Tire replacement strategy?

[Talrand]

Originally Posted by kiwisimon

I'm very okay with it. Use a tire once and it's partially worn

It must have taken you more effort to misunderstand my post and get snarky than it would to simply respond, yet you chose the former. Thanks!

[ldamelio]

Front to rear to trash. Pretty simple and I thought this was standard of practice.

Exception for tubulars, just replace in situ when worn out.

[tellyho]

Also a front to rear person, on the road bike. MTB tires seems to need replacing as a set, usually worn out pretty equally.

[Jdm]

It's neat to see how some people leave the partially worn front tire on the front and others move it to the rear.

For road tires, does the grip decrease proportionately as the tread wears down or does it stay pretty even and suddenly drop as the tire gets close to being fully worn?

[bigbill]

Rear tires wear differently and will eventually square off compared to a front tire. When I lived in NE Texas, I was riding 200-250 miles a week and in the summer, sometimes I'd go through three rear tires for every front tire, and that was tubeless. Rear tires lasted 6-7 weeks, and I never had to top off the sealant because the tire needed replacement before three months. I had to remember to top off the front.

For tubeless road tires, I would never break the bead to move the tire. If the tire is sealed and consistently holding air, I leave it alone. I was riding Panaracer Race A 25mm and rode the rear tires until casing showed and never had a flat. A front tire would go 4-6 months and my criteria for replacing was based on the condition of the tread. If there were a bunch of small cuts or too many brown spots (thorns), the tire got replaced.

The three tire purchase also applies to my gravel and MTB, although the MTB front tire wears almost as much as the front. But again, not breaking a bead to rotate tires.

[merlinmurph]

Front to rear here. A front tire just doesn't wear out.

[Jdm]

I ordered a single GP5000 S TR and a single Terra Speed!

[kiwisimon]

Originally Posted by Talrand

It must have taken you more effort to misunderstand my post and get snarky than it would to simply respond, yet you chose the former. Thanks!

of course I am okay with it, it's what I said I do. your question appeared argumentative. I'm sorry for my flippant reply.
I have never ever had a sudden and complete front tire blowout in over 40 years of reasonably fast cycling. 90% (guesstimate) of my punctures happen on my rear tire.

[unterhausen]

I have swapped, but it has been so long that I'm not sure how many times. I take the rear tire wearing out as a good sign that the front tire needs to go. I also replace both tires when I get too many flats. Tubeless changed this a little

[CAAD]

I rotate the front to the rear and replace the front with new. I want the most reliable tire on the front.

[Turkle]

I'm with Kiwisimon on this - like 90% of my flats are on the rear tire, so when that one is worn, I make sure to replace it with a fresh new one.

As SlowPokePete notes, the ratio for me seems to be the same "three at a time" rule, by the time I am replacing the second rear tire it's also time to replace the front one.

[Louis]

If I’m going to deal with the hassle of taking off the rear wheel and replacing the tire (admittedly not huge, but more of a hassle than doing the front) I might as well put a new tire on there to minimize the total number of changes over time.

[Big Dan]

I also try to buy 3 at a time.
Change the rear one when needed.

[9tubes]

I buy in pairs. I rotate at half of the anticipated lifespan. I use tubes so I'm not worrying about breaking a perfectly tire-goop-sealed bead. The swap takes less than 10 min, no biggie.

A tire cut causes a change in plan, but I've noticed that new wider tires seem to be better about not getting cuts. I use the Vittoria Corsa Pro Speed so maybe I'm just lucky.**





**knocking on every available piece of wood, throwing the facciamo le corne sign, etc.