Asymmetric wear of tires
 

Dear all.
I need advice.
I have a fairly new Domane S6 2017.

Came with 25" tires. I called Bontrager and they told me I can fit 28" with no issues.
So I did. I also got new (larger tubes) and a bike fit.
The bike gained a lot of comfort and performance even though I know most of it has to do with the fit.
Anyways. While Im happy with the new set-up, I have done about 100 miles so far and noticed both tires are not wearing out exactly in the center. They are slightly biased towards the left. Especially the back tire. You can barely notice the front one, but on the back one there is at least 1 mm bias.

What can cause this? Was the change in tires?
I also wonder the potential issue this can have.

Previous tires: Bontrager R1 25mm
New tires: Bontrager R3 28 mm with continental sport tubes.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

First thought I have is if you are making sure your wheels are centered in the frame.

Although 1mm doesn't sound like much, also.

Don't turn left as much.

Who turns left? That's stupid.

Are you a track cyclist?

Road camber? Roads should be higher in the centre for water runoff.

That sound's like a winner.

I'm gonna go with this as well. On many of the high-crown roads around here, I notice having to steer every so slightly to the left just to keep going in a straight line. I don't know if it actually contributes to wear at all, but I do notice that the pattern of dirt on the tire has a wider stripe on the right side of the tire than on the left.

I had the same issue, turns out mine was from a saddle that I was sitting on off-center and canting the bike to one side.

Crowned Road, you are on a slight slope..






...

Flip the direction of the tires on your rims. After a while, problem solved. Repeat as needed.

BBBUT the TREAD DIRECTION!

Well, I was trying to find the cause.

That's interesting. So you just moved the saddle to the center?

+1
Left side off center wear is perfectly normal in the USA because roads are crowned, so you're generally riding across a slight slope.

The wear will be biased to the right if you live and ride in the UK, Australia or other "drive left" countries.

BTW- if you don't see a slightly left side wear bias, there's something wrong, because this would mean that the bike was perpendicular to the angled road surface, and something is causing it to be off plumb.

Ah, well then it's over for him. Time to quit the sport, donate the bike. I'll send my address.

Interesting tip. Thanks!

I got a different saddle that was built correctly and fit my anatomy.

All this said.. I'm not sure I could notice any wear in a tire after only 100 miles, much less identify an uneven distribution of such.

No sweat, the OP can move to England and equalize the wear pattern.

Actually Brits may be best off. They can head to France or Holland every few months and keep their tires worn evenly.

Either that, or find an equally concerned buddy who rides on the other side, and swap tires now and then.

If moving to Britain for six months each year isn't convenient, flipping the tires around (assuming their is no directional tread) would work.

Or just fuggeddaboudit. I mean who even cares?

Since people notice, then post here asking about it, it's safe to assume that SOMEBODY cares at one level or another..

Like you, I don't, but then after 50 years I have no interest in looking too closely at my bike in the first place.

OTOH - it's possible that someone noticed, wondered if it was worrisome, then once understanding the why, will no longer care.

Elves and sandpaper, probably.

Now I need to take out my vernier calipers and check my tires.:foo: