woodcraft

Does anyone round those corners for better handling?

bldegle2

I used to rotate tires, swapping them every few hundred miles, front to back and back to front. Now I keep the front tire up front and only change the rear tire about every 1500 to 2000 miles, YMMV.... Good folding Gatorskins only run about $35 each (Ebay, 700x25, snag two at a time, $65 delivered for both), so I go through two or three a year. Front tire really never wears out on a road bike. Rounding (shaving) the corners I personally don't recommend...

u235

Don't understand. You mean take a tire and shave of some side tread thinking it would corner better? I'd just buy tires with better handling in mind for the terrain you plan to ride on.

SalsaShark

i think the OP is referring to a tire where the tread is wearing and beginning to flatten the center and square off with a more defined angle near the sidewall, resulting in a tire that wants to stay upright and slightly resists leaning into a turn.
I would think it would be a lot of time and effort to attempt to reshape the tire into a more curved profile again, and result in shortening the service life of the tire, and possibly make the handling of the tire unpredictable.

AnkleWork

Try a belt sander with fresh abrasives. Hold it at an angle to the wheel rotation and it will stay even all around.

djb

this is going to work out swimmingly...... (sarcasm to be clear here)

to the person asking the question. Just get a new tire, and no, noone ever rounds off a squared off tire, we buy new tires.

zacster

I'm thinking that wide MTB tires will have squared knobs on them, maybe he means those? They can be rough on pavement. That still doesn't mean you should shave them off.

jadocs

I don't think it will accomplish anything or improve handling.

rumrunn6

that'll buff right out

HillRider

A flattened profile on rear tires is normal as mileage accumulates. Ignore it and just use the tires until they are worn to a very thin tread depth or until the casing shows in a spot or two. The flattening has no noticeable effect on handling or cornering. Do not sand or grind the edges off.

woodcraft

This is the kind of question that occurs to me while out riding. I could do it with decent results, but wouldn't bother,

and rubber dust is really messy. But I do some things that most don't, e.g. wheel balancing.

I think it's safe to assume that you don't know everyone, so I won't take your answer as conclusive.

Crankycrank

+1. We round off squared edges for motorcycle tires where you have a much thicker tread to work with and having the ability to make a smooth roll into a high speed corner makes a big difference in stability, not so much on a bicycle and you're removing valuable rubber that might prevent a flat.

bbbean 

I sand my tires one mile at a time on the road. When any part of them gets too thin for comfort or performance, I reture them to teh trainer tire pile and put new tires on. Even race tires aren't that expensive. There's no reason to ride bad tires.

djb

by all means try it if you wish.
In all seriousness, if you do, good luck and hopefully unequal sanding won't make a "thumpy thump" and or dangerously thin the thread.

AnkleWork

That's where it should have stayed.

Troul 

siping the tire might be better if surface conditions warrant it.

canklecat

Dirt track motorcycle racers often filed or sanded tires to suit tracks and conditions. Bicycles rarely encounter terrain where that's necessary or would offer any advantage.

I've heard of a few cyclists filing down shoulder knobbies to fit all terrain tires on road bikes with narrow frames for light duty gravel and off road use. Side knobbies on tires like the Conti SpeedRides don't really do much anyway, other than fast turns on grass. Might as well file 'em down if someone wants to squeeze 'em into a narrow frame. The shallow file tread does 99% of the work.

The only time my tire develops a flat wear pattern is when I use it on the Cycleops trainer for awhile. The rear tire wears a flattish shape. One road ride rounds off the edges. I use Continental Ultra Sport II on one bike for both the trainer and outdoor rides. No problems in almost two years doing that with Conti Ultra Sport II in 700x23 and 700x25, folding and wire bead. Good tough tires and cheap. I wouldn't do that with my pricier road tires.

Drew Eckhardt 

A bicycle tire's thin carcass makes it compliant enough the squared off shape does not matter.

This tire still handled like it was brand new:

zacster

Another discussion about a kluge that doesn't need to be done. There are tires for every condition. Just buy the tire you need. Doing anything to them will only shorten the life.

WizardOfBoz

Agree with bldegle2 and all others: lay off shaving the tires. If you really want to reshape the tires, ride a lot in places with a lot of turns.

Regarding rotation, you have to be very careful if you rotate so that the front tire is always as good as (or nearly so) as the rear. This would require really frequent rotations. Dogma (backed by experience) states that your front tire should always be your best tire. Strong recommendations by many (including St. Sheldon of Brown) is to NEVER rotate your tires rear-to-front. My practice is to ride til the rear wheel is done (fabric showing trough or bad puncture or contact area worn down) and then take the relatively unworn front, shift it to the back, and replace the front tire with new. This maximizes the service life of expensive tires, minimizes the work of rotation, and satisfies the "always have the best tire in front" dogma/best practice.

For all riders, ALWAYS have the best tire in front, and for most folks and almost all situations, NEVER rotate the rear tire to the front.