Continental Top Touring 2000 Tires - Mounting Direction Question

[George Karabotsos]

Hello all,

I bought two Contis Top Touring 2000 tires and I have a question on the
direction I should mount them on the rims. On the left side of the tire
there is the following inscription: REAR WHEEL <-- | --> FRONT WHEEL.

In other words there is an arrow pointing counter-clockwise to the right
of "REAR WHEEL" and another arrow pointing clockwise to the left of the
"FRONT WHEEL".

Now to the question: What does this mean? Does it mean I have to mount
them on the direction of the arrow based upon which wheel I place the
tire? I know it seems obvious, but I just want to make sure. This is
the first time I have seen such a tire inscription.

TIA,

George

 

[John Henderson]

George Karabotsos wrote:

> I bought two Contis Top Touring 2000 tires and I have a
> question on the direction I should mount them on the rims.
> Onthe left side of the tire there is the following
> inscription: REAR WHEEL <-- | --> FRONT WHEEL.
>
> In other words there is an arrow pointing counter-clockwise to
> the right of "REAR WHEEL" and another arrow pointing clockwise
> to the left of the "FRONT WHEEL".
>
> Now to the question: What does this mean? Does it mean I
> have to mount them on the direction of the arrow based upon
> which wheel I place the tire? I know it seems obvious, but I
> just want to make sure. This is the first time I have seen
> such a tire inscription.

They should be mounted so that they rotate in the direction
indicated by the relevant arrow. This may marginally improve
rolling resistance, taking account of the differences between a
driving and a driven wheel

John

 

[John Henderson]

Bonehenge wrote:

>>They should be mounted so that they rotate in the direction
>>indicated by the relevant arrow. This may marginally improve
>>rolling resistance, taking account of the differences between
>>a driving and a driven wheel
>
> Why?

See http://www.schwalbe.com/index.pl?punkt=264 under "Direction
arrows" and "Rolling direction".

John

 

[[email protected]]

George Karabotsos writes:

> I bought two Contis Top Touring 2000 tires and I have a question on
> the direction I should mount them on the rims. On the left side of
> the tire there is the following inscription: REAR WHEEL <-- | -->
> FRONT WHEEL.

> In other words there is an arrow pointing counter-clockwise to the
> right of "REAR WHEEL" and another arrow pointing clockwise to the
> left of the "FRONT WHEEL".

> Now to the question: What does this mean? Does it mean I have to
> mount them on the direction of the arrow based upon which wheel I
> place the tire? I know it seems obvious, but I just want to make
> sure. This is the first time I have seen such a tire inscription.

Just forget the whole thing. This is a gimmick of the tire folks who
introduce this concept at various times. That agricultural tractor
tires have a preferred direction of the chevrons is clear. It only
has an effect if the tractor spins its wheels in soft dirt where
orientation of the V-shaped tread helps clear soil from the tread by
the chevrons digging point first.

Directional tread was touted for motorcycles about 30 years ago, cars
have done it recently with V-shaped "water displacement" grooves, so
bicycles have picked that up, not to be left behind in a good ploy.
It has no beneficial effects on cars according to independent test
done by Auto Motor & Sport magazine, and because I followed that when
motorcycles did it, I am sure it has no effect on bicycles either.

[email protected]

 

[[email protected]]

put the tires on as instructed by conti
conti knows
i tried it both ways and conti's tractor instructions give less
noise-and from this is i assume less friction, lower wear.
the tt's are excellent in all normal riding use categories

 

[[email protected]]

installed Conti's way, the bike under touring loads will better handle

 

[Rick Warner]

On 29 Mar 2005 14:44:31 -0800, [email protected] wrote:

>installed Conti's way, the bike under touring loads will better handle

Not in my experience. A framebuilder installed mine backwards, I
decided it was not worth changing, did 5000+ miles before switching
front/replacing rear. No noticable difference, even with heavy loads.

- rick

 

[Rick Warner]

On 29 Mar 2005 14:44:31 -0800, [email protected] wrote:

>installed Conti's way, the bike under touring loads will better handle

Not in my experience. A framebuilder installed mine backwards, I
decided it was not worth changing, did 5000+ miles before switching
front/replacing rear. No noticable difference, even with heavy loads.

- rick