Tire Wear Pattern?
03-27-20, 09:48 AM
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Tire Wear Pattern?
Long story short, the tires on my Giant road bike are wearing down the right side of center. There is a 3/8" wide solid strip down the center of the tire with grooving off to either side and it's wearing down the right side of this strip as if I were constantly leaning the bike over to the right while riding. 27 x 1.25 Kendra tires. Still has nipples showing on the left side of center while worn away on the right. Any ideas?
03-27-20, 04:44 PM
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If this was a car one would question the wheel alignment. Because I can assess frame/wheel alignment easily I would start there. Your abilities or budget might suggest another path. Andy
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03-27-20, 05:26 PM
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I once had my wheel cockeyed in the dropouts and didn't notice for a while. The dropouts were the old style campy's from the '70s.
I'd check to be sure that the bead on one side isn't still down too low. Most tires, or at least the ones I've used have a witness line that visually shows you if the bead of the tire is on the bead seat of the rim.
I'd check to be sure that the bead on one side isn't still down too low. Most tires, or at least the ones I've used have a witness line that visually shows you if the bead of the tire is on the bead seat of the rim.
03-27-20, 05:32 PM
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I once had my wheel cockeyed in the dropouts and didn't notice for a while. The dropouts were the old style campy's from the '70s.
I'd check to be sure that the bead on one side isn't still down too low. Most tires, or at least the ones I've used have a witness line that visually shows you if the bead of the tire is on the bead seat of the rim.
I'd check to be sure that the bead on one side isn't still down too low. Most tires, or at least the ones I've used have a witness line that visually shows you if the bead of the tire is on the bead seat of the rim.
03-28-20, 09:58 AM
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If it were just the front I would agree with you about alignment. But it appears to be both front and rear tires. Also, wouldn't the brakes be off if the wheels weren't seated in the QR's properly? I mention that because someone else brought it up. The bike is a late 80's Giant.
03-28-20, 11:35 AM
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I sometimes lay a long straight edge across both my tires. If it doesn't touch each tire in two places, then I suspect something is amiss with alignment. Could just be both wheels don't run in the same track due to various things. But if it's far off, it'll give you something to ponder.
03-28-20, 01:42 PM
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The brakes have a fairly wide range of adjustment (both centering WRT rim and pad heights) to be able to accommodate a wheel that's a bit off center or not coplanar with the main triangle. So the brakes might not be even "bothered" by a wheel that's off line and thus if that's the aligning tool used the judgement might be that the wheels are in line because the brakes are too (WRT the rims). One would expect both tires to have some uneven wearing if one was out of line. It would make the bike track crooked and thus (love that word) to make the bike steer straight the rider provides a slight steering force. So both tires are seeing some scrubbing/steering forces.
Whether this is what's going on I have no idea but I have seen this before. Andy
Whether this is what's going on I have no idea but I have seen this before. Andy
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03-28-20, 05:32 PM
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Thanks Andy. I took it for a ride today and really studied both my riding style and the bike. This may sound weird, but it looks like I lean over to the side while riding. Just this bike and only when I have my hands on the bars. When I ride without hands. the bike comes up straight. When I got back, I jumped on my MTB and studied the way I rode it-no lean at all. with or without hands (it's really a lot easier to ride without hands because of the seat geometry and other factors) but definitely no lean. So is it the bike frame, or is it the rider?
03-28-20, 07:23 PM
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"Show me a perfect rider and I'll build a perfect bike" so said who is considered to be the father of much of the modern American frame building.
One of the two, rider or bike, can be measured and possibly made straighter for far less then the other. Andy
One of the two, rider or bike, can be measured and possibly made straighter for far less then the other. Andy
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03-30-20, 02:32 PM
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Can you attribute this to the lateral pitch/slope of the part of the road you spend most time riding? My tires regularly wear more to the left of center.
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03-30-20, 04:27 PM
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Are they directional tires? An unsatisfactory workaround would be to flip the tires so that wear begins on the other side.
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06-16-20, 07:00 PM
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Thanks for all the posts trying to figure it out, but today I think I got it. A short while back someone posted about saddles and how they tried a new saddle and really liked it which got me to thinking that I have one of those in my parts bin. I dug it out and swapped it a couple weeks ago and just noticed today that tire wear is right down the center and I'm no longer leaning off side. I haven't dug the old seat out of the bin to see if there is something weird going on with it, but it was definitely the problem. New seat is much more comfortable too. 
