How many miles do you have on your current set of tires?



bianchi10

New Member
Oct 28, 2009
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what is the durability/life expectancy of most road tires?

I am currently riding on a set of Folding Vitorria Diamante Pro's and I have yet to have a flat since putting them on 600+ miles ago. This is a new experience for me since when I had the michelin pro 3 race tires on, I had a flat on almost EVERY ride! So needless to say this is a nice change. I was looking at my tires today and noticed several small "nicks" in them and it felt like the contact part of my tire was getting fairly thin. If I can remember correctly I could have swarn reading about people riding on a set of tires for 3,000+ miles? no/yes? Looking at my tires, I'm not sure they would last that long. In fact I was beginning to wonder if I needed to make another order for a set just incase these decide to go out on me. I'm sure the road surface is a deciding factor. I live in Portland Oregon where most of the roads I ride on are fairly good with the occasional rough concrete. I do my best to avoid glass and stay as far away from the for side of the road where all the glass, dirt and "stuff" gets blown to.
 
You can get 3000+ miles out of some tires, but as everything else, it depends on a few things:
  • the type of tire
  • inflation pressure
  • your weight
  • road conditions
  • the way you ride
  • luck
  • what you consider worn out to be
  • age of the tire
The Diamante Pros are racing tires, so they'll wear out faster than training tires. They've got thinner tread and less puncture resistance. How much do you weigh? Some people ride tires until threads show. Now that's not a good idea for racing, but in certain conditions it's fine. Some people chuck a tire because it gets "squared off." I don't, but it's a personal choice. Nicks aren't a real problem. Glue them shut with super glue, or better yet, Shoe Goo, and you're good to go. Cuts are a different matter. Cuts that are into the casing or show the casing beneath the rubber are a death knell for tires. Likewise, cuts through the sidewall mean a tire should be replaced. You probably already know that front tires were less quickly than rears.

I just took a front off that over 2000 miles on it. I only changed it because I was switching from 23's to 25's and wanted a matched set. The old front has lots of life left in it--probably at least another two thousand miles or more--so it's residing in my closet.
 
GP4000 is my usual tire here. Just changed the rear tire again at 4100 miles, when the "TWI" dots disappeared. I keep the front on for two rear tires (8K miles), then replace it. The rubber on the worn tire had a couple of small cuts in it (down to the casing) but that's no big deal as long as the casing isn't cut.
Last time I had a flat on the road was about 10K miles ago, crossing a busy US hwy bridge with glass on the shoulder that just couldn't be avoided.
 
bianchi10 said:
Is it a bad idea to rotate the tires?

I don't see the reason to do that, as it's always best to have a good tire on the front. Some people do rotate the front to rear and the rear off, but some people don't. There's no clear advantage doing that.

I do rotate the tires will riding........by pushing on the pedals.
 
The idea about two rear tires to one front tire makes better sense than rotating. I had a pair of hutchinson fusion comp's on my bike for 2500 miles without any flats. I decided to rotate them to get a few hundred more miles and ended up getting my first flat on a rapid decent in the the front. :eek: I will buy three tires at a time in the future and hopefully be able to get 5000 miles out of them without rotating.:D
 
davereo said:
The idea about two rear tires to one front tire makes better sense than rotating. I had a pair of hutchinson fusion comp's on my bike for 2500 miles without any flats. I decided to rotate them to get a few hundred more miles and ended up getting my first flat on a rapid decent in the the front. :eek: I will buy three tires at a time in the future and hopefully be able to get 5000 miles out of them without rotating.:D

I buy tires in sets of three as a 2-1 ratio of back to front seems to work fine. I get at least 3-4k miles out of tires and then they get relegated to roller-duty. I usually only pitch them if there is a bad cut or they are worn beyond recognition.

If I still raced, I would keep a fresh set of rubber on the race wheels, but as a recreational rider I'm less fussy.

I've also switched to 25mm this year and would buy nothing else but one of my road bikes lacks the clearance for the 25mm so I keep one set of 23's in the rotation.
 
And a front flat is rare but scary when it happens. The front tire wears slower but it can't be ignored. If I ever rotate tires it's only for trainer/roller purposes but never for the road.
 
Michelin Speedium...apprx 3000kms...1 flat
Michelin Lithion....apprx 1500kms....1flat
Maxxiss Detonator..apprx 1000kms....1flat\
Conti Ultrasports....apprx 200kms....4-5 flats

All tires have plenty of life left except the Mich Speediums....Conti Ultrasports just did NOT work for me. On the other hand...i have a friend who's had them for over 2yrs and has flatted only 3-5x on them.

For the record.

I'm down to about 165lbs now and do most of my riding on fairly decent farm roads. Oddly enough....none of my flats occured on any of my rides in and around the city. ALL of them....within 3kms of my house! which is in the suburbs.
 
PeterF said:
And a front flat is rare but scary when it happens. The front tire wears slower but it can't be ignored. If I ever rotate tires it's only for trainer/roller purposes but never for the road.

Yes, a front tire flat can be, uhm, exhilarating. I once had a car force me off the road and into a slot about 2' deep in the pavement, goring the tire sidewalls and flatting the tires. When the bike popped out of the slot, handling was.......er..........lively.
 
I've got about 2600 miles on my Bontrager Racelite Hardcase tires and I think they'll go another 2600 just based on normal wear.

This is the third set I've had on my C-Dale and I've had 1 flat since I started using them 6 years ago.
 
5 years, and somewhere around 1000 miles. No real flats. They are GearX Evolution (if that means anything) kevlar tires. I did accidentally ride over the broken glass of a bear bottle a couple weeks ago, heard a terrifying glass-cracking noise - but no broken tire/tube, whew. I do have to top off my air roughly every two weeks.
 
alienator said:
You can get 3000+ miles out of some tires, but as everything else, it depends on a few things:
  • the type of tire
  • inflation pressure
  • your weight
  • road conditions
  • the way you ride
  • luck
  • what you consider worn out to be
  • age of the tire
The Diamante Pros are racing tires, so they'll wear out faster than training tires. They've got thinner tread and less puncture resistance. How much do you weigh? Some people ride tires until threads show. Now that's not a good idea for racing, but in certain conditions it's fine. Some people chuck a tire because it gets "squared off." I don't, but it's a personal choice. Nicks aren't a real problem. Glue them shut with super glue, or better yet, Shoe Goo, and you're good to go. Cuts are a different matter. Cuts that are into the casing or show the casing beneath the rubber are a death knell for tires. Likewise, cuts through the sidewall mean a tire should be replaced. You probably already know that front tires were less quickly than rears.

I just took a front off that over 2000 miles on it. I only changed it because I was switching from 23's to 25's and wanted a matched set. The old front has lots of life left in it--probably at least another two thousand miles or more--so it's residing in my closet.

....Nicks aren't a real problem. Glue them shut with super glue, or better yet, Shoe Goo, and you're good to go.....

I thought I might give the Shoe Goo a try on a couple of nicks in my tires.

Is the application just a simple "fill the nick with Shoe Goo and let it dry", or is there more to the procedure?

Where did you get yours? I found some at Target called Super Goo that looks like it might be the same thing...
 
I have finally settled on Ultra Gator Skins.

Typically I get 7000 km (4350 miles)on the back tyre with 3:1 on the front.

I used to get at least one flat a week. Using the Gatorskins I estimate one flat every three weeks.

They resist cuts pretty well on the tyre face but cut really easy on the walls.

Unlike The Alien, I use cut tyres providing they hold their form after I salvage them. I glue a patch inside the tyre, if they don't distort I use them.

Haven't had a problem yet. If you don't hear from me again, I probably did!
 
64Paramount said:
I thought I might give the Shoe Goo a try on a couple of nicks in my tires.

Is the application just a simple "fill the nick with Shoe Goo and let it dry", or is there more to the procedure?

Where did you get yours? I found some at Target called Super Goo that looks like it might be the same thing...

You can find it at Ace Hardware, REI, just about any sports store....I've even seen it in a grocery store or two.

You can just fill the nick, or you can deflate the tire, fill the nick, and press it shut. Shoe Goo stays flexible.
 
Scott, one flat every three weeks seems outrageous, particularly with Gatorskins. If I get one flat in a 5000-mile season that seems like a lot to me. You must have a rough commute in west Sidney.
 
alienator said:
You can find it at Ace Hardware, REI, just about any sports store....I've even seen it in a grocery store or two.

You can just fill the nick, or you can deflate the tire, fill the nick, and press it shut. Shoe Goo stays flexible.

Thanks!
 
dhk2 said:
Scott, one flat every three weeks seems outrageous, particularly with Gatorskins. If I get one flat in a 5000-mile season that seems like a lot to me. You must have a rough commute in west Sidney.

You jinxed me!

Had a flat on the way to work this morning.

I can handle flats in the afternoons.

Crikey, it's cold & dark, no time and my fingers are numb, don't work and hurt.

Still, its better than driving.:p
 
Sorry....crikey mate and all the rest. You shouldn't have to deal with flats on the way to work. What's causing the flats, ie, glass, gravel, thorns?

Running lower pressures should help, if you're not already doing that. Believe Conti rates puncture resistance @ 95 psi. If wider tires will fit your frame, those of course will allow even lower pressures. There ought to be a heavy-duty "commuter" tire out there that can take you to work and back without frequent flats.