Checking wear on a road tyre?

snoopsmydogg

Bit of a noob question but how do you tell when a road tyre is past its best?

coming from mtbs where if there is little or no tread its time to replace I was wondering how you tell with a slick that starts with little or no tread anyway. do they start to flatten off down the centre or is there another way of telling?

Zendog1

Slicks usually have wear indicators - small round holes in the tire. When you get to the bottom of the hole it's time to replace. Or for the more frugal just wait until the re-enforcer starts to poke out of the last shreds of rubber.

In flint area's (like mine) it's usual for tires to pick up lots of small slits eventually causing a run of punctures - replacement time even if there is rubber left.

snoopsmydogg

Thanks for that will have a check for indicators. Current tyres still had the extra rubber from the mould down the centre of the tyre and have only done about 30 miles since but while having a quick look over them last night (more to make sure the tyre was still seated properly) i couldnt see any way of telling.

rolf_f

Zendog1 wrote:

In flint area's (like mine) it's usual for tires to pick up lots of small slits eventually causing a run of punctures - replacement time even if there is rubber left.

The slits don't cause the punctures - it's the you not bothering to remove the flint from the tyre. Tyres are barely more prone to puncturing when they've picked up the slits than before. The only thing that increases the likelihood of punctures is the reduction in rubber thickness but it isn't the rubber that is the primary protection.

You're basically throwing good tyres away.