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Tire Time!


Razors Edge

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36 minutes ago, Longjohn said:

Remember Garth? His tires weren’t even broke in at 6,000 miles. He ran them until the air was showing through.

Yeah - he had a penny pinching streak that was admirable but also not something easily copied.

I thought about superglue or shoe goop or rubber cement over the work bits, but when I saw them in many places on the tire, I just opted for new.  I have a few spares on the shelf so it wasn't a tough decision.

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7 minutes ago, Longjohn said:

Garth was known to boot a tire with an inch long cut and run it until the cords were showing all the way around the tire

I forgot about Garth.   Yeah... he certainly rode on tires I would have replaced, probably months (of years) earlier than he did.

In mid August, I replaced the rear tire on our tandem.   The tire had lots of wear, and one spot had some threads showing.  We had a flat rear tire on a ride.  (possibly hit a rock)   About 3100 miles on the tire. 

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I'm amazed that people keep track of this stuff.  I have no idea when I've changed tires.  If it's a pinpoint puncture, I just replace the tube.  If it looks shaky, I replace the tire.  I've gone hundreds, maybe thousands, of miles before I change a tire, and sometimes I got a hundred or less.  Depends on luck.  If I do a lot of roller riding, there is close to zero wear, so that helps their longevity, and helps with punctures.

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14 hours ago, Square Wheels said:

I'm amazed that people keep track of this stuff.  I have no idea when I've changed tires.  If it's a pinpoint puncture, I just replace the tube.  If it looks shaky, I replace the tire.  I've gone hundreds, maybe thousands, of miles before I change a tire, and sometimes I got a hundred or less.  Depends on luck.  If I do a lot of roller riding, there is close to zero wear, so that helps their longevity, and helps with punctures.

You mean a simple pencil and paper is too hard?  Wow.

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33 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

You mean a simple pencil and paper is too hard?  Wow.

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And you wonder why people give you so much crap! 😁

I’m with SW here, I don’t track tire wear either. The last few tires I replaced for wear were on my MTB and I have no clue how many miles were on them.  I don’t ride the Bianchi much but when I was replacing tires it was a very rough guess on mileage.

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6 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

And you wonder why people give you so much crap! 😁

I’m with SW here, I don’t track tire wear either. The last few tires I replaced for wear were on my MTB and I have no clue how many miles were on them.  I don’t ride the Bianchi much but when I was replacing tires it was a very rough guess on mileage.

Me neither..., I recently changed mine when I got a flat that the hole was not hard to find......

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and realized that my tire was getting quite worn.  Not sure when I put it on

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I don’t really keep track of mileage. When I was just using the bike computer the battery would go dead over the winter and I would lose my data. On Strava it keeps track of the rides that I remember to use Strava on. I have never ruined a road tire or even had a puncture. I only replace them when I see the cords.

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6 minutes ago, Randomguy said:

If you have one or two primary bikes and a computer on each, it isn't hard at all to keep a running mileage in your head.  You should pretty much know , if you are observant, where your tire's mileage is at.

Probably so but I have 1 Garmin that goes on 3 different bikes.

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10 minutes ago, Randomguy said:

If you have one or two primary bikes and a computer on each, it isn't hard at all to keep a running mileage in your head.  You should pretty much know , if you are observant, where your tire's mileage is at.

Who cares?  I've had massive gashes in tires that were nearly new.  What good is that knowledge?  I should have got thousands more miles than I did, but didn't.  I look at my tires rarely.  I pump them up and ride.

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10 minutes ago, Square Wheels said:

Who cares?  I've had massive gashes in tires that were nearly new.  What good is that knowledge?  I should have got thousands more miles than I did, but didn't.  I look at my tires rarely.  I pump them up and ride.

It is important information that guides your next tire purchases.  If you know the mileage you get, you can buy again if favorable or look at reviews and make a different decision.  If you are getting gashes and staying with the same brand, you could then switch to something with a better sidewall.  Usually, it is a performance vs. wear vs. grip equation when you are putting in big miles.  I suppose it is much easier to gauge when you are putting in 200+ mile weeks, which is when I learned the habit of checking wear, particularly on the rear tire. 

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Just now, Randomguy said:

It is important information that guides your next tire purchases.  If you know the mileage you get, you can buy again if favorable or look at reviews and make a different decision.  If you are getting gashes and staying with the same brand, you could then switch to something with a better sidewall.  Usually, it is a performance vs. wear equation when you are putting in big miles.  I suppose it is much easier to gauge when you are putting in 200+ mile weeks, which is when I learned the habit of checking wear, particularly on the rear tire. 

I count my roller miles as real miles.  @Razors Edge is so wrong.  If I ride 2000 miles this winter, there will be close to zero wear.  The tires on the bike are at least a year old.  Very little outside riding.  I'm guessing a 1000 or so outside miles and a 1000 or so indoor miles.  Probably more of each.  They are Conti 4000 like the rest of the normal people out there.  I had a stash of 23s, I think we've gone through those, now we have a couple of spare 25s.

When one or more tires die, I'll just put on a new Conti.  I only but them online when I see them on sale somewhere.  I don't fret over a few pennies.

If I buy a cheaper tire and track how many miles I get then let that influence my next purchase... again, way too much work.

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13 minutes ago, Square Wheels said:

I count my roller miles as real miles.  @Razors Edge is so wrong.  If I ride 2000 miles this winter, there will be close to zero wear.  The tires on the bike are at least a year old.  Very little outside riding.  I'm guessing a 1000 or so outside miles and a 1000 or so indoor miles.  Probably more of each.  They are Conti 4000 like the rest of the normal people out there.  I had a stash of 23s, I think we've gone through those, now we have a couple of spare 25s.

When one or more tires die, I'll just put on a new Conti.  I only but them online when I see them on sale somewhere.  I don't fret over a few pennies.

If I buy a cheaper tire and track how many miles I get then let that influence my next purchase... again, way too much work.

Hmm, when I had a trainer years ago, I noticed the rear tires square off really quickly and wear increased, a lot.  I never got a sidewall cut on the trainer, though.

Anyway, once I thought a rear tire was cooked from road use, I might save it for the trainer and see how long it would last, then discard when the weather got better.  Usually, I would put a sorta worn front tire on the rear wheel for trainer use, though.

I like the conti's on the bike I have now.  I used to ride Open Corsa tires when I could get them wholesale, despite the shortened wear life, but no tire ever rode better or faster.  I have a wholesale hookup for Schwalbe now (as long as I order $200 or more at a time), so I will probably get those next.

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42 minutes ago, Randomguy said:

Hmm, when I had a trainer years ago, I noticed the rear tires square off really quickly and wear increased, a lot.

 
 

Not on rollers.  No wear at all.  I had a trainer, I bought a Wahoo Kickr and sold my old trainer.  I bolt the bike directly to the Wahoo, so I don't need any tires for that bike.

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1 hour ago, Randomguy said:

It is important information that guides your next tire purchases.

I just go on a forum at squarewheelscycling.com, read @bikeman564™ endorsement of gatorskins and buy them based on the one pro tip.  My life  is too hectic and my time too valuable to spend my free time researching or documenting tire wear.  

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57 minutes ago, Zephyr said:

 endorsement of gatorskins and buy them based on the one pro tip.  My life  is too hectic and my time too valuable to spend my free time researching or documenting tire wear.  

It takes very little time to scan reviews and try a different tire.  Plus, aren't gatorskins heavy as hell, ride like shit, and are hard to mount?  That was my experience, the only reason I would ever ride those was if I was getting 2 flats every ride.  Since I am not, no way.  Other conti's are good, the GP 4000 is excellent, the 4 seasons I have had in the past have been very good, also.

Edit: Maybe for winter commuting in horrible conditions or on a trainer they would be an ok choice, but that is pretty much it.

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44 minutes ago, Randomguy said:

It takes very little time to scan reviews and try a different tire.  Plus, aren't gatorskins heavy as hell, ride like shit, and are hard to mount?  That was my experience, the only reason I would ever ride those was if I was getting 2 flats every ride.  Since I am not, no way.  Other conti's are good, the GP 4000 is excellent, the 4 seasons I have had in the past have been very good, also.

Edit: Maybe for winter commuting in horrible conditions or on a trainer they would be an ok choice, but that is pretty much it.

RG for the win - multiple times in this thread. 

I get folks aren't detail oriented or numbers folks, but you really have to wonder why they think it is actually difficult to make a note on a piece of paper???? 

And then they also seem to manufacture circumstances that give them a reason the pretend it is too complicated.  I ride three bikes (rarely the fourth), and SHOCKINGLY Strava keeps track of each bike individually.  It literally keeps a mileage log for me.  So then, In my head, it is really easy to "do the math" and have a good number for a tire's mileage.  Likewise, with no flats in those 6,000 miles, and knowing the conditions in which I ride, it makes it REALLY easy to suggest (or not suggest) a Conti 4000 II to folks.  "I like them.  Really good mileage, comfortable, pretty quick, and no punctures is 6k.  What's not to like?"  as opposed to "I've had them for a while and the seem good."

 

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For me, it is just not worth the effort to track it.  I ride two bikes, and have one computer.  So auto uploading to Strava I do not even bother to go in and identify which bike I rode.

I am a details oriented guy and can tell you with quick reference how long a certain o-ring has lasted on my dive gear or how many  hours of bottom time we have on our helmets or dpv batteries or how many dives I get out of my latex hood.   It is not that I cant track it... frankly I dont care what the data about tires will tell me, so I do not do it.

1 hour ago, Randomguy said:

, aren't gatorskins heavy as hell, ride like shit, and are hard to mount? 

As far as heavy..., I am 20lbs overweight so who am I to judge?  Honestly I found them easy to put on, and the ride seems good.  My first 35 mile ride on them I had several personal bests on segments.

They seem to roll as well as anything I have had before, but I like hard tires (105-110psi).  We will see how well they wear.  I just got the regular gatorskins, not the hardcase gatorskins

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