Uneven Tyre wear

[Jayneflakes]

I had two new tyres last year and the rear is wearing down nicely, the front though is a different story.

I took a ride over to my sisters yesterday, which is a blast up the M5 and then down a big Dual Carriage way. There is not a lot of cornering at all and my speed was steady motorway speed.

On the return journey, I left the motorway one junction early so I could have a trundle down the A38 and A370. Again, hardly high speed and not a lot of cornering.

When I do corner, I am not a knee down type, but I do like to let the bike swoop around a bend leaning over nicely.

Yesterday evening, my front tyre developed a distinct pattern of wear. The right hand side has worn a flat edge to it instead of a nice smooth curve of say the other side or the rear. The tyres are a matched pair of Continental Road attack II.

Any idea why I would get such a distinct wear pattern, especially given that I am not exactly a road warrior type?

Comments suggesting that it is my large fat bottom will be treated harshly!

How are your tyre pressures?

[Jayneflakes]

Originally Posted by Dicky Ticker

How are your tyre pressures?

Consistent. Checked weekly. 32PSI front, 36PSI rear. Occasionally drops a tiny amount, but never needs more than two pumps with the push bike pump.

Wheels were also balanced when the new tyres fitted too.

you use many roundabouts on commute or usual jaunt routes??

[Jayneflakes]

Originally Posted by tom-k6

you use many roundabouts on commute or usual jaunt routes??

Not really. Also the wear appeared yesterday, it looks like I have been speeding around in a right hand circle for a while, despite it coming from a motorway blast.

I had this on an old Kwak i had, tyre guy couldn't tell me why it had happened just that some tyres do it.

My commute is all straight roads with only one big roundabout around 12 miles roughly.

They were Bridgestone Battlax BT021's

bloody hell, a 12 mile roundabout bet thats some fun

[garynortheast]

Originally Posted by tom-k6

bloody hell, a 12 mile roundabout bet thats some fun

Damn! You beat me to it!

I have heard of some similar problems before.

Not to sure if it completely justifies my answer though.

Due to cars and lorry's consistently wearing away at the road, it will cause some roads (often country roads) to almost slump away slightly casing the road to be very slightly tilted or at an angle. This can cause the tyre to role on one side more than another causing it to wear unevenly.
I have also heard that in countries that ride of the opposite side of the road, that their bikes tyres will wear down on the opposite side of tyre to ours, explaining that the road surface is to blame for this un-even wear.

might just be a load of Bull that someone told me, but i think I kinda understand that this could happen

Originally Posted by Gregga

I have heard of some similar problems before.

Not to sure if it completely justifies my answer though.

Due to cars and lorry's consistently wearing away at the road, it will cause some roads (often country roads) to almost slump away slightly casing the road to be very slightly tilted or at an angle. This can cause the tyre to role on one side more than another causing it to wear unevenly.
I have also heard that in countries that ride of the opposite side of the road, that their bikes tyres will wear down on the opposite side of tyre to ours, explaining that the road surface is to blame for this un-even wear.

might just be a load of Bull that someone told me, but i think I kinda understand that this could happen

Possibly not as daft as it sounds, Gregga. You can see the ruts left in the road by high lorry usage on most motorways.

However...

Personally, I would check that the front wheel hasn't thrown a balancing weight. I'm sure it was balanced properly when the tyre was fitted, but those weights come off wheels all the time so it might well be unbalanced now.