Signs It’s Time to Change Your Bicycle Tires

When you spend a lot of time on your bike, it’s normal to see wear and tear—and the tires are the most common place you’ll see it. Because the tires are your only direct contact with the rough pavement of city streets or rocky, uneven terrain of trails, the more hours you spend riding your bike, the more quickly you’ll see deterioration. While you can’t prepare for something puncturing your tire while on a ride, monitoring regular wear and changing tires regularly can help you prevent catastrophic tire failure during bike use.

How do you know when to replace bike tires? This can be a difficult question for newer cyclists to answer, but there are some classic indicators of bike tire wear that will let you know it’s time for a change. Read on to learn the major red flags to look for so you can get tires replaced on your own terms, rather than waiting to replace a blown-out tire.

Bike tire wear indicators

To know how your tires are holding up, you’ll want to make it part of your regular cycling routine to inspect them thoroughly. Here are the key things to look for when checking to see if it’s time to replace your bike tires:

• Tire tread wear: Tire tread is the rubber that actually comes into contact with the ground. To help you monitor the degree of wear your tire has undergone, tires will usually have texture or grooves on their surface. As you ride your bike over time, these wear down. When you can no longer see tread indicators, you know your tires are approaching the end of their lifespan.
• Frequent flats: Some tires don’t have indicators, but there are still ways to tell the tire has worn down considerably. If you frequently get flat tires, it may suggest that the tire has worn thin, making it more susceptible to puncture from glass or pebbles.
• Dry, cracked rubber: If your tires are old, they may have become brittle and cracked. Cracked rubber is more susceptible to damage and not as well equipped to take on the roads and trails, which can make biking on them dangerous. Replace them as soon as possible.

Prevent tire wear

If you want to slow the wear on your tires, there are a few things you can do. First, make sure the air pressure in your tires is properly maintained. When you ride your bike on under-inflated tires, their sidewalls are more exposed to the rough ground than they’re meant to be, leading to premature deterioration. It’s also helpful to rotate your tires periodically, as your front and back tires wear differently—just like they do on your car. If you start to notice wear, tire rotation could prolong their lifespan.

Despite all your best efforts to protect and preserve them, your tires will wear and eventually need an upgrade. When it’s time to replace your bike tires, reach out to Bicycle Doctor House Calls. Our knowledgeable team will help you find the right tires to purchase and come to you to install them.

Categorised in: Bike Parts

This post was written by Writer