I was about to swap out a pair of these when I remembered Conti has wear indicators (I'm assuming are the two round dots). According to these there's still some tread life left (they looked worn without considering these). Just wondering if other people ride these right to the end of the life according to the wear indicators. Want to get as much out of the tires as possible, but not at the expense of more flats etc on thin treads.

Seeing Conti wants you to buy more tires :D, I wouldn't put much stock in those dots. Ride 'em till you start getting flats or until you see the casing.

True, once the flats start happening it's new tire time. Although if you dont feel right about riding on tires that are near the end then replace them, I always replace before they are totally gone, just peace of mind knowing that a tire wont end it's life 40 miles from home. I have seen others with tires that decided life was over before there ride was over, always a bad situation.

Every tire I've ever used has had tread wear indicators. These are also known as casing threads. When I can see the casing threads (or see the outline of the threads), it is time to replace the tire. I haven't noticed any increase in flats before the threads became visible. There has never been any change in handling, either, which is not surprising given how thin the treads are to begin with. As an added benefit, worn tires also have less rolling resistance (yes, this has actually been measured and confirmed).

Automobile tires have grooves and sipes to channel water to prevent hydroplaning. Treadwear indicators on these tires are used to indicate when the grooves and sipes have become too shallow for adequate water displacement. Bike tires don't need tread grooves and sipes because they can't hydroplane. So, there is little reason to have treadwear indicators on bike tires.

Yep, yep, yep.

but that is the puget sound area--back in maryland i rode them until worn down to casing.
i think it is the rain and grit they throw down in the winter--stuff gets worn into tiny little arrowheads or "flints" that imbed in the tire and poke through.

so it may depend on where you are--now once the rear gets squared i ride until i get one flat, and that is it. if it is still under 35 degrees, i just swap it out before the flat happens--i hate changing a flat when my hands start to hurt--and for me that is about 35.

jim

Yep, yep, yep.

You really think so? I value your opinion but just replaced a rear gp 4000 with about 3000 miles on it that hadn't quite gotten to the bottom of the wear indicators. Held between the thumb and forefinger the tire felt like a baloney skin.

You really think so? I value your opinion but just replaced a rear gp 4000 with about 3000 miles on it that hadn't quite gotten to the bottom of the wear indicators. Held between the thumb and forefinger the tire felt like a baloney skin.

As jimcav noted, there may be some locale issues, as the type of "flat causer" does vary from place to place. I always ride my tires until the casing threads just start to show, and have never noticed any increase in flats as the tire gets worn. I don't get a lot of flats, but I've had flats on new tires, old tires, and in-between tires. Whether it is a bit of glass, a piece of wire, etc. I find that they all can work their way through a light weight bike tire pretty easily. A brand new Conti GP3K tread and casing is 1.5 mm thicker than a totally worn out one, so you will likely get a flat QUICKER because the debris works its way through in less time, but unless you're constantly finding "short shards" in your tread that are stuck there and not working their way toward the tube, then you'll get the flat either way. Once that piece of glass, wire, thorn, or flint is stuck in the tread, it's mostly a matter of time before you get a flat.