Tyre direction?

DiscoStu73

I'm about to replace my tyres with an identical pair of Panaracer Fire XC Pros but I've noticed that the previous owner has put his pair on in opposing directions.
If the tread pattern forms a chevron, he's got the chevron pointing forward on the front tyre but backwards on the rear. Is this right? I always thought tyres were meant to point forwards to clear water/mud etc?

cat_with_no_tail

He must be a tit. Fire XC Pro Tyres are printed with arrows on the sidewall that look a bit like this:

<--- Front Rear--->

Simples

DiscoStu73

Yeah, but that's what's confused me! He's obviously followed the diagram on the side and put them on so that on the front, it has FRONT----> pointing forward and on the rear, he's got REAR----> pointing forward, ie the arrow points forward depending on which wheel it's put on.
There are 2 ways to read the diagram. Either the diagram relates to the direction of the tread depending on which wheel it's put on, or it relates to the direction of the tyre itself, regardless of which wheel it's put on. But in the latter, it would make more sense to say forwards/backwards rather than front/rear.
So which one's right?

3110neil

Hi
I have same tyres ,ive fitted mine as your last post says front ----> rear ---->

Banned!

neither and both.

unless theyre direction specific it doesnt matter.


my maxxis high rollers are marked <

---

direction

---

> on both the front and back.

as a rule, for speed I have them with the logo on the non drive side, for grip the other way round.

cat_with_no_tail

Ok, I just took a quick pic of my new Fire XC Pros just to illustrate. Wether on the front wheel or the back wheel, "Front" should face the front of the bike, and "Rear" should face the rear of the bike. Unless anyone wants to correct me on that?

Jonesy.

The Front / Rear marking refers to which wheel it's going on, and the arrow refers to the rolling direction. So he put the tyres on correctly.

The rear wheel should have the word 'Rear' with the arrow facing forward in the direction the tyre will roll, likewise the front tyre should have the word Front with the corresponding arrow pointing forwards.

cat_with_no_tail

Jonesy. wrote:

The Front / Rear marking refers to which wheel it's going on, and the arrow refers to the rolling direction. So he put the tyres on correctly.

The rear wheel should have the word 'Rear' with the arrow facing forward in the direction the tyre will roll, likewise the front tyre should have the word Front with the corresponding arrow pointing forwards.

:oops: Well in that case then, I retract my previous statements and stfu!

DiscoStu73

Confusing, eh?
Cheers guys, we got there in the end!

Si78

Cat With No Tail wrote:

Ok, I just took a quick pic of my new Fire XC Pros just to illustrate. Wether on the front wheel or the back wheel, "Front" should face the front of the bike, and "Rear" should face the rear of the bike. Unless anyone wants to correct me on that?

Personally, I would agree with you! Directional tyres, surely should point the same way? like on a car.

ho hum

DiscoStu73

But there are two arrows, so if both tyres are meant to go in the same direction I would expect there to be only one arrow, and it shows the direction of travel and it would be the same for both wheels. The fact that there are two on these tyres is what got me wondering in the first place. I've asked a few other people with far more knowledge than me and they have also said that the arrows correspond to which wheel it's on. So the front tyre has the front arrow pointing forward and the rear has the rear arrow pointing forward. Something to do with extra grip?
Anyway, I've put them on that way now so unless I lose all control then they're staying that way

Si78

DiscoStu73 wrote:

But there are two arrows, so if both tyres are meant to go in the same direction I would expect there to be only one arrow, and it shows the direction of travel and it would be the same for both wheels. The fact that there are two on these tyres is what got me wondering in the first place. I've asked a few other people with far more knowledge than me and they have also said that the arrows correspond to which wheel it's on. So the front tyre has the front arrow pointing forward and the rear has the rear arrow pointing forward. Something to do with extra grip?
Anyway, I've put them on that way now so unless I lose all control then they're staying that way

Yeah, I was just saying that I would have put them on the 'wrong' way probably lol

My tyres only have the one arrow, showing the rotational direction. Have not seen tyres with opposing arrows before.

Learn something new every day!

jmillen

I've just bought a pair of these. Direction arrows are for direction of rotation.

I.e <<<<<front points forwards, and the rear tyre is turned the other way around so the rear >>>> also points forwards....

Ditch Witch

Yes, that's right.

It's so the front wheel (non drive) slices through mud and to contribute to braking (as the front brake works harder due to full force of your body behind it) and the rear tire (driving tire) grips the mud to push off of.

cat_with_no_tail

Sounds like witchcraft to me

supersonic

I know people who run some the wrong way on purpose! As for them, it works better that way.

Northwind

Yep, like frinstance with the kenda nevegals, the rear shovels mud better if it's on the wrong way round, but grips poorly on rocks etc, so I sometimes run it the wrong way in winter.

AllTheGear

Back wheel used for power, front for braking, so the tread points the opposite way on each.

Northwind

But not always so simple, since a lot of tyres recomment to run the same way. Including the nevegals I mentioned there, and they do definately work best as recommended ie both pointing the same way.

Si78

AllTheGear wrote:

Back wheel used for power, front for braking, so the tread points the opposite way on each.

Sounds like my MR2, and the directional tyres all pointed the same way


Is good finding out all these little 'tricks of the trade' tho. Very interesting. Gonna go and have an indepth look at my maxxis and michelin tread patterns now

AllTheGear

Ah but your MR2 is used on the road, and the wheels rotate forwards normally. The tread pattern exists to prevent aquaplaning.

On a bike you cannot aquaplane. You don't need a tread pattern on a road bike. On an MTB you have knoblies for biting into mud etc. I guess the hope is that the front tyre will bite under braking if the tread is optimised in this direction.

Ditch Witch

Northwind wrote:

But not always so simple, since a lot of tyres recomment to run the same way. Including the nevegals I mentioned there, and they do definately work best as recommended ie both pointing the same way.

Yes, they do, because they're designed to.

Only tyres designed to specifically work in opposition to each other should be fitted in such a way.

dave_hill

AllTheGear wrote:

On a bike you cannot aquaplane

Errr...yes you can. Any tyre can aquaplane.

AllTheGear wrote:

You don't need a tread pattern on a road bike.

No, but it helps if the roads' wet. This is why it isn't advisable to to use racing slicks on a motorbike when it's wet....

The tread pattern on any road tyre, be it car, push bike or motorbike is (or should be) designed to squeeze water out to the side of tyre as quickly as possible.

Banned!

you cannot aquaplane on a bike, you dont have enough surface area.

supersonic

Yep, that is correct.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_ho-z. ... droplaning

Unless you go very fast!

supersonic

Ditch Witch wrote:

Northwind wrote:

But not always so simple, since a lot of tyres recomment to run the same way. Including the nevegals I mentioned there, and they do definately work best as recommended ie both pointing the same way.

Yes, they do, because they're designed to.

Only tyres designed to specifically work in opposition to each other should be fitted in such a way.

But many get better results experimenting.

dave_hill

O right, it must have been the anti-gravity mechanism kicking in then... :roll:

AllTheGear

I don't believe a directional tread pattern makes a difference even on a car in the wet. The water moves into the grooves. Does it matter what angle these grooves are? The contact patch is only a short length and the displaced water exits the patch from the rear.

Northwind

[quote="Ditch Witch"Yes, they do, because they're designed to.

Only tyres designed to specifically work in opposition to each other should be fitted in such a way.[/quote]

But as I pointed out, running tyres the "wrong" way can give different and occasionally better results. just because they're not working the way they're designed doesn't mean they're not working, in other words.

SpinningJenny

i think my ears have started to bleed.... :shock:

Hercule Q

AllTheGear wrote:

I don't believe a directional tread pattern makes a difference even on a car in the wet. The water moves into the grooves. Does it matter what angle these grooves are? The contact patch is only a short length and the displaced water exits the patch from the rear.

if you fit directional tyres the wrong way on a car the water will be pushed into the center of the tread pattern greatly increasing the risk of aquaplaning and crashing,

the directional on cycle tyres is so the rear can push under acceleration and the front can push under braking, its designed with traction in mind the chevrons are like spades digging at the mud. The rear digs and pushes the mud behind you and the front digs and pushes the mud ahead. you wouldnt dig a hole with the spade upside down because it wouldnt be efficiant thats why the tyres are multi directional