Tires Report 7/25/02

Tires: Report of 7/25/02

It has been a while now since we started collecting data on tires. As of this report, we have 448 reports of tire mishaps, all road or track tires.

The data on tires is publicly available. You can download the data yourself and do your own analysis.

Be aware that in some cases sample size may be too small yet to be conclusive. In many cases, the Confidence Interval on the Mean has a wide range.

Miles are miles between mishaps. The greater the number, the better.

If an average rider gets 450 miles per tire and pays US$30 for each tire, the rider would spend about US$.13 per mile. (takes two tires). Contrast this with US$250 for a set of car tires that go 50,000 miles, US$.005 per mile.

	Sample Size	Mean (miles)	Confidence Interval of Mean (miles)
Is rider weight a factor in tire milage?— A heavy rider seems to have the about the same tire mishap experience as a lighter rider.
All Tires	449	804	{ 680., 927.}

What is the frequency distribution of milage between mishaps for all tires?—Tires often die from mishaps long before they wear out. Only getting a few hundred miles from a tire is common.
All Tires	449	804	{ 680., 927.}

Do tubular tires last longer than clinchers? (Wornout and Mishaps)—It looks like tubular tires last longer.
Tubulars	59	1143	{ 586., 1701.}
Clinchers	389	754	{ 638., 869.}
Do clinchers get more pinch flats than tubulars?—Sample size is too small yet to draw any conclusions.
Tubulars	2	124	{ 124., 124.}
Clinchers	32	657	{ 328., 986.}
Do tubulars have more miles between mishaps than clinchers? (not wornout)—It looks like tubulars have fewer mishaps than clinchers. You might want to select your favorite brands and models and see if that makes any difference.
Tubulars	38	2643	{ 1248., 4038.}
Clinchers	324	585	{ 489., 681.}
Do clincher tires wear longer than tubulers? (Wornout)—It looks like they do.
Tubulars	21	1143	{ 586., 1701.}
Clinchers	66	1574	{ 1123., 2026.}
Do front tires last longer than rear? (All mishaps)—Front tires seem to last a little longer than rear. This could be because front times wear longer than rear but they both have about the same number of non-wear mishaps.
Rear	341	789	{ 658., 919.}
Front	108	852	{ 542., 1162.}
Do front tires wear longer than rear? (Wornout)—Front tires wear longer than rear tires by about 2 to 1.
Rear	71	1554	{ 1108., 2001.}
Front	16	3065	{ 1401., 4729.}
Do front tires have more mishaps (other than wear) than rear?—No, both seem to have the same number of mishaps.
Rear	271	586	{ 480., 691.}
Front	92	467	{ 322., 612.}
Do narrow (19 & 20 mm) tires have more pinch flats that wider ones (23 & 25 mm)?—Sample size is too small to draw any conclusions.
Narrow (19 & 20 mm)	3	858	{ -1609., 3325.}
Wider (23 & 25 mm)	23	653	{ 241., 1065.}
Do narrow (19 & 20 mm) tires have more total mishaps that larger ones (23 & 25 mm)—Narrow and wide tires seem to last about the same number of miles.
Narrow (19 & 20 mm)	39	570	{ 218., 923.}
Wider (23 & 25 mm)	267	550	{ 458., 643.}
Do Kevlar-belted tires last longer than nylon?—Sample size is too small to draw any conclusions.
Kevlar	5	1140	{ -390., 2670.}
Nylon	27	1228	{ 585., 1870.}
Do tires with colored pigment in their tread wear as long as tires with carbon black in their treads?—It looks like tires with colored pigment seem to last about the same as tires with carbon black in their tread.
Colored Pigment	15	1520	{ -182., 3221.}
Carbon Black	68	1791	{ 1407., 2175.}