but to be honest, it still comes back to how your photo doesnt really show a problem to me. I have a pair of these tires and your photo looks fine
also, remember that these are tires made for travelling on loose surfaces generally, that is their intended design, I mean they are not 1.5in slick tires made only for pavement, is my drift, so the softness of the compound is designed for better traction in loose surfaces, and so will give a better dirt ride traction wise than a marathon mondial or other much harder rubber compound tire that will last 10,000 kms
I still come back to the fact that the photo in question appears to show a tire that has done 2400kms, and still has a healthy looking center block, so get back on some of the questions I put up to clarify things.
I would tend to agree. From the photos, I saw minor wear on a tire I would expect to get twice as many miles on them before I'd have to replace them. But this thread made me examine my own tires. I've been very happy with them, but they don't get as much use as I'd like. In the past I've estimated my annual riding at between 3 and 4 thousand miles, most of that being on my Troll with it's Almotion tires. The rest being split between my ETs and riding my folding bike. I would estimate that my ETs have gotten maybe 1000 miles in the year and half I've had them. Harder to estimate surface. I make a point of using them for any longer, off-road trips when I can, usually rail-trail rides, but I also use them around town, where, even if I'm heading for some off-road areas, there's more pavement than not. I'm not usually loaded down because I'm usually commuting or doing day trips, but there have a been a few fully loaded touring days as well as a GAP ride with a well loaded rear rack -- really a credit card tour, but I had my gear and a riding partner's gear as well. Of course even unloaded, I bring about 240 pounds of myself on these trips. I had notice a pattern of discoloration on my rear tire a couple of weeks ago, but I wrote it off as something I had ridden through or just the way the light was hitting it. Yesterday I took a closer look. The tread on the rear tire is completely worn through, showing the lighter colored casing underneath at regular intervals.
For comparison, the front tire is still in pretty good shape.
I don't like the looks of that rear tire, and will be removing it immediately. And in spite of what I said in my first comment, I probably won't get another ET. I hadn't realized the wear was quite so bad. It might be okay if I were sticking to off road, occassional, trail riding, but I don't drive to the trails, I bike there, and it's hardto plan an extended off-road trip that doesn't also involve a significant amount of pavement, so I need something that can handle pavement as well as off-road. I'll probably leave the front alone until is shows more serious signs of wear, but I'll try something else on the rear, to see if I can find something that rides as well but wears a little better.
In spite of that, I don't see this as a reason to make a claim against Surly. I'm beyond the year warranty in any case, but I've had some good riding on these tires as well. I'm not aware of any mileage claims made on these tires, and tires that wear out as you use them aren't necessarily defective just because I would have rather they wore out more slowly.