Tyre rotation

[Pebble]

I am thinking on a bike the greater wear on the rear wheel will be mostly down to it taking more weight. Yes it will take a little more wear being the driven wheel, but would that not be balanced out with the front being the main braking wheel ?

[alexnharvey]

Drive wear is constantn during riding, braking wear on the front is intermittent. When you think of the ratio of the two it must be 100:1 or more?

[drossall]

I don't think there's any serious debate about what happens in practice. Rear tyres wear out much faster. You can use several to one front.

[Pebble]

Drive wear is constantn during riding, braking wear on the front is intermittent. When you think of the ratio of the two it must be 100:1 or more?

Drive wear will be very gentle in comparison to braking. Of course it will depend much on the rider, I am a gentle peddaller but It is quite hilly where I am so much braking on descents. A time trialer in the flat lands could well be the opposite.

I would put axle weight down as being the bigger factor. I'm about 58% above the rear, and looking at some numbers for some marathon plus tyres I got 8,900 out of a front and 7,100 out of the rear. That is not too dissimilar proportionally.

Of course I could be very wrong, drive wear seems the obvious one to go for, but is that just jumping to conclusions ?

[Brucey]

sprinting and climbing tend to wear rear tyres quickly.

Another factor is the relationship between how much the tyre deforms and what happens in the contact patch. In some treaded tyres the front wears quicker than you might expect (even without a front load) ; for example if the tyre is run soft, the contact patch may be wider than the (harder) rear tyre. Treaded tyres tend to wear oddly under certain circumstances eg because the tread 'squirms' and this sometimes causes faster wear, even at low loads; I think the rubber can slide over the surface (and wear) where it might not at higher contact pressures.

On most bikes I've used the same tyres last about half or 2/3 as long on the rear as the front.

cheers

[reohn2]

I've had new tyres that were bad. So I'm never entirely sure of them until I've given them a bit of stick. I've known of several people who have come unstuck, going touring on brand new tyres, so I think putting a few miles on them first is a good idea. A short period of use on the rear is arguably a good 'proof test'.

cheers

To each his own,but as I posted I have never had a duff new tyre and I prefer the best tyre on the front .
EDIT; just to add,I'd rather trust a new tyre on the front than a half worn rear that's taken some stick

[reohn2]

I don't think there's any serious debate about what happens in practice. Rear tyres wear out much faster. You can use several to one front.

Agreed,they square off and are more likely to take sidwall impacts as you skip the front wheel around or hop over obstacles whereas the rear is more likely to hit them.

[cycle tramp]

sprinting and climbing tend to wear rear tyres quickly.

cheers

In my case the former ain't never gonna happen:-)

[mig]

re. tyre wear what do people find about the old chestnut of 'maturing' tubs/tyres?

when they were being cleared years ago i bought a small stack of 28c marathon HS308 tyres and stored them in a cupboard in a loft space. dry and dark. after a year or so one was put on the rear wheel of a fixed commuter doing substantial mileage of city roads and seated steep climbs. i remember assessing the tyre after some 6-8 months of use (lets say at least 4000 miles) and it did look almost completely new!

coincidence?

continental used to sell an unmatched 'pair' of tyres some years ago GP Attack and Force for specific front and rear use. IIRC they were 22c and 24c or thereabouts. it never seemed worth the difference to me!

[simonhill]

re. tyre wear what do people find about the old chestnut of 'maturing' tubs/tyres?

when they were being cleared years ago i bought a small stack of 28c marathon HS308 tyres and stored them in a cupboard in a loft space. dry and dark. after a year or so one was put on the rear wheel of a fixed commuter doing substantial mileage of city roads and seated steep climbs. i remember assessing the tyre after some 6-8 months of use (lets say at least 4000 miles) and it did look almost completely new!

coincidence?

Don't know, but I do know that those tyres were very good. I used them for a long time as my go to touring tyre. I still have a pair on one of my bikes.

Wish I'd bought a stock of 'em.