How often do you change your tires?
06-28-10, 05:23 PM
#26
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Flats have little correlation with the life left in the tire (absent a flat that damages the casing). You could flat a brand new tire 3 times in a 100 miles by being unfortunate enough to find the wrong pieces of glass, rocks, etc on the road, and the tire would be fine.
Conversely, you could be fortunate enough to wear the tire to the cord without getting your third flat.
Tire in scenario Number one doesn't need replaced; tire in scenario number 2 does need replaced.
Admittedly a tire with less tread due to wear is somewhat more prone to flat. However, if its worn to that point why wait for three flats before you deal with it?
Conversely, you could be fortunate enough to wear the tire to the cord without getting your third flat.
Tire in scenario Number one doesn't need replaced; tire in scenario number 2 does need replaced.
Admittedly a tire with less tread due to wear is somewhat more prone to flat. However, if its worn to that point why wait for three flats before you deal with it?
06-28-10, 05:40 PM
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06-28-10, 05:58 PM
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06-28-10, 08:09 PM
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My Michelin Pro Race 3 rear tire has worn flat and cords are starting to show. It needs replacing. However, the front tire still looks good. Perhaps I'll be able to get life out of two rear tires for one front tire.
06-28-10, 08:16 PM
#32
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A few mm of rubber/cord is all that's between me and a trip to the ER. I feel like a little extra jingle spent on fresh rubber is much cheaper than ending up in the hospital, not to mention lost wages. To run your tires down to the cords is just crazy....Change em sooner, rather than later.
Any hoo, to answer your questions and not preach/Debbie Down, I plan on swapping out my Conti GP 4000Ss somewhere around the 3000 mile mark. Still, nowhere near the cords though.......
Any hoo, to answer your questions and not preach/Debbie Down, I plan on swapping out my Conti GP 4000Ss somewhere around the 3000 mile mark. Still, nowhere near the cords though.......
Last edited by kneed2wrydemore; 06-28-10 at 11:04 PM.
06-28-10, 09:33 PM
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A few mm of rubber/cord is all that's between me and a trip to the ER. The extra jingle spent on fresh rubber is much cheaper than a trip to the ER, not to mention lost wages. To run your tires down to the cords is just crazy....Change em sooner, rather than later.
Any hoo, to answer your questions and not preach/Debbie Down, I'm changing my Conti GP 4000Ss around 3000 miles. Still, nowhere near the cords though.......
Any hoo, to answer your questions and not preach/Debbie Down, I'm changing my Conti GP 4000Ss around 3000 miles. Still, nowhere near the cords though.......
06-29-10, 12:51 AM
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When the rear tyre gets squared off, I bin it and rotate front to back and put the new one on the front. Racing tyres I replace as soon as they look at all square, winter training tyres I have another tyre with the bead cut off inside to prevent punctures, so I let them get right down to the carcass before I replace them.
06-29-10, 03:25 AM
#35
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I ride Conti GP 4000s on my clincher wheels. The kevlar beads tend to wear out before the tread. When that happens the tire starts getting a lot of pinch flats because you can't properly seat the tube without it sneaking under the bead. In other words the beads lose their rigidity. This is a bigger issue with deep dish rims like my Williams or Zipps, but also to a lesser degree with regular rims. This tends to happen after 2000-3000 miles, and often the tires appear to have tread life left in them. But after numerous pinch flats I replace the tire. Then I stop getting flats.
06-29-10, 09:06 AM
#36
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Originally Posted by PeddlingPilgrim
my michelin pro race 3s last about 3 mo., then they are a bit leveled off on top and i will start to get flats. i hate being out on a ride, getting a flat and seeing the cords so i just replace them @ this point.
Edit to add: And, a new pair of PR3s are on their way from PBK for less than $60. This thread (and others) had me thinking I'd go with the Conti 4000S but they were $74 a pair.
Last edited by telebianchi; 06-29-10 at 10:28 AM.
06-29-10, 09:14 AM
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My GP4000S rear tire still has some of the two tread wear indicator pits showing at 3800 miles / 6100 km. There's a few more cuts in the rubber down to the cords, and I can see that the rubber layer is very thin. When the tread wear indicators are worn off, there really isn't any tread left, and the cords will be showing soon.
The front has essentially no wear, but I can see micro cracking in the rubber surface. I'll be moving this tire to the back and putting a new one on the front. It'll be interesting to see if it lasts as long on the back as the original rear tire did.
No flats on these tires so far.
The front has essentially no wear, but I can see micro cracking in the rubber surface. I'll be moving this tire to the back and putting a new one on the front. It'll be interesting to see if it lasts as long on the back as the original rear tire did.
No flats on these tires so far.
06-29-10, 09:26 AM
#38
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Usually get about 4-5 thousand miles on the rear tire and twice that on the front. The rear tires I use until the cords are very evident; front ones I try to rotate to the rear before they get to that point.
06-29-10, 09:49 AM
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I am very disappointed with my Vittoria Diamante Pros. I only got 1700 miles out of the rear tire till the flats just kept coming. Probably changing to GP 4000s
06-29-10, 10:24 AM
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The "replace after having three flats" rule makes no sense (it's extraordinarily wasteful).
Replace tires when they are worn (and, maybe sometimes, frequency of flats is a measure of being worn).
This doesn't make a lot of sense. (I've gotten flats on spanking-new tires!)
Last edited by njkayaker; 06-29-10 at 10:44 AM.
06-29-10, 11:29 AM
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I agree, I don't count flats or anything. It's not like most flats damage the tire. I replace the tire when I get a bunch of flats close together. Also the tire is usually squared off at that point. So squared off and a bunch of flats in close proximity = replace tire.
06-29-10, 12:42 PM
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I will replace a tire once it has been compromised. Here are the most common reasons I have replaced a tire.
*bubble in sidewall
*cords showing
*multiple flats and showing significant wear
*large enough holes to see daylight through inside of tire
As long as the tire is safe to be at full pressure, it then becomes a tire for running on the trainer.
*bubble in sidewall
*cords showing
*multiple flats and showing significant wear
*large enough holes to see daylight through inside of tire
As long as the tire is safe to be at full pressure, it then becomes a tire for running on the trainer.
