Tire Mileage

[CdnRider]

What kind of mileage are you guys getting on your rubber?

I'm on some Michelin Speediums as my main training set and they're over 2100kms (about 1250 miles). I can probably get another 1000kms on them from the looks. Is this normal?

Guessing some of the racier tires aren't getting high mileage out of them?!?

Just curious???

 

[64Paramount]

I replaced my last set of Bontrager RaceLite Hardcases at about 2300 miles. I probably could have gone a lot farther, but I was doing my winter time maintenance and if anything is questionable I go ahead and replace it.

I think those tires use a harder rubber composition to make them more puncture proof, which also makes them wear more slowly, but I don't think they grip in fast turns as well as lot of racing tires do.

 

[dhk2]

I'm at 3300 miles on a rear GP 4000 now. The "TWI" dots are still visable, but just barely; probably another 200 miles before they disappear and I replace the tire. The front wears at a much slower rate of course; I buy them in sets of three and replace the front after the second back tire goes.

 

[genedan]

Tire longevity also depends on the conditions of the roads. I live near a party school so there are bits and pieces of broken glass EVERYWHERE here. So far this year I've had my tires cut twice by glass. I'll avoid it when it's obviously visible but running over a stray shard is inevitable. I'll get lucky if I can get 2000 miles out of a tire.

Under perfect conditions tires can last a long, long time. I know some guys who are able to put 5000+ miles on theirs.

 

[CdnRider]

Nice to hear people getting lots of mileage out of their rubber. I typically get around 2000kms before I need a change. This set of Michelin Speediums seem to be on track to easily break that. And yes, rear tire has signs of more wear. Zero flats on them too! So far.

 

[Froze]

There's a lot of variables to tire life. As one poster so rightly answered road conditions change from area to area. Why this matters is that, for an extreme example, if you live in Hawaii your tires won't last as long due to volcanic rock used as asphalt which is very rough on tire wear, like riding on sandpaper vs regular Indiana rock which is not as rough on tires. Also depends on if you live in mountains where you are constantly turning vs midwest flat lands where roads are long and straight. Do you live in a very hot climate like the desert areas of California vs cooler areas of the northwest, midwest, east coast areas.

Different tires last longer then others. The longest lasting tire I ever use was the Specialized Armadillo All Condition Pro, these lasted about 4,500 miles riding mountain roads and hot roads of the deserts of California. Conti Gatorskins I recently had lasted only about 2,500 miles here in cooler flat lands of Indiana. My latest set of tires I just put on so the study is out. I'm trying the Kenda Konstricter tire to see if it's any better or the same as the Gatorskin in durability, they are lighter then the Gatorskins and feel faster-just me?. But so far the Kenda's feel better and have better handling then the Gates.

 

[CdnRider]

Absolutely. The varying conditions of roads have a huge impact on tire wear. I'm guessing that another big factor is rider weight. I'm easily 20+lbs over my racing weight.

If you take in consideration the cost of modern day mid to high end bike tires.....they're damn expensive when compared to car tires! Especially for the amount of mileage they last for.

Then again, who said that cycling was a cheap sport/hobby?!

I have some Michelin Lithion's waiting to be mounted to a set of wheels I'm picking up on Sat. It'll be interesting to compare to the Speedium's i have now.

 

[dhk2]

Agree road conditions make a huge difference in both wear life and punctures. The shortest life I've gotten from a tire is 40 miles on a Michelin Pro 2. A sharp rock cut through the cord, and even with a boot inside the cut kept opening up.

Vittoria Open Corsa EVO CX is the quickest-wearing and least puncture-resistant tire I've used recently. They seemed to pick up small sharp shards of gravel which eventually work through to cause a tube puncture. Great ride and grip, and low rolling resistance, but I gave up on them after one set (3 tires) because I didn't want to deal with all the flats.

 

[Froze]

Also the type of tube matters to a probably very small degree. With the Kenda Konstrictor I'm going back to latex after many years of not using them. Latex has less rolling resistance and better puncture resistance, so will a tire last longer? I haven't used latex in years so I can't remember if tires lasted longer with latex.