Drive direction on tyers..

[medication25]

does this really matter.. i have a set of Big Apples and i noticed i put the back tyre on with incorrect drive direction...

Does this matter enough to whipp it off and change it... what do you guys think?

 

[John the Monkey]

If you ride the bike on road, no.

If you ride it off road, possibly - for riding on the soft stuff, tread pattern direction can help with grip.

See Sheldon Brown on this topic here;
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tires.html#direction

 

[Landslide]

In practical terms, the answer's no, but I suspect that it would irk me in terms of aethetics.

 

[very-near]

The reason why tyres are directional is because the rubber for the tread is wound on the tyre carcass like a licorice wheel. In powered vehicles, there is a risk of de-lamination of the tread, but on a cycle, you'd have be built like Chris Hoy to run the risk of it happening.

 

[fossyant]

You might end up going backwards.......seriously....

 

[ajb]

Dont know if it makes a big difference, but I would have to change it, knowing it was wrong would just anoy me to hell

 

[4F]

The reason why tyres are directional is because the rubber for the tread is wound on the tyre carcass like a licorice wheel. In powered vehicles, there is a risk of de-lamination of the tread, but on a cycle, you'd have be built like Chris Hoy to run the risk of it happening.

That is a very plausible answer however at the same time I also feel is a load of old pony. As only certain tyres have a directional indicator on them using the above theory how would you know when putting on tyres with no indicator whether you had them on the right or wrong way ?

 

[Landslide]

A serious cyclist would just know.

 

[Steve Austin]

If it means little, then why do the manufacturers bother to put directions on their tyres?

I'll stick to what i'm told to do

 

[jpembroke]

On an MTB tyre you want the front tyre to plough through mud (so chevrons pointing forward) and the rear tyre to grip (so chevrons facing backwards).

I know they don't all have chevrons but it's just to illustrate the point.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

i once made the mistake of swapping the wheel specific tyres around on my mountain bike, and have still got the rip in my training jacket to prove what a stupid move it was

 

[HLaB]

I did half of the Etape Caledonia (about 40miles) with my front wheel on the wrong way then I got a p'ture but so did several hundred other folk so I doubt the tyre direction mattered and it didn't seem to slow me down to much.

I guess it might make a difference with a bike with tread as the tyre throws water/ muck forward, if it was the wrong way it would throw things back onto your feet/ shins.

 

[nigelnorris]

I recently swapped two tyres and put them both on backwards. I sat for a while but the internal nagging got too much. No way could I leave them like that.

 

[Night Train]

On an MTB tyre you want the front tyre to plough through mud (so chevrons pointing forward) and the rear tyre to grip (so chevrons facing backwards).

I know they don't all have chevrons but it's just to illustrate the point.

Surely it is the other way around. It is on motor vehicles so the point of the cheveron on a driving wheel points forward at the top of the wheel and on a non driving wheel it points backwards. It is so that the cheverons are self cleaning of mud. If the cheveron was the wrong way then mud would be forced towards the centre of the tread pattern clogging the tread.
Look at the back tyres on a farm tractor.

 

[mickle]

The dynamics are different for single versus multitrack vehicles but regardless, whether on road or off, front or back, the chevrons always point in the direction of travel.