jack pot 

i have 2 fixed cogs on my bike ... if i flip the wheel my tread direction is backwards ... never thought this mattered on a bicycle because IMO it can have no effect ... am i wrong > is tire wear affected > is tire performance affected ... if so does this mean that when you flip the hub you ALSO have to "redirect your tire grooves

Unkle Rico

Depends on the tire i suppose. I would just choose which side i wanted to run on (fixed or SS) and then install the tire accordingly.

SquidPuppet

If you are riding on asphalt and/or concrete tread offers no performance benefits, and therefore the direction on the pattern doesn't matter.

bonsai171

In my experience, if a tire is directional, running it in the wrong direction will wear out the tire more quickly. I probably wouldn't worry about it though. Tires are fairly cheap, so you can easily change it out when that wears. If you're concerned about it, look for an arrow on the sidewall of your tire to see if this is the case for you.

Dave

hairnet

Don't worry about it.

seau grateau

Ride slicks.

SquidPuppet

On a bicycle that won't happen. Tread (the absence of rubber) will not cause the existing rubber to wear faster.***

Not really good tires.




*** Directional car tires should be run in the proper direction or their anti-hydroplaning design will be wasted.

79pmooney

There's a bigger issue no one here is addressing. Unless your tire has labels on both sides, you are committing the cardinal sin of riding with the label on the wrong side. That will slow you down far more than any tread issue.

This from a guy who has now ridden Cycle Oregon 4 times fixed, flipping the wheel at will.

Ben

CliffordK

I believe if you have a V-shaped tread, then it is designed so the point of V hits first, then directs water/mud towards the sides of the tire.

Mounting it backwards, and it will direct water to the middle of the tire.

As others have mentioned, the effect is probably minimal, and won't matter at all if you are riding on dry pavement.

Fett2oo5

THIS!

The reason why treads (grooves) "exit" out toward the sides, is to disperse water and mud. As the tire roles over a liquid medium, he pressure squeezes the materials out toward the sides so the tire "cuts" through the water or mud, giving you better traction.

Most car tires have directional treads, and yes they are turned around on the wheel when necessary. Some high-end tires are specifically designed to go on only one side of a car.

If the treads are in the opposite direction, this will give you the opposite reaction, the treads will direct water and mud toward the center of the tire width, reducing traction due to hydroplaning.
If you want to know more look into tire design on a tire manufacturer site, or reasons why race cars change tires during a race when the conditions change.

For the critics:
Yes I know, car tire vs bike tire. But there is far more R&D and design history in car tires when it comes to treads than there is with bikes. So there is more information to learn from in the "car tire world"
The width of the tire can also come into play in this debate/thought experiment. A car tire is much wider and can trap liquid under it, bike tires are substantially thinner, so the point could be made that in real life applications, the difference is negligible. However, my opinions come from a scientific approach where any amount of data is valid.


IMHO, if my tires had treads, and I were to ride in the rain, I would always keep my treads in the correct direction. It's what they were designed for. Safety first.

scoho

My understanding is that bicycle tires are far too narrow and round for hydroplaning:

Bicycle Tires and Tubes

Not to mention, most of the tread on bicycle tires is far too shallow to have any real effect on water or mud in the first place.

mihlbach

Makes no difference. You can't go fast enough to hydroplane a bike tire. Though the wheel is rotating, the tire of a rotating wheel is absolutely still at the contact patch, so, excepting some ramped knobbies that are designed to dig in in one direction and role smoothly in another, the direction of the tread has no effect on static friction or wear.

jimincalif

On my MTB the knobbies have a direction indicated. I've noticed that if I run them the wrong direction they are noisier on pavement. This is probably negligible with the minimal tread on road tires.

Zoroman

But but but if he flips the tire and the tread is going backward the bike will go backward! Nice for a circus act but not great for commuting!





I run directional tires on mine sometimes and the little bit of time I ride with it "flipped" to the sprocket I rarely use and with 23C tires I'm not worried about it at all.

SquidPuppet

This is what people need to understand.

SquidPuppet

Yes.

Automobile tires have a flat contact patch, so by nature they are a hydroplaning event just waiting to happen. Without tread they function (quite efficiently) as flotation devices. Bicycle tires, by virtue of their shape alone, are at all times doing their best to prevent hydroplaning. They are a literal pizza cutter slicing a path through standing water.

ninjamunky

Many motorcycle tires have the tread reversed in the front to aid with braking performance. I doubt it would really make much difference on a bicycle tire.

SquidPuppet

Motorcycle racing SLICKS are actually directional even though there is no tread pattern. The carcasses are built to endure the specific (and very different) abuses that the front experiences under extreme braking and the rear experiences under acceleration. Mounting those tires reversed from will lead to very very nasty outcomes.

jack pot 

>>> i overcame this conundrum by magic markering over the label > at my level of expertise out of site is out of mind as for the tred direct thx for confirming that it is cosmetic only flaw

EnzoRWD

au contraire good sir



But yes, you are absolutely right.

The only thing I can add is that off road, on loose terrain, tread direction can matter. Some mtb and cross tires will indicated alternate orientation for front vs. rear installation because of the inherent slip during use.

On the road, you best match your colored label to the drive side valve and be done with it. It's not only classy, but helps located puncture locations when fixing flats.

Zoroman

I really enjoy those bicycle clown acts where they get on the high wire and ride the bike both forward and backward. Thanks to those backward facing treads!


Don't leave home without them!


I can't wait to put my 23c directional treads back on my single speed bike. They are super light and beautifully solid white! Oh, yea!

Mumonkan