Best practice for replacing rear tire only

[blindwilly]

When replacing the rear tire only, do most people put the new tire on the rear and leave the front alone or is it better practice to move the front tire to the rear and put the new tire on the front.

To me, it seems easiest to just replace the worn rear with a new tire and then down the road when the new rear needs replacing to buy two tires and replace both front and rear. Basically two rear tires for every front tire.

On the other hand and in the interest of safety, it seems like you would want to best tire in front to reduce any risk of a front blowout.

[oldpotatoe]

When replacing the rear tire only, do most people put the new tire on the rear and leave the front alone or is it better practice to move the front tire to the rear and put the new tire on the front.

To me, it seems easiest to just replace the worn rear with a new tire and then down the road when the new rear needs replacing to buy two tires and replace both front and rear. Basically two rear tires for every front tire.

On the other hand and in the interest of safety, it seems like you would want to best tire in front to reduce any risk of a front blowout.

What you said, new tire on front, front on rear.

[Wattvagen]

Not a bad idea in theory, but in reality, i cant be bothered to go through the trouble of swapping the front.

also the reality is that i rarely wear out a tire. by far, most of the tires i need to replace have died a death of sidewall cut, or other damage that i dont think they can live with, so it's generally not a matter of direct wear, but luck as to when my tires meet their demise.

i wouldnt overthink it, if your front tire looks OK and isnt too far worn down, just keep it up there.

[jtakeda]

You want your front tire to be the best condition.

Move your front to your rear and replace your front tire with the new one

[Monsieur Toast]

New / best tire in front, semi-used to the back.

[merlinmurph]

Front tires just do not wear out, so to keep relatively fresh tires on the bike, move the front to the rear, new one on front.

[blindwilly]

Sounds like we have a consensus. Full rotation it is.

[teleguy57]

Clinchers, yes. Tubulars, I replace the rear vs pulling the front off.

Old Potatoe, curious if you rotate tubulars front to back?

[Mark McM]

Not a bad idea in theory, but in reality, i cant be bothered to go through the trouble of swapping the front.

With standard clinchers (with inner tubes), rotating the tires is an easy 5 minute job, because there is no glue or goo to deal with.

[Peter P.]

What you said, new tire on front, front on rear.

Same here. Otherwise, the front tire will just die of dry rot rather than actual wear.

[Louis]

I change whatever needs to be changed, and leave the other one alone. If that means having mismatched tires, so be it. At one point I had one tire with a bright green stripe on my front wheel that refused to die. I think it outlasted several other "regular" all-black tires on the rear wheel.

[likebikes]

new tire on front, front tire on rear, old tire on rear of fixed gear bike where it stays until it is dead, dead. like can see daylight through it.

[chismog]

Interesting. I always just buy 3 tires at a time. The front stays and the rear gets replaced. Even after 2x rears the front isn't always worn out, but by then it's usually old so I relegate it to some other use.

[alancw3]

Interesting. I always just buy 3 tires at a time. The front stays and the rear gets replaced. Even after 2x rears the front isn't always worn out, but by then it's usually old so I relegate it to some other use.

+1. exactly what I have been doing for the last 15 years. prior use to rotate but as I got older I could not bother doing that anymore.

[weisan]

Not a bad idea in theory, but in reality, i cant be bothered to go through the trouble of swapping the front.

also the reality is that i rarely wear out a tire. by far, most of the tires i need to replace have died a death of sidewall cut, or other damage that i dont think they can live with, so it's generally not a matter of direct wear, but luck as to when my tires meet their demise.

i wouldnt overthink it, if your front tire looks OK and isnt too far worn down, just keep it up there.

Truth.

[oldpotatoe]

Clinchers, yes. Tubulars, I replace the rear vs pulling the front off.

Old Potatoe, curious if you rotate tubulars front to back?

Hmm, I know what you are getting at....tubulars and not a simple tire swap. If the front is in good shape, yup, I just put a new one on the rear...commence the comments...:eek:BUT it remains that a front tire failure/puncture much more serious than a rear one.
truth

Nope, your opinion...your teeth...

[bronk]

I go a different way on my CX fixie -- when the rear was 2/3 worn, I rotated the tires. Both tires should reach end of life about the same time.

[mcteague]

Truth.

I generally leave the front on when I replace the rear. When the next rear tire is due I replace both, just to be sure. The front still has tread but why risk it?

Tim

[Plum Hill]

Same here. Otherwise, the front tire will just die of dry rot rather than actual wear.

What he said.
In the past I always rotated tires when the rear wore out, but then got lazy. Noticed the front tire is suffering from dry rot. So I saved a few minutes....

[Davist]

yeah I tried the "front to back to off" rotation, now I end up replacing rears and front every 2nd rear. I like to think of tires in 3s- by the time I wear out 2 rears, it's time to change the front.

[Mark McM]

i wouldnt overthink it, if your front tire looks OK and isnt too far worn down, just keep it up there.

As has been pointed out, front tires don't wear nearly as quickly as rear tires. But even if it doesn't wear much, the rubber still ages, and old rubber just doesn't grip as well as new rubber, even if the old rubber still looks okay. Old rubber may work okay on dry roads, but quickly runs out of grip on wet roads. A sliding rear wheel is much easier to control than sliding front wheel - this is the real reason to always put the newest tire on the front. This is especially true on wheels that don't get a lot of miles, and the tires may get very old before they're worn down. The front tire may still look good, but after too much time, it may no longer grip as well.

[Blue Jays]

I similarly purchase in multiples of 3 tires as well.
It is easy to stock your home supply that way, too.

In my experience the rear tire wears twice as fast.
Tires are cheap insurance and replaced before worn too much.