I have a torker unistar cx, and after just riding around a couple times over christmas, and then really riding a lot for the past two weeks, why is my tire so bald, the center tread is nerly down to the bottom of the tire.
P.S. I did ride some bike trails yesterday.
Gracias Senores,
Senor Juan Carlos Roberto Jeronimo Awesome-O The Third.
Re: Why is my tire so dang bald?
First thought, is your tire over-inflated? That would cause more wear along the center of the tire. You also need to consider the surface upon which you’re riding. Pavement would of course wear a tire more quickly that a smooth surface.
Then, is the tire worn consistently around the perimeter or only in certain spots? If it is worn in patches, it would coordinate with the position of the tire when you are idling or performing certain movements. On a unicycle, it’s a good idea to periodically rotate your tire with respect to the rim to even out the wearing.
Bruce
It is under-inflation rather than over-inflation that will cause tire wear. When the tire is under-inflated it takes more scuffing of the tire in order to turn and there is more of the tire in contact with the ground.
Doing a lot of turns on pavement or textured concrete will wear down a tire. When a unicycle turns the tire gets scuffed on the pavement especially if you are doing an action reaction style turn. Even when you are riding in a straight line you tire is making a wiggly “S” shape on the ground as you ride. Every time the tire wiggles back an forth in that “S” shape it is scuffing the tire a little bit. Unicycle tires are going to wear faster than bike tires. It’s the nature of the beast.
A unicycle tire will also get uneven tire wear. It is easier to turn to the right when the right pedal is going down. It is easier to turn to the left when the left crank is going down. You end up favoring certain pedal positions when you turn and will end up wearing specific areas of the tire more quickly than others. If you rotate the tire by about 1/4 turn on the rim you can get more even tire wear and stretch out the life of your tire.
As your riding and technique improve you will probably find that you can ride around more without wearing the tire down as fast. This is because you’re riding and pedaling more smoothly. Your turns are more smooth. You’re not wiggling in the “S” shape as much.
But then you discover spins (turning very tight circles like an ice skater). Beware of the spins. 
You can wear down a tire very very quickly by doing spins on concrete or pavement. Fortunately spins are a more advanced skill so you won’t have to worry about them quite yet. But spins are so fun it is hard to resist even though they do wear down the tire.
Tire wear on a unicycle is expected to a certain extent. Just make sure that you have plenty of air in the tire and work on riding more smoothly. And don’t forget to rotate the tire before it gets completely worn in a single spot.
Yes, it is correct that an under-inflated tire will wear very quickly. I agree completely with John’s comments. My assumption from Juan’s initial post was that the tire was wearing in a very narrow spot in the center of the tread, which would be caused by over-inflation. After further consideration, I may stand corrected in that Juan didn’t say how much of the tire tread was wearing, just that it was wearing in the center.
Bruce
Re: Why is my tire so dang bald?
On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 13:49:59 -0500, “john_childs” wrote:
>It is under-inflation rather than over-inflation that will cause tire
>wear. When the tire is under-inflated it takes more scuffing of the
>tire in order to turn
Not only to turn. It also takes more scuffing to just ride straight.
The deformation that the tyre has to go into and out of at the contact
patch is much larger when the tyre is underinflated. Basically, the
tyre surface shrinks to go from a arc shape to a straight shape and
then expands back into an arc, and all of that while in contact with
the ‘abrasive’ riding surface.
“When it comes to the family jewels, you won’t be having fun until they’re having fun. - Jake D”
maybe its just because he likes to ride?