i have a giant boulder bike with a 80cc 2-stroke enging on it. i myself weight 230lbs and i ride around 200km a day at 40-50kph. i have a kevlar tire i got at walmart on the back and a slime tube i also got at walmart. my front tire has 3000+km on it and its fine but my last tire was from a bike in my backyard and it only lasted 150km. so how long should i expect to have this new tire last? it was $10 for the tire and $10 for the tube so its not cheap. i ride 100km into the country at 3 am and i dont have a cell phone and there are no houses along these desalite roads so i cant be walking home. what is the average lifespan of a tire on a mountain bike. thanks
It depends on how the motor is driving the rear wheel. Most engines use a friction wheel, which will reduce the tread life of the tire. When the tire gets thin, it punctures much more readily. If the tire had a chain drive to the rear wheel, the tire life would be the same as a pedal powered bicycle, about 2,000 miles. $10.00 is pretty inexpensive for a bicycle tire. Get a tire without the knobby tread.
My bike store mechanic has instructed me to check my tire pressure at a minimum of once a week. If I am going on a long ride I check my tires for foreign objects, cracks or obvious defects prior to leaving in order to get the most enjoyment out of the ride. I also weigh 230 plus pounds so I switched to a kevlar tire that I have used for over a year with no flats. Put a quality kevlar tire on and enjoy the ride. Remember, quality remains long after price has been forgotten.
There is no such thing as a puncture-proof tire. Even Armadilloes can get punctured by things that can work its way through the kevlar belting, such as a stiff steel wire (had that happen to me a couple times), but I agree with Sno f Armadilloes are a good investment. To stack the odds in your favor, I would check the following: - Make sure you inflate your tires to the right pressure! Mushy tires means more pinch flats (when the tube gets squished against the tire rim and ruptures). - Make sure there are no sharp edges on your wheel rim. Oftentimes the opening in the rim for your tube's valve stem might have a sharp edge and might slice open your inner tube. - Make sure there is nothing on the inside of your tires. When changing out a flat, feel the inside and make sure there is nothing poking through, or you will get a puncture in the same place again.
