Rear Tyre tread worn - No WTI for Tyre - when replace?

[RideToWorky]

Hiya All,

Looks like the rear tyres on bicycles wear out more quickly than the front. (Same as the Motorbikes.)

However for this type of tyre, there are no Rear Tread Indicator dots.
How do I know when to replace the tyre on bicycles?!
(Schawble Lugano - done 750 miles or so on them)

The tread on the 5cm central line is smooth, and the tyre profile feels like it has squared off on the crown.

Is there a rule of thumb for this, for how many times would replace the rear compared to the front?
Or does it depend on the bike / type of riding and rider weight etc?!:


Hope you can advise

Regards
martin

[blackbike]

The sidewall will looked frayed or cracked, the tread will have worn away, another colour of rubbery material will start to appear or the threads of string holding the casing together will become visible.

More frequent punctures are often a good warning system.

[PH]

Is there a rule of thumb for this, for how many times would replace the rear compared to the front?
Or does it depend on the bike / type of riding and rider weight etc?!:

What blackbike said re wear.
Plus in answer to the above, with the idea that I always want the best tyre on the front, I put the new one there and move the part worn one to the back. If you like the best racing tyres it does get expensive, but there's a decent choice of £15 - £20 ones that last me several thousand miles that I'm happy with.

[rjb]

There is a new development in tyres which now contain the new wonder element Graphene. They are being marketed as low wear and high puncture resistance. Has anyone used these ?
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/vittoria-rubino ... 60751847uk

[Vorpal]

I usually swap my rear tyre for my front one when it starts to show wear.

I replace them when I have too many punctures in quick succession (2 or 3 within a week or two?) or when I wear through to the next layer.

[TrevA]

I've just swapped out my Durano rear tyre as it was starting to show wispy bits of the canvas in a few place. It has never punctured. I wouldn't worry about the tyre squaring off, this happened quite early on with mine. I would expect to get at least 2500 miles out of a rear road tyre in 23 or 25mm, more for wider tyres and I'm no lightweight (110 kg).

With Gatorskins, it's time to change when you can see the pattern of the carcass through the rubber, or if you start getting regular punctures.

I find one front tyre will last the same as 2 rears.

[pwa]

Unlike with car tyres, the tread on a normal width bicycle tyre has little or no effect on grip and braking on tarmac. A tyre with no tread pattern can grip well in the wet. So that is unimportant. A partly worn tyre has also lost some material and is a little lighter and more supple, so could be a little faster and more comfortable to use. But as the rubber gets thinner the tyre becomes more and more likely to puncture. That is the main problem with worn tyres. There is no "right" answer to the question of when to change the tyre. It depends how worried you are by the thought of a flat.

Rear tyres do wear a lot quicker. It may make sense to buy them in threes. Two for the rear, one for the front. By the time the front has worn thin you will have gone through two at the rear.