Tyres on the wrong way for over two years

[GuyBoden]

I've had my tyres on the wrong way, the rear for over two years, I bought this year's tyre model yesterday and it now has a new arrow pointing in the direction of travel on the side wall.

Changed the tyres, so both are now the correct orientation, but, no discernible difference on my ride.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

I've never paid any notice of those arrows. As you say, no discernible difference, not for a road tyre anyway. I imagine it would make a difference on a tyre designed for mud.

 

[Ian H]

Oh God! You might have died!

I'm sure one pair of tyres I fitted had instructions to fit the front with the arrow one way and the rear with it the other.

 

[Alan O]

There's no such thing as "wrong way" - it's marketing cowpoo.

 

[Ajax Bay]

They only put the arrow on to avoid people bothering them to ask 'Does it matter which way they go on?' or 'why is there no direction of rotation arrow?'
At least the tyres had decent tread so they gripped well.

 

[Vantage]

Tread on a car tyre is there to displace water. Bicycle tyres are too narrow for any water to accumulate under the tyre so tread on a road tyre is completely useless.
There's a study on tyre direction that says it makes not a jot of difference to the bikes handling regarding which direction they are fitted in. No idea where I saw that study though. Sowwy.

 

[Vegan1]

Tread on a tyre is there for the same reason that you get tread on a car tyre to displace water. It's correct to have the tyre arrow pointing towards the direction of travel.

 

[Bollo]

Tread on a tyre is there for the same reason that you get tread on a car tyre to displace water. It's correct to have the tyre arrow pointing towards the direction of travel.

Let the carnival begin!

 

[Drago]

Tyres on the wrong way? You maniac!

 

[DEFENDER01]

I've had my tyres on the wrong way, the rear for over two years, I bought this year's tyre model yesterday and it now has a new arrow pointing in the direction of travel on the side wall.

Changed the tyres, so both are now the correct orientation, but, no discernible difference on my ride.

I have had my tyres on the wrong way for 3 years.
I do sometimes reverse my bike they are then on the right way but i guess it would fail an M O T.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

I've had my tyres on the wrong way, the rear for over two years, I bought this year's tyre model yesterday and it now has a new arrow pointing in the direction of travel on the side wall.

Changed the tyres, so both are now the correct orientation, but, no discernible difference on my ride.

You realise the Velominati read CC? You're screwed.

 

[ianrauk]

It matters not

 

[winjim]

It's just the arrows? That's a relief, for a minute there I thought you'd been riding with a rear tyre on the front and a front on the rear. That would be silly.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Tread on a tyre is there for the same reason that you get tread on a car tyre to displace water. It's correct to have the tyre arrow pointing towards the direction of travel.

I cry BS!

 

[Dirk]

Many years ago we had a talk at our motorcycle club by Alan Blake, the head technical honcho at the time, from Avon Tyres.
He explained that during the manufacturing process the tread is put on the tyre carcass with a small amount of overlay, where one end sits on top of the other.
If the tyre was put on in the wrong direction, it could result in the tread lifting under heavy braking or acceleration. He showed us an example of a rear tyre that had done exactly that.
I doubt whether a cyclist could accelerate hard enough to cause tread lift, but heavy braking downhill at speed could possibly generate the conditions necessary for it to occur.