Maximizing Tire Life

[nfmisso]

I have seen here and many other places where people inflate their tires to relatively low pressures, and then complain that the tires wore out fast.

Bicycle tires, like all pneumatic tires (cars, trucks, motorcycles, 747-400 jets, etc) will last the longest if they are maintained at their maximum recommended pressure.

This is because, the higher the pressure, the less bending of the tire there is. Just like a paper clip, if you bend it back and forth over a large range, it will fail much sooner than if you bend it back and forth a little bit.

Too low a tire pressure lead to the Ford Explorer / Firestone tire fiasco 10 or so years ago.

Bottom line - the vast majority of tire failures are due to too low a pressure.

[Bill]

Nice write up Nigel! I have to agree with you on the common sense way because I just replaced a tire for a kids bike which had "weather cracks" which were not really from weather but from low pressure. Yea tube was shot too, from the tire pinching it through the crack. Reason for replacing the tube was it had a tear instead of a hole.

[RobAR]

Nigel - I remember the Ford Exploder fiasco! Can you tell I'm a GMC kinda guy?
Another tire killer is concrete. Leaving a neglected bike to sit in a garage, on cement, for long periods of time, will ruin the tires.

[nfmisso]

(08-26-2012, 01:03 PM)RobAR Wrote:  ......
Another tire killer is concrete. Leaving a neglected bike to sit in a garage, on cement, for long periods of time, will ruin the tires.

Cement is a nasty mix of chemicals, which leach out.