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Tire rotational direction.

Old 04-21-21, 10:27 AM
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Tire rotational direction.

Had a flat a couple miles into my ride this morning. When I was finished up I noticed I had put the tire on in a way that was not in the rotating direction. I continued the ride...another 20 miles or so and thought I would switch to the correct direction when I got home. Is that necessary? Conti Ultra Sports 25.
thx for any input
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Old 04-21-21, 10:30 AM
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You probably won't notice any difference.
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Old 04-21-21, 10:34 AM
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Originally Posted by berg417448
you probably won't notice any difference.
agree
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Old 04-21-21, 10:51 AM
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Originally Posted by Joearch
Had a flat a couple miles into my ride this morning. When I was finished up I noticed I had put the tire on in a way that was not in the rotating direction. I continued the ride...another 20 miles or so and thought I would switch to the correct direction when I got home. Is that necessary? Conti Ultra Sports 25.
thx for any input
Rotational direction is unimportant on low profile road tires. If you really want to bother your OCD friends (or OCD bike mechanics) mount them backwards. It really messes with their head

Rotational direction can be important in tires with more aggressive tread, however. But probably only with respect to the front tire. The direction of a mountain bike knobby can have an influence on control. Panaracer kind of started the directional tire idea with the introduction of the Dart tire. It works well to help in cornering on loose surfaces.
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Old 04-21-21, 11:04 AM
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Those tire rotational direction arrows are for people in the southern hemisphere only.
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Old 04-21-21, 11:13 AM
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When I mount them, I mount them according to the directional arrow, but, if I missed it, and mounted it wrong, I wouldn't remount it. I may remove it and remount it the correct direction, if I had it off to fix a flat, but other than that, I wouldn't bother.
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Old 04-21-21, 11:14 AM
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Originally Posted by berner
Those tire rotational direction arrows are for people in the southern hemisphere only.
Guys down there HAVE TO mount the tires backwards. If you do so in the north, your bike might explode. (But probably won’t.)
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Old 04-21-21, 11:17 AM
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Love the responses. I figured since the tires have no directional tread it would be no big deal. Thx to all!
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Old 04-21-21, 11:19 AM
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BTW, While it is not a big deal to most there is a sense of accomplishment to bust out the repair kit, fix a flat and continue on your way. Made my ride more fun.
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Old 04-21-21, 12:44 PM
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Originally Posted by Joearch
there is a sense of accomplishment to bust out the repair kit, fix a flat and continue on your way
Even more so, if the flat you fixed was for a stranger you found walking their bike

Barry
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Old 04-21-21, 12:45 PM
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I'd not have anything to cause me to believe the direction of rotation might cause you a flat or anything adverse.

If you can find any manufacturer reference for why, then for those I've found they talk about water displacement or traction on other than paved surfaces. Likely it won't make a difference until you are next to the last decimal place of needing that extra bit of whatever.

Though if I see the arrow, I put it on accordingly. But I wouldn't change one that I noticed later until something else required dismounting the tire.
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Old 04-21-21, 07:35 PM
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The biggest problem with tires mounted backwards is people finding out

As long as the road/trail surface isn't impressionable (soft) and the tire tread can't engage that surface the mounting direction is not important

back in the 1990s IRC offered a tandem "specific" tire with a directional tread (road intended with a 700x30 labeled "size"). When mounted as the arrow suggested it whined under power. When mounted reverse it was quiet. Andy
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Old 04-21-21, 08:25 PM
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Next you're going to tell us you didn't line up the 'C' in Continental with valve stem aren't you, you monster?
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Old 04-21-21, 09:22 PM
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I have three bikes with road Vittoria Rubino tires in 700-23 and, of the 6 tires, only one has a directional arrow. Why? I have no idea. It is mounted backwards because I didn't know to look and a 50/50 chance had it come out that way. 2000 miles later I've not noticed any problems.
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Old 04-21-21, 09:53 PM
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Actually, the right mounting for the rear tire is to have it opposite to the 'rotation' direction, so if you misoriented the rear tire you may have it 'right' now . I try to watch the direction when mounting, but I never bother to switch if I make a mistake. It just makes too little difference under most conditions to bother. When riding in bad mud it might matter or under some snow conditions. If you align the manufacturer's name with the vent, you might want to have a good direction to facilitate tracing any punctures tied to the rim. I actually never look for an arrow that may be there or not or difficult to find. The tread's tree branches need to stretch out forward on the ground for the front tire and backward for the rear.
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Old 04-22-21, 10:10 AM
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Riding in Los Angeles I don’t see a lot of snow or mud. I’m always on paved bike paths and roads. So the orientation of the tire on the rim is not very important. This is actually my spare bike. If this was on my primary bike (Bianchi) out of principal I would have to switch the tire so the God‘s will be pleased.
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Old 04-22-21, 10:49 AM
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If I had a dime for every time I've put a tire back on backwards, or saw someone else with a tire on backwards, or even went to assemble a brand new bike that had a tire on backwards... you'll be fine. Heck, the tandem I bought in Feb has a tire on backwards and I'm just waiting until it gets a flat to bother turning it around.
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Old 04-22-21, 10:52 AM
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If there is enough tread to make a difference in the rotational direction, then it seems to me the front and rear have to be mounted in opposite directions. The rear bites in when you accelerate, and the front bites in when you brake.
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Old 04-22-21, 12:24 PM
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Originally Posted by noglider
If there is enough tread to make a difference in the rotational direction, then it seems to me the front and rear have to be mounted in opposite directions. The rear bites in when you accelerate, and the front bites in when you brake.
When I raced BMX, many, many years...40 years ago, we used to mount the tires in different directions. I honestly forget which was mounted which way, as dementia has set in at my advanced age.
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Old 04-22-21, 02:34 PM
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I remembering hearing that on treaded tires, the purpose of the directional arrows was to move rain water from the center outwards.

On my mountain bikes I like the front center outward for sand sections, have no idea if it really helps, and reversing the rear for better climbing.

John
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Old 04-22-21, 04:25 PM
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With the exception of the bead size, almost everything written on the side of a tire has little connection to reality
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Old 04-22-21, 04:59 PM
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Originally Posted by noglider
If there is enough tread to make a difference in the rotational direction, then it seems to me the front and rear have to be mounted in opposite directions. The rear bites in when you accelerate, and the front bites in when you brake.
I believe that is true for wider, dirt tires, but don't think it matters on skinny road tires.

Originally Posted by 70sSanO
I remembering hearing that on treaded tires, the purpose of the directional arrows was to move rain water from the center outwards.
I read that slicks actually have the best wet traction on bicycle tires because water does not get trapped underneath them like they do for flat profiled car tires. No idea if that's true or not.
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Old 04-22-21, 05:15 PM
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Originally Posted by urbanknight
I read that slicks actually have the best wet traction on bicycle tires because water does not get trapped underneath them like they do for flat profiled car tires. No idea if that's true or not.
Yes, the basically V shape of bike tires prevents hydroplaning, unless you're going 100mph (or so). Motorcycle tires, being a little wider, can hydroplane at lower speeds but still much less than a flat car tire. More important to have a compound that sticks to wet roads for bicycle tires.
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Old 04-22-21, 06:53 PM
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Originally Posted by urbanknight
I believe that is true for wider, dirt tires, but don't think it matters on skinny road tires.
Right. I read somewhere that Continental puts directional arrows on their road tires only to satisfy customer demand, not because they're any good at all.

I read that slicks actually have the best wet traction on bicycle tires because water does not get trapped underneath them like they do for flat profiled car tires. No idea if that's true or not.
Yup. Jobst Brandt tested tires in the 80s, and that led to totally smooth slick tires, first on Avocet tires. It went contrary to our intuitions, but they're fine. It seems we've backed off from that, so maybe the light treads we have help a little bit, maybe not. I ride very lightly treaded tires and took them on a rough trail yesterday. I was fine but there wasn't much loose tread on the sloped portions. And we know very well that too much slows us down when the road is smooth.
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Old 04-22-21, 08:43 PM
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If someone complains, show them that when you speed up they can't tell which way it's oriented.

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