the tire is worn out.
One rule of thumb I use is to examine the shape of the tire. When you are riding and you look at your front tire, it should be rounded; you should see a half circle looking down on the tube. If the tube is worn, the half circle will start to look like a square as the tire is worn down and the profile is no longer round.
I have logged about 5,000 KMs (3,100 miles) on my Continental GP 4000 (all type of roads. Used them for commute through construction areas with plenty of gravels, and during races on smooth roads).
I had to replace the rear tyre since I got my FIRST flat as the wear was starting to show (I unfortunately used my rear tyre on 2/3 occassions on the trainer).
The front tyre is currently being used as the rear tyre on my new road bike and is going strong @ 5,500 KMs+
Cheers,
Fred.
Keep in mind that tread patters on a bicycle tire do absolutely nothing. They’re not like car tires that are flat and need tread to displace water. If the only thing you see is the tread wearing off and there are no significant cuts or casing showing through, you can get more mileage (or kilometerage) out of your tires. I’ve gotten 2000 - 3000 miles out of tires. I usually end up replacing them because of a large cut, rather than wearing them through to the casing.
Can you take off a tubular and put it back on at a later date? If you are in a race and you get a flat with a tubular, do you need to reapply tufo tape before putting on the new tire or will it be sticky enough to hold it? Thanks.
Yes you can reapply a tubular, if you don’t tear the casing getting it off. If you are using a good quality tubular glue, it shouldn’t be too hard. Using the Tufo tape seems to be a little harder to remove. Some will consider this a good thing, others bad, in my experience it just depends on how long you have been riding tubulars. If you rode them for years before the tape, you probably have no desire to ever use tape. I have noticed that tufo tires work the best both installing and uninstalling with their tape. Too bad their tires are so far behind the curve.
As far as changing one on the road, if you have used tape before, I would carry some in my bag on training rides at least. It only takes a little while to do, and when you do it, you have a correctly installed tire. This is one of the few cases where I think it makes sense to turn the bike upside down to work on it. That way you can make sure you get the tire on the rim straight.
I have no experience with putting a new tire on a rim that was formerly taped without using more tape, so I have no idea if it would work or not.
With standard glue, if you have stretched and preglued your spare, you can ride at a reasonable level with no fear of rolling your spare. In fact, when it comes time to take it off and glue it properly, you will probably be surprised at how well it is attached. I still wouldn’t go flying into any high speed turns though.
Tim H,
Your front tire is a critical tire as it does the steering. You should keep your least worn tire on your front wheel. As the back tire needs replacing (rounded shape is worn flat in the middle, becomes very thin in the middle (read susceptable to flatting here) it should be replaced. The number of miles or km when this happens is different for every cyclist and every model tire.
There are a number of cyclists who move their front tire to the rear wheel and put the new tire on the front wheel.
Thanks everyone for your input and advice
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