Noticed Tire Rotation Arrow after fixing flat.
#26
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it depends on the tire and purpose. On most road tires, tread has little effect so direction hardly matters, if at all. That's especially on smooth road tires with groves or "stippling" cut in. These have zero meaningful effect, so it really doesn't matter.
OTOH, mtn tires with aggressive knobby treads are often very directional. Some that are made specifically as rear tires for use in mud or sand have knobs shaped like scoops and will really lose pushing power if run backward.
So look at your tires, decide where and how you ride, and draw your own conclusions.
Now that you think you have it, here's another wrinkle. If using the same directional tire on both wheels, you might want to run the front backward. That's because you want best grip under power on the rear wheel, but on the front you want that same grip when braking.
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#27
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That's interesting. I've got Gatorskins on 2 bikes and both sets have labels on both sides of the tires.
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My Continental GP4000S tires have the same labels on both sides of the tires. The only difference is directional arrow. So it may not make a functional difference, but it's useful in identifying how the tire was mounted.
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Thicker road/commuting/touring tires have sipping to allow them to flex better. Should provide a more comfortable and allows the trend conform to the road better giving you better grip (in theory). If you are OCD, go ahead and follow the directional marking, if not, shouldn't matter unless you are running with something that has a significant tread pattern.
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This is false, your bike never travels fast enough for hydroplaning to become an issue. The "treads" on a road tire are decorative issue only. A slick tire will provide the most grip in both wet and dry conditions on paved surfaces. Automotive dogma does not apply here.
It's a wonder why tire manufacturers feel the need to put any treads on tires at all. I guess its for the general public who think the exact thing as above ^. I would love to see all slick road tires become more prevalent then decoration tires.
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/tires.html#hydroplaning
https://yarchive.net/bike/tire_directional_tread.html
It's a wonder why tire manufacturers feel the need to put any treads on tires at all. I guess its for the general public who think the exact thing as above ^. I would love to see all slick road tires become more prevalent then decoration tires.
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/tires.html#hydroplaning
https://yarchive.net/bike/tire_directional_tread.html
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Since this thread is still going, they're for the people who are incapable of installing a tire without those arrows.
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Directionality makes a tire seem more engineered. It's a feature to use as a selling point. It's the same reason that companies often make functional claims about other features that often are just cosmetic.
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I tend to agree that slick road tire are by-directional but it just seems strange that most of the tires companies decided to included them as some type of marketing strategy?
If it is marketing why are the arrows so small?
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The thread is so old, the OP probably figured out how to bike backwards to take advantage of the backwards tires. He's still posting, so he survived the tire at least....
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I don't think it's any more than limiting (percieved) liability.
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The rest of us can just ignore them.
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I wish we good get a comment from a tire company representative. I know that Specialized has a site for customer help do their tires have arrows?
Yes I am beating a dead horse and generally agree that the arrows means nothing but I don't buy the marketing argument for the reason that they are on the tires.
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The tire company representive would just be a marketing guy saying whatever will placate the questioner. If you examine the fabric of a tire, the threads run diagonally, so if you flip the tire around, the threads will still be going in the same direction! No matter which way the tire is mounted, the tire flexes in the same manner, so there is no engineering reason for the arrows.
The only reason for an arrow on a road tire is to make sure the label is on the right side, and that any cosmetic tread points in the same direction as in their promotional material, that's it!
The only reason for an arrow on a road tire is to make sure the label is on the right side, and that any cosmetic tread points in the same direction as in their promotional material, that's it!
#47
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I'd search on this if I could search, but alas that function isn't working at the moment.
I changed a flat today and after re-mounting the tire noticed that there was an arrow indicating tire rotation direction on it. Naturally, I mounted the tire backwards, based on this! Sigh...but it did make me wonder....does it matter?
Thanks,
Sheldon
I changed a flat today and after re-mounting the tire noticed that there was an arrow indicating tire rotation direction on it. Naturally, I mounted the tire backwards, based on this! Sigh...but it did make me wonder....does it matter?
Thanks,
Sheldon
Level 1: Not even aware an arrow exists
Level 2: Aware an arrow exists and extremely careful the arrow is pointing the right way and would immediately pull the tire back off to correct if necessary.
Level 3: Aware an arrow exists and aware that it really doesn't make a rat's ass of difference.
Don in Austin