' How long is a piece of string - ? '

[simongt]

An odd title, but relevant however. My wife bought a pair of 26 x 1.75 Conti Contacts in 2003. as they weren't fast enough for her, I ended up putting them on my street bike a year or two later. Now twelve years later, they are STILL on said bike and show no signs of cracking etc. and there is still a good show of tread. The said bike probably does about 300 or so miles a year mostly tearing around the city with panniers filled to various levels. Now is this unusual, or is it simply that Conti tyres last well - ?

 

[Supersuperleeds]

3,600 miles is nowt for a tyre. Our lasses bike had its original tyres for at least as long as yours

 

[PeteXXX]

The Michellin City tyres on my old British Eagle Touristique were fitted at the latter end of the last millennium.
Loads of tread left after numerous miles. I can't ever remember a visit from the p*nct*re fairy either..

 

[Moodyman]

3,600 miles is nowt for a tyre. Our lasses bike had its original tyres for at least as long as yours

You probably know this, but it's not the miles, it's the age.
Rubber tends to degrade after a while. I reckon so long as the OP keep it out of sunlight and keeps them pumped up he should be fine for some time longer.

 

[cosmicbike]

I only managed 3500 miles on my last Schwalbe Land Cruiser on the commuter before it wore through to the 'yellow' layer and started getting more visits than I'd like for my commute.

 

[CanucksTraveller]

I've had Schwalbe on my hybrid for 5 years and they're looking easily good enough to reach a decade or more, they still look new. But then they're in a dark garage most of the time with an occasional pump up and a wee pootle into town.

The original Bontrager lasted only a year, (for comparison) and were in a real state when replaced, but they did daily commuting in all weathers on London roads. So I think conditions and miles really are critical here, but an easy life, good storage conditions, and possibly a good tyre to begin with will all help a tyre stay good for use for impressive lengths of time.

 

[jay clock]

Schwalbe Marathons on my tourer are 4 years old and have done 5000km and look like new

 

[Nebulous]

I 'found' a steel road bike up my loft which my wife bought around 1984. I checked the bearings, put it back on the road and did over 1000 miles. Original tyres, brake pads, chain, cables the lot. Braking in the wet was atrocious (stainless steel rims) but everything else was ok. Saddle was painful, but that's a different story.

The chain eventually jammed and I fell off, bending the back wheel and it has been sitting in my shed since. The tyres held up fine. I had dire warnings about the risk I was taking, descending particularly, but I got off with it!

 

[Chris S]

I had a cheap tyre that lasted about 500 miles before it was worn through.