Perhaps more than any other part of your ride, your bike’s tires will experience wear and tear on a daily basis. Therefore it behooves you to know, at least, how to properly care for them so that they last longer.
You’ll have to replace them eventually as the tread wears down or the sidewall cracks, but why not read up on how you can put that replacement off with some basic maintenance? Here’s your high-level overview.
Keep It Clean
First and foremost, keep your bike tires clean. After riding, if there’s a lot of mud or sand in the treads, brush or rinse it off. This will also help keep sand and mud off the frame, and so will help prevent corrosion.
Consider Fenders
Bike fenders are basically mudguards that help keep mud, sand, and spray off your bike’s frame, chain, and other components. While fenders don’t preserve the tire, they will help preserve the rest of your bike by keeping it cleaner.
Keep It Protected Against UV
Ultraviolet light, naturally present in sunlight, is a bike tire-killer. Over time, chronic UV exposure will discolor your bike tires’ sidewalls, and eventually it will cause the rubber to become brittle and start to crack and crumble.
One way to prevent this is to apply a specially formulated bike tire dressing that will preserve the sleek, new black appearance of the tires, while also providing a modicum of protection against UV-induced decay.
The other and more effective way to protect your bike tires against UV is to keep them covered when you are not riding. Either store your bike in the shade or in a garage and that will slow down the inevitability of UV induced decay.
The other benefit of doing so is that storing your bike in the shade will also help slow down the decay of your saddle, which UV light will also damage.
Keep It Properly Inflated
Keeping your bike tire properly inflated will not just ensure better handling given the surface on which you are riding, it will also help extend the lifespan of your tires.
In addition to the fact that proper tire pressure will help ensure even tread wear, keeping the tires at an appropriate level will help prevent pinch flats, which can occur when the tire pressure is too low.
What’s Good for the Bike Tire Is (Generally) Good for the Rim
Note also that keeping your tires clean and rinsing or brushing them off (or even installing fenders, as indicated here) is not just good for the tire. It’s also good for the rim. Whether your bike rims are aluminum or steel, both are affected by corrosion, so the cleaner you keep them, the longer they will last.
Need New Bike Tires?
Looking for a place where you can get new bike tires along with the tools you need to install them and keep them properly inflated? Visit Unicycle.com, and don’t be fooled by the name. They carry a wide range of bike tires and tools in their online collection.
Visit their website and get in touch with them directly if you have any questions. They’ll help you out with anything you need, whether your ride has one wheel or two.
