Tire wear question.

[elliot friedman]

How many miles do people get on their tires.
Is there a way to check tire wear like the top of Lincoln's head on penny for an automobile tire?

 

[christob]

It really varies too much on riding conditions, riding style, tire type, maintained pressure, etc., to say "you should plan to get X miles on your tires".
I'm on Schwalbe Fat Franks, and got 2,300 miles on the original rear tire (a rear hub bike) and 2,700 on the replacement rear tire, before I felt each was balded enough to be replaced...
But on the front tire, I got about 5,000 before similar balding.

 

[indianajo]

I get about 2000 miles (a year of riding) on my tires. A little less on the back, a little more on the front. I take them off when the bumps on my tire get under 1/16" thick. Below that I get flats. Above, I don't usually. Most city tires don't even have that much tread. I buy the thickest knobby kenda tires I can get from the LBS, usually 5/32" to 3/16". Flats are a **** with cargo, and worse with a hub motor.

 

[tomjasz]

I get about 2000 miles (a year of riding) on my tires. A little less on the back, a little more on the front. I take them off when the bumps on my tire get under 1/16" thick. Below that I get flats. Above, I don't usually. Most city tires don't even have that much tread. I buy the thickest knobby kenda tires I can get from the LBS, usually 5/32" to 3/16". Flats are a **** with cargo, and worse with a hub motor.

I’m with you. My KHS Smoothie, Townie geometry, bikes came with Kenda tires. Turns out they are one of the thickest street tires I’ve owned. Inexpensive, compared to Schwable, but a great value. Today they’re listed for $10 each more than I paid. I watch for sales and grab one or two for backups when they’re on sale. “ Kenda 163026 Big City Slick Wire Bead Bicycle Tire”

 

[Ken M]

Given the assist provided by ebikes you would think that one of the tire companies would just add an extra 500 grams of rubber to the tread area to ensure a 10,000 mile tire life. Oh but that would be doing something that would benefit the customers and subtract from management bonuses. I'm sorry but it's nuts that some riders are replacing tires every 500-2000 miles. Can you imaging if car tires only last that long? Landfill nightmare.