Discussion
I bought a second hand Cube last year which came with schwalbe one tyres. They were pretty much new when I got it but have now done just over 1000 miles.
Looking closely at the tyres I can see a few nicks where I've obviously caught some Sharp stones but as yet no punctures..how often do you all change tyres? I'd like to avoid getting marooned miles from home with a puncture if possible
Looking closely at the tyres I can see a few nicks where I've obviously caught some Sharp stones but as yet no punctures..how often do you all change tyres? I'd like to avoid getting marooned miles from home with a puncture if possible
Depends on so many factors i'd aim for 1000-3000 miles, but depends on:
Quality of roads (s
t in this country)
Summer/Winter use
Weight of rider
Pressures ridden on
Panniers or not
Luck of the draw
Climbing style
etc...
Generally I found the less supple the tyre, the longer it lasts
Cockroach Gatorskins: Forever (your fillings wont tho...)
Conti 4seasons 1500-2000 miles (more supple than above)
I generally change if I get repeat punctures, or see the casing coming through. Often though I change due to the tyre going misshaped due to pot holes etc
Ive been running 25/28c Vittoria Zaffiros on my commuters, as they are £7 each a tyre! Never get any punctures either, you can almost treat the tyre as an innertube! I hammer them day in day out including briddleways (great fun on a 25c slick)
On better bikes I go on longer rider, spend more on tyres and like to prolong the life a bit
Quality of roads (s
t in this country)Summer/Winter use
Weight of rider
Pressures ridden on
Panniers or not
Luck of the draw
Climbing style
etc...
Generally I found the less supple the tyre, the longer it lasts
Cockroach Gatorskins: Forever (your fillings wont tho...)
Conti 4seasons 1500-2000 miles (more supple than above)
I generally change if I get repeat punctures, or see the casing coming through. Often though I change due to the tyre going misshaped due to pot holes etc
Ive been running 25/28c Vittoria Zaffiros on my commuters, as they are £7 each a tyre! Never get any punctures either, you can almost treat the tyre as an innertube! I hammer them day in day out including briddleways (great fun on a 25c slick)
On better bikes I go on longer rider, spend more on tyres and like to prolong the life a bit
Edited by TwistingMyMelon on Friday 12th February 11:46
A few nicks won't do any harm, just makesure there is no debris in the cut, a pick tool will fish it out.
As above, look for wear indicators or if not check for squaring off, have the tyres got a visible flat when you look at the profile?
I run soft tyres on my best bikes, Vittoria Open Corsa on two and GP4000 on the other, the winter / commuter has suitably tough Specialized something or others.
I get around 2000 miles from the Vittorias, 3000ish from the Contis and I've only just worn out a rear on the commuter after 3 years.
As above, look for wear indicators or if not check for squaring off, have the tyres got a visible flat when you look at the profile?
I run soft tyres on my best bikes, Vittoria Open Corsa on two and GP4000 on the other, the winter / commuter has suitably tough Specialized something or others.
I get around 2000 miles from the Vittorias, 3000ish from the Contis and I've only just worn out a rear on the commuter after 3 years.
slk 32 said:
I bought a second hand Cube last year which came with schwalbe one tyres. They were pretty much new when I got it but have now done just over 1000 miles.
Looking closely at the tyres I can see a few nicks where I've obviously caught some Sharp stones but as yet no punctures..how often do you all change tyres? I'd like to avoid getting marooned miles from home with a puncture if possible
Schwalbe Ones? Good tyres, but not really aimed at the winter rider.Looking closely at the tyres I can see a few nicks where I've obviously caught some Sharp stones but as yet no punctures..how often do you all change tyres? I'd like to avoid getting marooned miles from home with a puncture if possible
As to condition? Shallow nicks and cuts are fine. Don't worry about them, especially if you can pull them open and still see rubber compound at the deepest part. Deeper cuts (down to the cord) do usually produce a puncture, but they are not the end of a tyre. Clear out the cause of the cut, and then dribble in some superglue. This'll bond the edges of the cut together, or repeated applications will fill the void. Either way, there's no easy way in for further debris.
Visual cues to replace a tyre? I usually look for them 'flatting' at the contact point. In that they no longer look 'round', but have a flattening of the tyre surface across the tread area. It's usually first noticed on the rear, and caught early you can swap them round to extend their life and even out the wear.
I have to admit that last year I was so short of funds that I ran a tyre until all the rubber in the tread area started parting company with the carcass because it had worn so thin...
...you can see the pronounced flattening of the tread, and the peeling rubber here. But that tyre was of unknown mileage, having been on and off various bikes for several years. I estimate that it had done at least 4,000 miles, mostly in winter months.
For reference, I changed the tyres that came with my latest bike after 2,432 miles. They were Bontrager R2s and my notes tell me that they were swapped because they were excessively cut, one having a "slashed sidewall", not because the "tread" (slicks, so contact area really) was worn down.
yellowjack said:
slk 32 said:
I bought a second hand Cube last year which came with schwalbe one tyres. They were pretty much new when I got it but have now done just over 1000 miles.
Looking closely at the tyres I can see a few nicks where I've obviously caught some Sharp stones but as yet no punctures..how often do you all change tyres? I'd like to avoid getting marooned miles from home with a puncture if possible
Schwalbe Ones? Good tyres, but not really aimed at the winter rider.Looking closely at the tyres I can see a few nicks where I've obviously caught some Sharp stones but as yet no punctures..how often do you all change tyres? I'd like to avoid getting marooned miles from home with a puncture if possible
As to condition? Shallow nicks and cuts are fine. Don't worry about them, especially if you can pull them open and still see rubber compound at the deepest part. Deeper cuts (down to the cord) do usually produce a puncture, but they are not the end of a tyre. Clear out the cause of the cut, and then dribble in some superglue. This'll bond the edges of the cut together, or repeated applications will fill the void. Either way, there's no easy way in for further debris.
Visual cues to replace a tyre? I usually look for them 'flatting' at the contact point. In that they no longer look 'round', but have a flattening of the tyre surface across the tread area. It's usually first noticed on the rear, and caught early you can swap them round to extend their life and even out the wear.
I have to admit that last year I was so short of funds that I ran a tyre until all the rubber in the tread area started parting company with the carcass because it had worn so thin...
...you can see the pronounced flattening of the tread, and the peeling rubber here. But that tyre was of unknown mileage, having been on and off various bikes for several years. I estimate that it had done at least 4,000 miles, mostly in winter months.
For reference, I changed the tyres that came with my latest bike after 2,432 miles. They were Bontrager R2s and my notes tell me that they were swapped because they were excessively cut, one having a "slashed sidewall", not because the "tread" (slicks, so contact area really) was worn down.
JUst replaced mine, they were the same, as Im a bit tight I ran them to the bitter end, they were like that all the way round
Although Once I had the rear off, it looked buggered , the carcas still felt study and resistant, it was just the top layer that was down to the cords
TwistingMyMelon said:
That 4seasons?
JUst replaced mine, they were the same, as Im a bit tight I ran them to the bitter end, they were like that all the way round
Although Once I had the rear off, it looked buggered , the carcas still felt study and resistant, it was just the top layer that was down to the cords
Yup, Conti GP 4 Seasons. And yes, mine were gone all round too. That's not the worst of the damage, just the clearest of the photos I took.JUst replaced mine, they were the same, as Im a bit tight I ran them to the bitter end, they were like that all the way round
Although Once I had the rear off, it looked buggered , the carcas still felt study and resistant, it was just the top layer that was down to the cords
Thanks for all the feedback / advice.
As the tyres have zero tread they're not as someone stated an ideal winter tyre but being only a fair weather cyclist it's not such a problem. The lack of tread does however make it more difficult to gauge wear. I normally run them at 110psi so will be looking for another 1000 miles I guess
As the tyres have zero tread they're not as someone stated an ideal winter tyre but being only a fair weather cyclist it's not such a problem. The lack of tread does however make it more difficult to gauge wear. I normally run them at 110psi so will be looking for another 1000 miles I guess
Did a couple of thousand on a set of GP4000s before they started to get a lot of punctures. It did coincide with the start of the wet weather in December though so I'm not sure what the actual cause was - probably a combination.
Went from having zero punctures in 1,800 miles to 5 in 200.
Put on some 4 seasons for the winter anyway. Also picked out around a dozen tiny sharps from each tyre once I had them off. Future punctures already picked up!
Went from having zero punctures in 1,800 miles to 5 in 200.
Put on some 4 seasons for the winter anyway. Also picked out around a dozen tiny sharps from each tyre once I had them off. Future punctures already picked up!
Gren said:
Did a couple of thousand on a set of GP4000s before they started to get a lot of punctures. It did coincide with the start of the wet weather in December though so I'm not sure what the actual cause was - probably a combination.
Went from having zero punctures in 1,800 miles to 5 in 200.
Put on some 4 seasons for the winter anyway. Also picked out around a dozen tiny sharps from each tyre once I had them off. Future punctures already picked up!
I commuted on Gatorskins for years. I had practically no punctures ever, but they weren't the greatest of things in the rain, so I decided to take someone's recommendation and try 4 seasons. I don't think I ever went more than about 10 miles on them without a puncture!!! Tried 23s and 28s, iirc, but both had the same problem. They just weren't up to London roads with a heavy combination of rider, laptop etc...Went from having zero punctures in 1,800 miles to 5 in 200.
Put on some 4 seasons for the winter anyway. Also picked out around a dozen tiny sharps from each tyre once I had them off. Future punctures already picked up!
Kermit power said:
Gren said:
Did a couple of thousand on a set of GP4000s before they started to get a lot of punctures. It did coincide with the start of the wet weather in December though so I'm not sure what the actual cause was - probably a combination.
Went from having zero punctures in 1,800 miles to 5 in 200.
Put on some 4 seasons for the winter anyway. Also picked out around a dozen tiny sharps from each tyre once I had them off. Future punctures already picked up!
I commuted on Gatorskins for years. I had practically no punctures ever, but they weren't the greatest of things in the rain, so I decided to take someone's recommendation and try 4 seasons. I don't think I ever went more than about 10 miles on them without a puncture!!! Tried 23s and 28s, iirc, but both had the same problem. They just weren't up to London roads with a heavy combination of rider, laptop etc...Went from having zero punctures in 1,800 miles to 5 in 200.
Put on some 4 seasons for the winter anyway. Also picked out around a dozen tiny sharps from each tyre once I had them off. Future punctures already picked up!
Im a fan of them, bit too nice and soft for commuting, but when I rode 25cs with panniers on it destroyed the top layer pretty quick. I guess you need wider tyres full stop for panniers
Had them on for rural club rides for years with no issues
TwistingMyMelon said:
did you ride with panniers?
Im a fan of them, bit too nice and soft for commuting, but when I rode 25cs with panniers on it destroyed the top layer pretty quick. I guess you need wider tyres full stop for panniers
Had them on for rural club rides for years with no issues
I do, but I had no problem with 25c Gatorskins and panniers. I'm using 35c cyclocross tyres now though on the panniered bike. Nice and bouncy, but not very quick! Im a fan of them, bit too nice and soft for commuting, but when I rode 25cs with panniers on it destroyed the top layer pretty quick. I guess you need wider tyres full stop for panniers
Had them on for rural club rides for years with no issues
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