Four spring time tyre checks

Pressures!

» Check ‘em regularly. Our addled brains struggle to remember what they should be, especially when you ride different bikes, so utilise the dymo tape making machine in the office stationery cupboard to make a reminder, and stick it somewhere obvious. Check your gauge for accuracy with the tyre fitter’s airline.

Dates

» Rubber compounds get harder with age, eventually compromising grip, especially in the wet, so it’s good to be aware of when your tyres were made. Four digit number is week of the year, preceding the year. Old three digit numbering system means that they are at least 20 years old. You can’t be riding enough.

Tread

» The legal limit of tread wear is 1mm remaining over 75% of the treaded surface area, plus visible tread on the remaining 25% (slightly different rules for sub-50cc). Flattening of tyre profile through wear at the tyre’s centre affects steering feel to indicate that time’s up too, even if they’re still legal.

Repairs

DIY puncture repairs on tubeless tyres, done from the outside of the carcass, should be treated as temporary with a proper tyre off repair from inside the carcass done as soon as possible. More than a couple of repairs warrant a new tyre. Sidewall damage isn’t repairable, also beware strange wear patterns.