I was reading a thread and tires were the topic. Someone used the term "squared off". What does that mean?

Thanks

I was reading a thread and tires were the topic. Someone used the term "squared off". What does that mean?

Thanks

It means that instead of having a rounded cross-section like a new tire, it has a flat stripe where it's worn down on the road (or on a trainer--they're hell on tires).

Some people will insist that this makes the tire feel funny or the bike unstable. These people are called loonies.

There's nothing really wrong with the tire being squared off, as long as the rubber is still in good condition and the underlying threads aren't exposed. Once the threads show or the tire has a fairly large number of visible cuts in the rubber, it's time to get rid of it. Typically, only the rear tire will square off, so some folks will swap the front to the rear and put on a new front, rather than buy two new ones.

There is a possibility of a squared off tire negatively impacting the cornering feel of a bike, but from a performance perspective it doesn't change anything. That said, my friend had a badly squared off tire (literally right angles when aired up, we measured) on his old Honda CB100 and putting a new tire on definitely improved cornering a good bit. Apples to Oranges, I know, but something to think about.

There is a possibility of a squared off tire negatively impacting the cornering feel of a bike, but from a performance perspective it doesn't change anything. That said, my friend had a badly squared off tire (literally right angles when aired up, we measured) on his old Honda CB100 and putting a new tire on definitely improved cornering a good bit. Apples to Oranges, I know, but something to think about.

1 - The tread on a bicycle tire is much thinner compared to its width than a motorcycle tire, so the amount the tire can actually change shape before the tread is worn through is much less;

2 - The tread on a bicycle tire is also much more flexible than on a motorcycle tire, so a bicycle tire easily flexes and deforms to compensate for small shape changes due to treadwear.

Like bikeboy389 says, tread wear on bicycle tires has no significant affect on handling.