[nonsleepingjon]

Do bike tires have any sort of wear indicators? For example, car tires have tread depth indicators (which you can also measure), motorcycle tires do as well (or just see if they are flat in the middle), but what about bike tires?

Mine are due for replacement from general mileage and minor damage from crap in the street, but they look ok from a casual glance. How does everyone else know when it's time? Do you keep track of miles, or just inspect them every so often?

 

[Spunout]

When you start thinking, it is now time to replace them.

 

[C-40]

wear indicator...

Excluding obvious damage, there is no absolute indicator of a worn out tire, unless it's the other obvious case of the fabric casing being exposed. Some folks use a tire that long. Usually, the tire will be so thin before that point that flats become frequent.

You should notice that the rear tire wears much faster than the front and the tread will have a wide flat area, while front does not. There are several different methods to get maximum tire life. One method is to buy tires in groups of three, allocating two for the rear and one for the front. Another method is to move the front tire to the rear every time a rear tire wears out and put a new tire on the front. I do some of both. I've had front tires with a lot of life left after going through two tires on the rear (4-5000 miles) and then moved the front tire to the back for another 1000 miles or so.

 

[nonsleepingjon]

good advice from you both. thanks!