Tyre Direction - Please explain

theshrew

Ive got some new tyres, I noticed that they had a arrow on them i presume this should point to the front ?

The tyres on my bike at the mo one faces forwards one backwards

Which is the correct way of doing it ?

BenS999

just make sure the arrow faces forwards. Some tyres will show a front arrow and rear arrow depending on which wheel you put the tyre on, eg panaracer trailrakers. most tyres have a directional tread pattern.

bamba

direction of rotation

hennez

all depends whether you're going to be riding forwards or backwards.

peter413

I quite often run my tyres backwards to what is recommended, just depends what you want from the tyre, best things to do is try it both ways and decide what you like the best

Northwind

Yup, there's no one correct answer, just try it and see. Like, Nevegals are supposed to be both in the direction of the arrow, and work best that way on balance, but if you reverse the rear you get better mud-shoving but more drag and less good climbing grip on hard stuff

theshrew

Thats whats getting me they have a arrow for the front and the back. They point in different directions. the tyres will then different.

So do you think a good starting point will be to have them both pointing towards the front ?

tri-sexual

did some tests before using different tyres mounted onto wheels
mounted these wheels into a custom rig, wheels are weighted and then the wheels were "pulled", the effort required were then measured
in general the direction of the tyre makes a difference, some very large and some only marginal but generally need less energy trying to "pull" a tyre in the correct direction, a tyre in the "wrong" direction creates much more drag.
safety is another issue (very important on motorized vehicles ie cars, motorbikes etc), directional tyres are designed to go through water, mud, snow etc and draws this material away so the tyre can maintain maximum grip, if the tyres are incorrectly fitted, this cannot happen and can actually make things worse.

Northwind

theshrew wrote:

Thats whats getting me they have a arrow for the front and the back. They point in different directions. the tyres will then different.

So do you think a good starting point will be to have them both pointing towards the front ?

Nah, do what they tell you to do first, but feel free to try them either way. Every tyre's different after all. The main thing to remember is just that tyres do different jobs on each end so it's not as simple as some people thing (front stop, rear push). That's why tyres with complex shaped side knobs tend to run in the same direction on both ends, the edge blocks are designed to run that way for cornering. Whereas tyres with simple square edge blocks will generally corner well either way round.

Best thing to do is not to try and figure it out, just try it Tyre design's an inexact science I reckon, some you can look at and figure out what they're supposed to do and how but others you just think "this was designed to look nice"

.blitz

Northwind wrote:

...designed to look nice...

IIRC mbr did a poll a while back and the number one priority when buying a tyre was 'looks'.

warpcow

theshrew wrote:

Thats whats getting me they have a arrow for the front and the back. They point in different directions. the tyres will then different.

So do you think a good starting point will be to have them both pointing towards the front ?

When you say "pointing towards the front", is that with the arrow at the top or bottom of the tyre? The front and rear arrows generally mean that the treads will either Roll faster/dig in to drive the bike forwards or to give better braking. It all depends on the tyre.

Still, like some have said, it's not always desirable to follow the manufacturer's recommendation, but it is often the best advice.

theshrew

Northwind wrote:

theshrew wrote:

Thats whats getting me they have a arrow for the front and the back. They point in different directions. the tyres will then different.

So do you think a good starting point will be to have them both pointing towards the front ?

Nah, do what they tell you to do first, but feel free to try them either way. Every tyre's different after all. The main thing to remember is just that tyres do different jobs on each end so it's not as simple as some people thing (front stop, rear push). That's why tyres with complex shaped side knobs tend to run in the same direction on both ends, the edge blocks are designed to run that way for cornering. Whereas tyres with simple square edge blocks will generally corner well either way round.

Best thing to do is not to try and figure it out, just try it Tyre design's an inexact science I reckon, some you can look at and figure out what they're supposed to do and how but others you just think "this was designed to look nice"

But thats what im unsure of i might be being a bit thick here.

Its kinda shown on the tyres like this

Front < > Rear

What im trying to understand what this actually means.

So do i

1. Fit front and rear tyres with the front arrow going forwards

2. Fit the front as above but spin the rear around so the rear arrow is facing forwards because the tryes do a different job in other words the front and rear tells you what to do at each end of the bike if you no what i mean.

I think im getting mixed up because on a car the arrow always has to face forwards.

Northwind

The arrow should point in the direction of rotation, so use the one that's marked for that location (so front rotates in the direction of its own arrow, rear rotates in the direction of its arrow, ie fit it the other way round)

theshrew

Cheers mate thats what i thought.

Thanks very much :P

The Rookie

The tread is designed to displace mud/water/mulch etc out the way so it can grip, the rear tyre you are usually more worried about traction, so that means you fit it so when rotating you displace mud and this will work when the wheel is spining as well, however if the front tyre locks the tread pattern crosses the ground in the 'wrong' direction, so for better grip locked you reverse the tread, however the irony is that the tread is not working at it's best when rotating so is more likely to lock in the first place,for 'good' riders its probably better to have it back to front to avoid lock and have more grip rotating, for less able the other way to save their 4r5e when it does!

I run my front 'backwards' as I'm useless.

Simon

supersonic

.blitz wrote:

Northwind wrote:

...designed to look nice...

IIRC mbr did a poll a while back and the number one priority when buying a tyre was 'looks'.

Is that true?!!

.blitz

They have a mini poll on their website every month. What can you expect from mbr readers?

supersonic

Haha, that's fantastic!

The Rookie

Dare I mention being an mbr reader? (after the disc/rotor thread it probably makes no odds anyway ) In my defence however I get it as I can get it on Tesco points, I would get MBUK (or WMB of course to keep SS sweet) if they would do it on the points but I prefer to spend the money on the bike not paper I can't ride!

Simon

supersonic

I read it too... sometimes

Anonymous

The Beginner wrote:

Dare I mention being an mbr reader?

Why does that not surprise me in the slightest?

Anonymous

The Beginner wrote:

The tread is designed to displace mud/water/mulch etc out the way so it can grip, the rear tyre you are usually more worried about traction, so that means you fit it so when rotating you displace mud and this will work when the wheel is spining as well, however if the front tyre locks the tread pattern crosses the ground in the 'wrong' direction, so for better grip locked you reverse the tread, however the irony is that the tread is not working at it's best when rotating so is more likely to lock in the first place,for 'good' riders its probably better to have it back to front to avoid lock and have more grip rotating, for less able the other way to save their 4r5e when it does!

I run my front 'backwards' as I'm useless.

Simon

On some front tyres, the tread is also designed to pull the tyre to one side when cornering, it's not just about stopping.

The Rookie

Indeed, but slick tyres pull to one side when cornering (leaning) due to the tyre profile giving a lower rolling radius on the edge than in the middle.

Simon

Northwind

The Beginner wrote:

Indeed, but slick tyres pull to one side when cornering (leaning) due to the tyre profile giving a lower rolling radius on the edge than in the middle.

Can you name me a pushbike tyre that doesn't have a lower rolling radius on the edge than the middle? It'd have to be completely square in cross-section and also completely rigid.