Clueless sounding question - how can I tell if....

.....my Michelin slick tyres (23mm Carbons) are worn out? The lack of a
tread pattern makes it very difficult to tell (!), unlike the
Vredestein Tri-Comps [1] I've usually plumped for. The tyres have been
on the bike about a year, but haven't had day in, day out use, even in
high summer. No obvious "flat spot" on the bit that's in contact with
the road as yet, and handling seems the same as usual, but can't help
feeling that it's round about the right time for a new pair of tyres.
All feedback very welcome, and apologies if I'm missing the blindingly
obvious!!

Thanks in advance,
David Belcher

[1] If new tyres *are* needed, back to Tri-Comps, I think - unlike a
lot of modern road tyres you can actually fit them without too much
grief, blisters, snapped tyre levers, swearing, etc.

"David E. Belcher" wrote in message
oups.com...
....my Michelin slick tyres (23mm Carbons) are worn out? The lack of a
tread pattern makes it very difficult to tell (!), unlike the
Vredestein Tri-Comps [1] I've usually plumped for. The tyres have been
on the bike about a year, but haven't had day in, day out use, even in
high summer. No obvious "flat spot" on the bit that's in contact with
the road as yet, and handling seems the same as usual, but can't help
feeling that it's round about the right time for a new pair of tyres.
All feedback very welcome, and apologies if I'm missing the blindingly
obvious!!

Thanks in advance,
David Belcher

[1] If new tyres *are* needed, back to Tri-Comps, I think - unlike a
lot of modern road tyres you can actually fit them without too much
grief, blisters, snapped tyre levers, swearing, etc.

Pump to max pressure then slowly stick a pin in, noting carefully how far
it's gone before the tyre explodes. Anything less than 1.5mm and it
definitely needed replacing ; o)

David E. Belcher wrote:
....my Michelin slick tyres (23mm Carbons) are worn out? The lack of a
tread pattern makes it very difficult to tell (!), unlike the

Can you see the thread yet? Are you getting punctures? If not, keep
them.

I get about 2000 miles from lightweight race tyres like that, if that
helps.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune

in message .com, David
E. Belcher ') wrote:

....my Michelin slick tyres (23mm Carbons) are worn out? The lack of a
tread pattern makes it very difficult to tell (!)

When you can see the fabric.

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

The Conservative Party is now dead. The corpse may still be
twitching, but resurrection is not an option - unless Satan
chucks them out of Hell as too objectionable even for him.

David E. Belcher wrote:
....my Michelin slick tyres (23mm Carbons) are worn out? The lack of a
tread pattern makes it very difficult to tell (!), unlike the
Vredestein Tri-Comps [1] I've usually plumped for.

I would carry on using that sort of tyre until either the casing was
showing or it had a too-bad cut. Usually it's the latter with mine. As
long as there's /some/ rubber left, grip will be fine.

The rubber (or synthetic "rubber") layer of even a brand new racing tyre
is only deep enough to offer a small amount of puncture protection in
itself so puncture resistance can't change a great deal as the tyre wears
down. I feel differently about thicker tyres on touring/utility bikes
where the tread is deep enough for larger bits of broken glass not to go
all the way through, so I change those earlier to maintain a good level of
puncture resistance (at least for the rear tyre where I get most
punctures).

/snip
[1] If new tyres *are* needed, back to Tri-Comps, I think - unlike a
lot of modern road tyres you can actually fit them without too much
grief, blisters, snapped tyre levers, swearing, etc.

Vittoria Open Corsa CX 23 are particularly easy to fit and possibly better
than Tri-Comps in some ways.

~PB

David E. Belcher wrote:

[1] If new tyres *are* needed, back to Tri-Comps, I think - unlike a
lot of modern road tyres you can actually fit them without too much
grief, blisters, snapped tyre levers, swearing, etc.

What rims are you using? Michlens are very tight on Campag rims for
example. I've moved to Schawble Stelvios for this very reason and
am very happy with them.

More puncture resistant than the TriComps IME.

--
Arthur Clune