Tire balding too fast?

[christob]

Just wondering if this could be in the realm of “normal” tire wear.
Schwalbe Fat Franks, same model front and back. Rear tire has worn so that the 3 centermost ridges of tread are now balded into one flat expanse. This tire has 938 miles (since mid August) on it as of today (though I think I first noticed the balding around 800 miles or so.)
Front tire still shows clearly the 3 centermost ridges of tread. This tire in contrast, has 2,273 miles on it today.
This is a rear hub motor bike, and I usually ride commutes with a pannier bag holding lunch, clothes, etc. And I’m a bigger guy at 6’2, and have averaged about 255 pounds during the rear tire’s life.
Rear tire came to me already mounted on a whole new rear wheel (sent under warranty after some spoke issues) — so I suppose it is possible the current tire itself wasn’t a new one when I received that new wheel, though I have no memory of there being noticeably worn tread when I first unpacked that new wheel.
I keep both regularly at 60-65 psi.
Edit: I have a new Fat Frank ordered from Schwalbe, which will get installed next week... I'll of course be watching to see how it looks after its first 800-900 miles

 

[rich c]

That's a pretty wide wear pattern for running at 65psi. I have 2,400 on Schwalbe Super Moto X and Schwalbe Marathon Plus (I think that's right) and I can't really see any wear on them. I weigh 245.

 

[Nova Haibike]

I cannot say if it is normal wear, but Schwalbe does rate their tires for durability; the Fat Franks get three out of six on their scale. To contrast, my bike came with Schwalbe Energizer Plus Tour tires, size 47-622, which are rated five out of six on their durability scale, and both tires have plenty of tread after nearly 2300 miles. My combined load has been 220-230 lbs.

FYI, Schwalbe's Super Moto X also rates a five for durability.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

Just wondering if this could be in the realm of “normal” tire wear.
Schwalbe Fat Franks, same model front and back. Rear tire has worn so that the 3 centermost ridges of tread are now balded into one flat expanse. This tire has 938 miles (since mid August) on it as of today (though I think I first noticed the balding around 800 miles or so.)
Front tire still shows clearly the 3 centermost ridges of tread. This tire in contrast, has 2,273 miles on it today.
This is a rear hub motor bike, and I usually ride commutes with a pannier bag holding lunch, clothes, etc. And I’m a bigger guy at 6’2, and have averaged about 255 pounds during the rear tire’s life.
Rear tire came to me already mounted on a whole new rear wheel (sent under warranty after some spoke issues) — so I suppose it is possible the current tire itself wasn’t a new one when I received that new wheel, though I have no memory of there being noticeably worn tread when I first unpacked that new wheel.
I keep both regularly at 60-65 psi.
Edit: I have a new Fat Frank ordered from Schwalbe, which will get installed next week... I'll of course be watching to see how it looks after its first 800-900 miles
View attachment 26634

Fat franks are really not for E-bikes. They are made for cruiser bikes that travel at 10mph and this is Schwalbe's cheapest balloon tire.

I highly recommend this one (28'x2' size) for your rear tire: https://www.schwalbetires.com/Marathon-GT

 

[indianajo]

I'm getting 1.5 years out of rear Kenda off-road 2.1" on the back and 2 years on the front. I ride about 2000 miles a year on road. I pull them at ~1/16" tread so I don't get flats. They come over 1/8" thick external tread. At $25 each from the LBS I think I'll stay with these instead of premium schwalbe. I only weigh 160 lb but I carry 50 lb of supplies on the back frequently. The open tread makes a little noise, ho-hum. I use generic schwinn tubes. Freedomcycle road tires that came with the new bike, I only got 6 months out of the rear and 8 out of the front.

 

[hurricane56]

I heard that rotating tire might not be the best idea because you’d be putting the tire with more wear on the front thus reducing steering traction. I’d buy a new tire and put that on the front and move the current front tire rearward.

900-1000 miles seems par for the course fir a tire rated at 3 out of 6. I’m about 165lbs with two panniers and got similar performance as others with Energizer Plus tires.

 

[JimmyJ]

This is how my rear tire looks after 500 miles (same tire as yours) . (I weight 155 lbs). On my "analog" road bike, I have 2400 miles on them, no problem.

 

[christob]

Thanks for the inputs folks -- I'll install the new Fat Frank on the rear, and then likely at the next tire-balding, time-to-change point, will look at the Marathons.

 

[JohnT]

It’s normal for bikes to wear the rear more when there’s more weight there. I’ve seen a Fat Frank need to be replaced at as low as 500 miles. I don’t remember whether that tire showed evidence of habitual skidding.

If you’re putting on a lot of miles, a more durable tire might be a good idea. If you use the 26” x 2.35” that many Pedegos do, that size is hard to find. I like the Marathon Mondial Double Defense in 26” x 2.15”, even though it’s narrower.