tire life ?



gigemaggs99

New Member
Jul 6, 2003
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:confused:
I was wondering...how do you know when it's time to get new tires? I have Bontrager race lite X tires and they do not have any tread on them. They came that way new so I do not have a bench mark that I can watch to see if the tread has worn down. Any help on this would be great. Oh by the way I have about 700 miles on them. Just wondered how long road tires usually last. Thank you!
 
Look for cuts in the tire. Once you get enough of them, replace them. You'll know when you have more than "enough" when you're getting a lot of flats; ie one or two or more a week.
 
I am on my second Hutchinson Carbon comp in around 700 miles (they wear much faster on the rear) and I'm now ready for my third...it's easy to spot when they need replacing, the "tread" if you can call it that, will start to seperate from the tire
:eek:
 
I ride Continental Ultra 2000. I get between 2,500 and 3,000 miles on a rear tire. When the rear is in need of replacement. I buy one new tire, put the new one of the front and take that used front tire and put it on the rear. That now rear tire is typically good for 1,500 to 2,000 miles.
You ALWAYS want your best tire in the FRONT.
Ya get a flat in the front, you''re in trouble. Ya go DOWN !
Good Luck !
 
Thats about what i get,2500-3000 on the rear but it all depends on where you ride,psi,tire size,your weight.
 
shokhead said:
Thats about what i get,2500-3000 on the rear but it all depends on where you ride,psi,tire size,your weight.

Yep, I ride GP 3000s and get 2500-3000 here as well. I don't have a problem with cuts on these tires, and wear them all the way down until the tread starts to blister off in the center. I like to get my $50 worth.

The front tire tends to last forever, so I just replace it every couple of years when it starts looking old: that's about 3-4 rear tires for me.

I don't do the rotation from front to back as bikeyguy mentions, but it's not a bad idea.....keeps the fresh tire up front for maximum grip. Suppose it's more economical also than changing a "barely worn" front tire along with the rear.
 
dhk said:
Yep, I ride GP 3000s and get 2500-3000 here as well. I don't have a problem with cuts on these tires, and wear them all the way down until the tread starts to blister off in the center. I like to get my $50 worth.

The front tire tends to last forever, so I just replace it every couple of years when it starts looking old: that's about 3-4 rear tires for me.

I don't do the rotation from front to back as bikeyguy mentions, but it's not a bad idea.....keeps the fresh tire up front for maximum grip. Suppose it's more economical also than changing a "barely worn" front tire along with the rear.
Yep, YMMV...literally:p
If you love that whooshing sound that your tires make when you are up out of the saddle and pounding the pedals, you're gonna be burning a lot more rubber than when you are gingerly spinning along, but that's the price of fun.

Just got done replacing a set of Conti Grand Prix's (not 3000s) this evening. Have 3438 miles on the odometer and had one ride of about 26 miles before this cyclocomputer was installed. So just missed 3500. I had picked up new rubber this past week and was going to replace them at my leisure as the cross-section profile of the rear tire was getting ridiculously flat; but when I went to flick a small spot of mud off the rear tire after today's ride, it turned out to be bare casing! Even though the front was still in good shape I swapped that out as I am trying out some Grand Prix 4-Seasons for the first time and want to see how they perform on both ends.

When I was younger and even more stupid I rode a Michelin Carbon (actually Axial Carbon at the time) down to bare casing around the entire midline circumference without ever getting a flat just to see how far I could take it, but in retrospect it was really reckless thing to do as almost any braking is a sure lockup.

A friend who has been riding pretty much the same routes has a competitor's rear tire that is in about the same shape as mine but only has about 1200 miles on it. He hasn't had a lot flats, however, and he paid way less than half the price, so I can't be too critical of his choice.