Tires, Have 300 miles and are wearing out quick

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onellesen

New Member
Aug 27, 2014
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0
0
So Cal
I am running a 27 x 1 1/4 yellow walled tires and I have 300 miles on them and the rear tire has already lost the little ridge u ride on, is this common, what tires last longer? im wondering if it has to do with a constant cruising speed of 30-35mph? any help or recommendations are welcomed! usflg
 

2door

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 15, 2008
16,302
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Littleton, Colorado
300 miles? Is this a friction drive bike?
I have two bikes with the original tires, both chain drive and have well over a thousand miles on them. The tires still have lots of tread.
You might want to look at your tire/frame alignment or the quality of the tires you're using.

Tom
 

Goat Herder

Gutter Rider
Apr 28, 2008
6,237
20
38
N.M.
Mebbe its the MB stickers tom? :D JK lol.

Knaw it is not uncoming to see colored tires wear down faster. That variety is a softer compound. Could get a fellow more traction for trick BMX riding perhaps?
 

BarelyAWake

New Member
Jul 21, 2009
7,194
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Maine
It's a controversial topic as we've all our faves, but two generalities to help explain... the narrower the tire the smaller the contact patch/the greater the wear rate & bike tires are just not designed or marketed for our use.

Some exceptions ofc excluded, but many bicycle tires are oft opposite of what you'd expect in that you very often pay more to get less - kevlar lined or not "every ounce counts" so there's very little meat where it meets the street, the tread area usually thin to start with simply to save weight. In auto applications it's usually the case that aggressive tread (off-road & winter tires) is the softer compound, while they ofc make softies for street that's usually a special purpose application (racing) yet with bike tires they tend to go the other way, the knobbies are sometimes the firmer compound (reduce wear frm reduced contact) & the streets are almost all squishy, to improve traction at such slow speeds.

It takes some trial & error to find just the right tires - for your wheel size, your riding style, your budget in particular. Compounding (no pun lol) the confusion is it's a difficult topic to get clear advice on because of those aspects, rare is the rider where that's all the same, rarer still the LBS as they ofc want to sell you "the best of the best" but this best is frequently fashion & fame, a profit persuading form over function - sorry, but no matter the unobtainium uber-liner or road racer reco... bicycle tires just can't carry the cost of car tires lol, let alone more.

My only recommendation is shop around, you've a odd enough tire size that the feedback for our use isn't going to be abundant - but don't expunge the cheapo's from that experimentation... for my weirdness in what & how I ride I've found some $12 generics, some fatty semi-slicks with a near phenomenal wear rate, disliked & undervalued by street bicyclists for the very things I needed, they're brutish & heavy w/a hard, thick tread area FTW ;)
 

onellesen

New Member
Aug 27, 2014
17
0
0
So Cal
Thanks BarelyAWake, the only problem I will encounter Is I cant go wider, this is on a 1971 schwinnvarsity (commuter style) so the fenders and frame are made for a width of 1 1/4. I will try a more urban tire and try it out, for now I will run these down to a slick and keep an excel spreadsheet of the brand model and miles they last!
 

The_Aleman

Active Member
Jul 31, 2008
2,653
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38
el People's Republik de Kalifornistan
Chinagirl setups definitely tend to wear tires quicker than others - what with the clutch-dropping on startup and the torque the engines are capable of.

27" wheels as used on older road bikes also tend to be heavy, which doesn't help matters any. You might want to consider switching to "700 C" wheels.

27 * 1¼ = 630mm ISO

"700 C" = 622mm ISO

They'll fit on your bike just fine (I've done the swaps on an old Raleigh and Peugeot), you'll just need to adjust your brakes slightly. You'll then have the benefit of much lighter, modern wheels which have a huge variety of tires available. There isn't much available for the old 27s, and the high quality tires available for that size are quite expensive.
 
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onellesen

New Member
Aug 27, 2014
17
0
0
So Cal
well I guess im gunna get used to replacing tires, the bike is a tank, and I am going to be putting the origanol style steel wheels back on. I will just have to live with it then, still cheaper then driving my car to work and all around! Also getting my stickers in the mail soon!
 

onellesen

New Member
Aug 27, 2014
17
0
0
So Cal
HAHA I noticed apparently when you put the sticker on you just cant get the front end on the ground hahahaha! I might be able to fit the 3/8 it will just be even more snug fit