Best time to replace worn tyres?

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

mrmacmusic

Veteran
Location
Tillicoultry
Hopefully not a silly question... how do you know when it's time to replace your tyres?

The set of Marathon+ I've had on my commuter have done approx. 3000 miles now, and although they're not worn through, there are signs of tread wear and they are cut up quite a bit (goodness knows how many punctures that blue stuff in the middle has saved me from!!).

Last night I had a bit of a slide from the rear end when cornering on wet tarmac – that's never happened before and has got me thinking it might be time for some fresh rubber?
 

lordloveaduck

Well-Known Member
Location
Birmingham
you have answered your own question.
 

StuAff

Silencing his legs regularly
Location
Portsmouth
Schwalbe's estimates for Marathon + tyre life are 8-15,000 km. Either the roads round your way are really, really, really bad, or you've been running them underinflated, or both.
 
OP
OP
mrmacmusic

mrmacmusic

Veteran
Location
Tillicoultry
Schwalbe's estimates for Marathon + tyre life are 8-15,000 km. Either the roads round your way are really, really, really bad, or you've been running them underinflated, or both.
Cheers StuAff :thumbsup: where did you find those estimates?

I'm definitely not running them underinflated, but our road surfaces are pretty poor! The tyres do still have some tread on them (although the rear is more worn looking than the front) and I had thought I'd get longer than 3k out them. Commuting life has seen them get quite cut up though, with a few bad ones where I can see the blue innards. Maybe it was just greasy roads that caused last night's slide.
 

PpPete

Legendary Member
Location
Chandler's Ford
My criteria is how "squared off" the profile of the tyre is - when off the rim.
Puncture resistant tyres have a lot of material on the "crown" of the profile.... and the thickness tapers off down to thinner sidewalls.
When you've lost a lot of that thickness in the middle you notice either: increase in punctures, or the cornering starts to be affected.
 

StuAff

Silencing his legs regularly
Location
Portsmouth
Cheers StuAff :thumbsup: where did you find those estimates?

I'm definitely not running them underinflated, but our road surfaces are pretty poor! The tyres do still have some tread on them (although the rear is more worn looking than the front) and I had thought I'd get longer than 3k out them. Commuting life has seen them get quite cut up though, with a few bad ones where I can see the blue innards. Maybe it was just greasy roads that caused last night's slide.
Schwalbe's own websites. EG http://www.schwalbe.com/gbl/en/tech...D_Sprache=2&ID_Seite=146&tn_mainPoint=Technik
 

sidevalve

Über Member
Just change the tyres. It wont cost the earth and the peace of mind will be worth it. After all if you slide off even if you do no damage you will ALWAYS be blaming yourself for not doing so.
 
OP
OP
mrmacmusic

mrmacmusic

Veteran
Location
Tillicoultry
My criteria is how "squared off" the profile of the tyre is - when off the rim.
Puncture resistant tyres have a lot of material on the "crown" of the profile.... and the thickness tapers off down to thinner sidewalls.
When you've lost a lot of that thickness in the middle you notice either: increase in punctures, or the cornering starts to be affected.
Thanks PpPete... most helpful :thumbsup: The tyres are still on the bike, but the rear is definitely suffering from flattening of the 'crown' as you describe it, and what were hard edges on the raised tread are now rounded off to the point that in the central portion (only) there is virtually no useful tread left.
 
OP
OP
mrmacmusic

mrmacmusic

Veteran
Location
Tillicoultry
Just change the tyres. It wont cost the earth and the peace of mind will be worth it. After all if you slide off even if you do no damage you will ALWAYS be blaming yourself for not doing so.
Very true ^_^ Yes, it won't cost the earth and fresh rubber for the Autumn Winter is probably no bad thing anyway!
 

PpPete

Legendary Member
Location
Chandler's Ford
Thanks PpPete... most helpful :thumbsup: The tyres are still on the bike, but the rear is definitely suffering from flattening of the 'crown' as you describe it, and what were hard edges on the raised tread are now rounded off to the point that in the central portion (only) there is virtually no useful tread left.

Tread is an irrelevance on the road .... but if you can see them squared off when still inflated then definitely time to change them ASAP, because when you take them off the rim the profile will be almost concave.
 
Top Bottom