a cautionary tale

[Biciclista]

yeah the Schwalbe are expensive, but if you spread that $50 per tire cost over 3 years, that's pennies.. and the promise of NO flats is hard for me to resist

[Biciclista]

ps you got a good price on the tires you bought!!

[wackyjacky1]

After reading this thread, I took a close look at my tires. The rear tire had some loose threads here and there. It doesn't seem like much to me, but I don't really know about this stuff.

My tires are the originals on an '08 Trek 7.2FX. They've got about 2000 miles on them, give or take a few.

Is this sufficient to warrant new tires? There are four or so little spots like this along the sidewall where small threads are tearing away. I ordered new tires from Nashbar, but now I'm wondering if I'm just being paranoid.

[ridebikeme]

Another vote for the Schwalbe Marathons! I have two customers that rode xc with those tires, and between them they only had one flat! An interesting tidbit, both are still riding with their orginal tires

I just put them on my touring bike, so will try and post a picture once the bike is completed.



http://chasecyclery.blogspot.com

[soprano]

yeah the Schwalbe are expensive, but if you spread that $50 per tire cost over 3 years, that's pennies.. and the promise of NO flats is hard for me to resist

I have about 4,000 miles on my Schwable Marathon Supremes and have had one flat, which was caused by a 1/2" nail. Most of my riding is in an urban area, so I go through broken glass on a regular basis. The rest of my miles are from loaded touring. Those tires were pricey but worth every penny.

[wackyjacky1]

I suppose it's a case of "better safe than sorry." I went ahead and put on the Nashbar tires. They have a kevlar belt, too, so hopefully they'll give me as many flat-free miles as the original tires did.

(I've never had the same bike long enough for stuff to start wearing out...this is new for me, lol.)

[OakLeaf]

I think it depends on what kind of riding you do on that bike.

For one thing that tire is BALD.

The tires on my commuter are 8 years old. The rear probably doesn't have any more tread than yours, either. But I only ride the thing on flat pavement (except for a bridge or two) and at most five or six miles from home. So I'm not too worried about the tires ... when I start getting flats I'll replace them.

If I were going to be going longer distances, higher speeds, or off road, it would be different.

But since you've already ordered the tires, go ahead and replace them. The new ones are still going to deteriorate sitting around in your basement or garage (possibly even faster, since the inside walls of the tires are more exposed to air when they're not mounted), so you may as well get some use from them.

[Biciclista]

wackyjacky, I'm glad you got new tires!!

[AZchick]

Holy cow! Great tip! They always say to check tires pre-ride, but I've never thought to look carefully at the brakes for threads!