New Tires Recommended??

[slinky1]

I ride a Specialized Ruby Expert Triple. Bought it in March and it has over 1800 miles on it. A riding buddy took a look at my tires and recommened I buy new ones. HUH? I've only had the bike for a few months??? I have been looking at buying some and now I feel completely overwhelmed. I don't race, I prefer long weekend rides and fit in what I can during the week. I live in Denver so I ride the mountains around here a lot. Does anybody have any recommendations on how to buy new tires? Oh, my buddy also recommended a new chain. It sounds like I need a lesson on bike maintenance. Any good resources you can recommend?

[RolliePollie]

I don't have any insight for you, but I'm interested to know the answers to your questions as well. My tires and chain still look good to me, but I wonder what the guidelines are for mileage and replacement. Sure seems like the chain should last longer than 1,800 miles, but the tires...hmmm, I have no clue!

[KnottedYet]

I suppose tire life depends on the tire itself. When in doubt, check with your LBS?

I do road riding and some dirt/gravel trail stuff. A lot of commuting and utility riding. I have Vittoria Randonneurs on both my bikes. (with reflective sidewalls, as it is often gloomy here in Seattle and I need all the help I can get to be seen) Magpie-like tendencies rule my brain: show me something shiney and I *will* ride over it. "Broken glass!?!?! OOh, boy, ride over it!" "Twisted chunk of metal!?!?! MINE, let's ride on it!" "Nail heads sticking out of a wooden bridge?!?! SCORE!!!!"

So far neither set of Vittorias has suffered from a puncture. (Knock wood) One bike has 28mm, the other has 32 mm.

I don't remember who here on TE recommended them to me (Veronica? Jobob?) but I am very grateful!

PS: you can buy a chain gauge or just have your LBS run a quick check with their chain gauge. It'll tell you quickly if your chain is worn.

[Velobambina]

I've switched out the tires on almost all of my bikes to Specialized Armadillos, which are highly puncture resistant.

I'll have to check out the Vittoria's that Knot recommends, though.

[DebW]

Chains should be replaced every 1500-2000 miles. They are narrow and do wear out quickly. If you let them go until you can tell that they need to be replaced, then you probably have to replace the cassette also. Cassettes cost $60-80 or more, chains cost $20-40, so you save money by replacing the chain early.

[maryellen]

I'll second what Deb said about chain wear. By the time I noticed I needed a new chain, I needed a new cassette as well.

I'm curious about the tires though. I noted that you said that your friend looked at your tires. Hard to imagine that young tires with less than 2000 miles would look particularly bad. Hoping I don't jinx myself but one of the tires on one of my bikes is over 4 years old, 4000+ miles and looks mine to me!

[Kathi]

I change my tires when they start to look "flat" across the top instead of "oval" or have lots of cuts in them. On the trails around here there isn't a lot to damage the tires, shoulders and bike lanes, yes. Goat heads will get you this fall. I usually get 2,500 - 3,000 miles on my tires before I change them.

Every spring I take my bikes in for a tune-up and it goes in if I notice it's not shifting well. I ride 3,000 + miles per year. I let my LBS determine when it's time to replace my chain. My bike was new last July and by this spring had 1,800 miles on it, the LBS did not replace the chain, they just made a couple of adjustments. I also clean my chain and cassette periodically thoughout the season and keep it lubed, very important in this dry environment.

I know the rule of thumb about replacing chains every so many miles but even when I did lots of hills in Cincinnati my chain did not need replacing so frequently. When I asked why my LBS told that some people are harder on their components (chains) than others.

Have you taken the bike in for it's tuneups? Cables stretch when new and need to be adjusted. Do you notice any problems when you are shifting?

For tires I've been using Michelin Pro Race, ride bike lanes, trails, shoulders, etc. and have been pretty happy with them.

[Beane]

I'm not positive but I always thought you were supposed to replace the chain and cassette at the same time...

[maryellen]

Yet another cycling matter with differing opinions. Some say that if you replace your chain before it is too badly worn, you don't have to replace the cassette. Others say that the chain and the cassette wear together and putting a new chain on a partially worn cassette is bad because the links and teeth won't fit quite right.

My bikes are not high end so i'm not sweating it.

[PscyclePath]

I ride a Specialized Ruby Expert Triple. Bought it in March and it has over 1800 miles on it. A riding buddy took a look at my tires and recommened I buy new ones. HUH? I've only had the bike for a few months??? I have been looking at buying some and now I feel completely overwhelmed. I don't race, I prefer long weekend rides and fit in what I can during the week. I live in Denver so I ride the mountains around here a lot. Does anybody have any recommendations on how to buy new tires? Oh, my buddy also recommended a new chain. It sounds like I need a lesson on bike maintenance. Any good resources you can recommend?

Bike tires, like car tires, wear out from use, either by wearing off the tread, or sometimes the sidewalls start splitting. My experience with some of the "good" tires that come on new bikes is that they wear out at about 1,500 to 2,000 miles. I just swapped out a pair of Vittoria Rubinos that were flat-free for 2600 miles, but when they started to show wear, it was time to "get Baby a new pair of shoes," so to say.

It's also a fairly good idea with that sort of mileage to swap out your chain once a year. There's no need to swap out the cassette unless there's significant wer on particular cogs, in fact getting a new chain every year or so helps the cogs last longer -- a worn chain wears them down more.

Tom

[Aint Doody]

I have had Hutchinson folding tires. They come in different colors. They hold up well, and they are nice & pliable which makes them easier to get off when I do need to change a flat.

[mimitabby]

I am far sighted in one eye and VERY near sighted in the other. So there's a lot of close up stuff i don't see unless i REALLY get in close. i sat down close to my bike a couple months ago and to my horror i saw lots of tiny slits in the tire.
I searched the complete tire and found that there was tiny pieces of glass in some of the slits. I worked all the glass out carefully, and then I moved on to Raleighdon's bike with the great Continentals on it. His ALSO had those slits, I found one piece of debris in it.
It pays to inspect the tires carefully. I don't see how you can avoid glass in this country where people love to throw everything out their windows!

[Christopher]

+1 for Mimi's advice. Usually my tires get cut to shreds before wearing out. I try to totally delfate both tires peridically, then go around each one, digging out the glass and metal embedded in there. Oh I wear latex gloves to do this for obvious reasons.

oh aye the chain - I use a Park Chain Checker (CC-2) and replace when it gets to .75 extension. I got about 5,000 miles out of a Campagnolo chain and I'm a masher.

[redrhodie]

Hey Slinky,

Are you getting lots of flats? If not, I wouldn't change them yet.

Scwalbe Blizzards may be a good choice for your riding conditions. They last forever, are puncture resistant, and really inexpensive. Only con is they're kind of sluggish.

[slinky1]

[QUOTE=maryellen;235214]

I'm curious about the tires though. I noted that you said that your friend looked at your tires. Hard to imagine that young tires with less than 2000 miles would look particularly bad. QUOTE]

He took one look at them, said "Do you see all of these holes? It's time for new tires." I just can't believe it happened so soon! There are quite a few holes from rocks and glass. I am bad. I'm so used to riding over rocks on my MTB that when I see a pile beside the road, I just ride over them, especially if I have a friend beside me and we are chitchatting away. Perhaps I need to be more mindful of what I ride over!

Thank you for all of the input so far. It seems to me I should be more concerned about the chain than my tires at this point. I don't get too many flats. If anybody knows a good text or website on bike maintenance, I would really appreciate the insight. I have so much to learn and I hate going into the LBS and feeling stooopid.