Originally Posted by
ThermionicScott
Nah, weight balance isn't enough to explain why the tires wear differently. You could front-load a bike to make the weight balance 50/50 and the rear tire will still square off (which fronts don't do, or at least never have for me) and wear out faster.
Unless you've actually done that, you're just speculating.
There is actual logic behind my argument, since it is indisputable that the rear tire supports well over 50% of the system weight; your (and
chas58 's) argument is pure speculation, since neither of you have offered any evidence that power output causes tire wear. (And logic works against your argument, since cycling -- aside from a few track disciplines and the odd TT launch -- doesn't generally involve rapid starts. Even most road races start rather sedately, in my experience, and power is then applied once the wheels are already rolling at a good pace.)
I reckon that rear tires might wear a bit faster due to
deceleration, since the rearward weight bias (and many riders' tendency to overuse the rear brake) might cause more skids and near-skids.