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What's the longest you have gotten out of a rear tire?

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What's the longest you have gotten out of a rear tire?

Old 11-03-19, 06:31 PM
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UsedToBeFaster
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What's the longest you have gotten out of a rear tire?

I keep on reading people get 1000 miles out of a rear tire sometimes less.

But I regularly get 2-3k+ I think its due to the smooth CA roads?

Can anyone top that?

To be clear I mean from a performance tire not a commuter tire like gator skins
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Old 11-03-19, 06:36 PM
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I put a new GP4000SII on the rear of my Fuji this spring. I now have 2900 miles on it. Most every road around here is chip sealed.
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Old 11-03-19, 07:12 PM
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I can get nearly 5000 miles on Conti 4 Seasons tires, in the rear. And even then, they are probably still rideable and safe - but they have a pronounced flattening to their profile. Front tires can go for even further unless there's some horrendous puncture, like a big nail.

The same with Gatorskins, though I don't use them so much anymore.

GP4000s - maybe not quite as much, but if I'm lucky, pretty close.
I don't have enough miles on my GP5000s to know - I just started running them earlier this summer, and that bike has maybe 2500 miles - they look fine so far.

Lots of chip seal here and of course, tons of pot holes.
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Old 11-03-19, 07:21 PM
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I got just over 3,300 miles out of a rear tire once. Once.

Current rear has 2,600 on it and it's pretty much knackered.

I mount every tire hoping for 3,000, and make it about 30% of the time.

But worn out at 1,000 miles? Mavic Aksions or Schwalbe Ones will do that.
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Old 11-03-19, 07:41 PM
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For "road" tires, the Continental Gator Hardshells do pretty well. I don't keep track of exact mileage, but I think up to about 5K.

"Touring", and the Schwalbe Marathon Plus (as small as 25mm), and Michelin Protek Cross Max (32mm and larger?) do pretty well. They have a LOT of rubber, but a softer rubber than the Gator Hardshells, and thus wear through the rubber quicker, but have better traction too.

Oh, and quite a few FLAT-FREE miles with the Tannus tires.
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Old 11-03-19, 07:48 PM
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My last couple of Rubino Pro G+ rear tires, I got ~2500 from one and ~3500 from the next. The short-lived tire was used over winter, so wetter roads etc. In comparison, the corresponding front tire outlasted both (6000 miles plus), but when the 3500 mi rear tire started showing threads, I replaced the set
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Old 11-03-19, 09:56 PM
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Originally Posted by Litespud
but when the rear tire started showing threads, I replaced the (front tire too)
(a longstanding point of discussion on bf. )

I do this too. Sometimes. Sometimes I just replace the rear - particularly if I'm staying with the same tire type. But if I'm changing to a different tire type, for some reason I'm moved to replace both.

Later I look through my pile of old tires and I wonder why a perfectly good one is in the scrap heap.
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Old 11-03-19, 11:31 PM
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Originally Posted by CliffordK
For "road" tires, the Continental Gator Hardshells do pretty well. I don't keep track of exact mileage, but I think up to about 5K.

"Touring", and the Schwalbe Marathon Plus (as small as 25mm), and Michelin Protek Cross Max (32mm and larger?) do pretty well. They have a LOT of rubber, but a softer rubber than the Gator Hardshells, and thus wear through the rubber quicker, but have better traction too.

Oh, and quite a few FLAT-FREE miles with the Tannus tires.
Originally Posted by UsedToBeFaster
To be clear I mean from a performance tire not a commuter tire like gator skins
You can get a lot of horrible, hairshirt-level self-flagellation miles by riding on Hardshells. I speak from experience-- I had a front 700x28 Hardshell last 6,600 miles.

But it's not what the OP asked. The very same goes for Marathons, and <shudder> Tannus solids.
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Old 11-04-19, 12:15 AM
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Originally Posted by UsedToBeFaster
I keep on reading people get 1000 miles out of a rear tire sometimes less.

But I regularly get 2-3k+ I think its due to the smooth CA roads?

Can anyone top that?

To be clear I mean from a performance tire not a commuter tire like gator skins
A lot of it depends on rider weight and tire width. A clyde will wear out a 700x23C tire a lot faster than a bantamweight on 650x42B tires.

I got a set of 700x30C tires to 5600 miles a few years ago, weighing between 155-165 lbs (sorry for the grainy picture):


Since then, most of my miles have been on 38+ mm tires so they either succumb to catastrophic injuries or the final results aren't in yet.
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Old 11-04-19, 12:33 AM
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5,000 miles.

Old school Armadillo. 700 x 25 while training for a timed event with 10,000 ft of gain. Heavy stiff wheel used most of the year, many rides through the mountains, local roads, trails, and lot of pathlete miles as well as 30,000 ft climbing every month.

Did 7300 miles that year. Heavy tire but I wore that sucker out till the red strip was showing through but never flatted. Great because I needed something tough to get me through lonely roads.

Wore the heck out of it, then on event day, slapped on a Conti. Big difference but training is training and that tire was tough, heavy but tough!

Usually, a Conti 4000 I will get 2 grand.
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Old 11-04-19, 06:27 AM
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I get 4000+ from GP4000s. I may replace them prematurely but they seem to flat easier as they wear down. Variety of road surfaces. Tire life rivals chain life in user variability
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Old 11-04-19, 07:53 AM
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Minor tweak of title, hope OP doesn't mind.
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Old 11-04-19, 07:59 AM
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Originally Posted by ThermionicScott
A lot of it depends on rider weight and tire width.
I think a lot of folks discount rider weight a bit. I used to get 5k out of GP4000's regularly. This was riding them down to where the cords started showing through and I never road on dirt roads. I weigh 135-140.

I've switched to the GP5000's and am getting less mileage. Under 3.5k which is a huge decrease, but I have been riding dirt roads a bit. I wasn't able to run them to the cords due to an abundance of little cuts in the tread that got me a bit worried.
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Old 11-04-19, 08:34 AM
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Originally Posted by RShantz
I've switched to the GP5000's and am getting less mileage. Under 3.5k which is a huge decrease, but I have been riding dirt roads a bit. I wasn't able to run them to the cords due to an abundance of little cuts in the tread that got me a bit worried.
I don't see a big difference between GP4000 and GP5000 wear on the tread. I had terrible problems with sidewall cuts on the GP4000, and though expectation has been that the GP5000 might have the same problem, thus far, I've been lucky and had none.

Of course, this is an apt place to add "YMMV"
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Old 11-04-19, 09:35 AM
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I use GP4000/5000 tires and the limiting factor in tire life is almost never actual wear down to the cords, it's getting little nicks or gashes that I can't fix with superglue and I no longer trust. Usually it's after 2k miles or so, but there is plenty of tread life left based on the little wear indicators.
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Old 11-04-19, 09:36 AM
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Probably depends on rider weight too. I'm down to 150 and tires seem to last a long time now.

We have the usual Southern/Midwestern mix of some smooth asphalt, lots of chipseal, gravel, and busted up neglected urban infrastructure. Despite it all, I've had relatively few puncture flats without resorting to Gatorskins or comparable lead filled garden hose, and no tire failures.

For the past couple of years I've mostly used cheap Continental Ultra Sport II, 700x23 and x25, on my road bikes. Going on 4,000 miles with the 700x25 set, including lots of hours on the trainer. Only the first wear dimple is nearly worn down, remarkably little wear for the use. I'm more concerned about a few nicks and cuts, but only one or two of those resulted in punctures. So far no signs of avulsion, so I'll keep watching and riding 'em.

And around 2,000 on the 700x23. Very little wear, no nicks. Very few hours on the trainer with this set, mostly outdoor miles.

I got less than 1,000 miles on a set of Vittoria's cheapie Zaffiros before the rear showed significant wear and cuts. Lousy riding tires anyway. For the same price the Conti Ultra Sport II are far better.

And I had to retire a Schwalbe One V-Guard after around 1,500 miles. The tire wasn't worn out but it was cut to pieces. Fragile tires. But sweet riding while they lasted -- grippy, quick, light, good even at lower pressure. It performed exactly as the rolling resistance site tests indicated. Too bad Schwalbe discontinued that particular model. It was great for chasing PRs/KOMs, or faster group rides. Probably the closest thing I've ridden to a racing clincher. I kept the front tire as a spare lashed to the saddle bag on longer solo rides in rural areas. It was still in good shape.

And on one hybrid, around 5,000 miles on Continental SpeedRides. The shallow file tread pattern finally wore down on the rear tire contact patch but it's still good to ride. That hybrid also doubles as an errand bike and occasionally hauls up to 50 lbs on the rear rack. I'll replace it with the same tire. The SpeedRide is an outstanding all around tire.
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Old 11-05-19, 06:18 AM
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Originally Posted by Dan333SP
I use GP4000/5000 tires and the limiting factor in tire life is almost never actual wear down to the cords, it's getting little nicks or gashes that I can't fix with superglue and I no longer trust. Usually it's after 2k miles or so, but there is plenty of tread life left based on the little wear indicators.
Do people use superglue to fix bike tires? I would think this type of glue dries hard and crystalline (ie. like using pieces of glass to fill nicks in the tire)?
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Old 11-05-19, 08:07 AM
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I sure do. I seal up little nicks and cuts in tires with superglue all the time. Never had a problem.
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Old 11-05-19, 08:46 AM
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And some people even use it to patch tubes!

See my thread here and some youtube video
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Old 11-05-19, 09:04 AM
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Originally Posted by UsedToBeFaster
See my thread here and some youtube video here
Some people still use tubes?
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Old 11-05-19, 05:50 PM
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Originally Posted by DrIsotope
I sure do. I seal up little nicks and cuts in tires with superglue all the time. Never had a problem.
Ok, it just seems hardened superglue wouldn't be much (if any) softer than other material or the road itself, that could press into those nicks and cuts.
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Old 11-05-19, 06:14 PM
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Well, I'm not using superglue to fill holes so much as I am to glue cuts back together, so they don't get any bigger. I've glued them this way both internally and externally. The particular type of superglue doesn't seem to matter. I've been using the Gorilla Super Glue for a couple of years now. Primarily because it's readily available locally.
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Old 11-05-19, 06:28 PM
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Incorrect, as has been shown empirically over tens of thousands of miles. I've saved several 700c tires from an early demise by gluing cuts shut. It's not hard. For frame of reference: R/C tires are glued to the rims with superglue, and those wheels can spin at several thousand RPM. I've made "hybrid" R/C tires by cutting two tires in half and gluing a left half and a right half together. Maybe you haven't used a decent cyanoacrylate in a long time, but with the proper adhesive (like MXBon 105) you could cut a bike tire in half and glue the ends back together.
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Old 11-05-19, 06:33 PM
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As per this relevant thread, if the tire is a good one I like to squeeze every last drop of use out of it.

(I'm writing this post on a pentium 4 desktop computer).
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Old 11-05-19, 07:41 PM
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But lots of people have ...

I have several tubes I have super glued tubes with pin pricks that gave lasted 2+ weeks. This clearly proves your statement wrong.

Originally Posted by Spoonrobot
Superglue doesn't do anything for a tire or tube that isn't non-functional cosmetic window dressing. It's certainly not going to be able to bond to a level able to withstand any reasonable pressure.
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