I noticed my front tire, a Metzeler Sportec M1, is comming apart. Here is the picture:

My question is what causes this? Is it because the tire is near the end of its life and lots of heat cycles? I'm curious because I want to make sure nothing is wrong with my front end (lowsided 3 months ago-tweaked forks, but everything was fixed). It wasn't like that on the previous ride since I check the pressure every ride. I found it today at the gas station and decided not to push my luck. Its just a worn tire right?

2nd question- my rear M1 is fairly new. I have my first trackday in Sept, and am planning on replacing the tires with Pilot Powers before Sept when the rear wears out. How fast do fronts generally wear out (stictly canyon riding, no stunting)? I'm worried that when I replace the front now, it won't pass tech in Sept and I'll have to buy a new one. Also will the different profiles of the PP vs. the M1 affect anything? I'm thinking of just getting a cheap take-off front tire and mount that up and kill it, then replace both in Sept. Thanks.

 

I had the Sportec's and the sides wore out before the center, and the front wore out before the rear. But they were'nt worn as bad as your's. The roads I ride on have that glue chip, where they put down tar then sharp rocks are rolled in. Great traction, but they tear up tires. I have the Avon AV45/46 sport touring tires now, and I like them better than the Sportec's.

 

As for the tires wearing out on the outside first that is caused by the fact that they use a softer rubber compound on the outside portion of the tire to acheive more grip and a harder rubber compound on the middle portion of the tire to acheive more tire life since most of the riding people do off the track is on the center portion of the tire. However this tire seems to be extremely worn on the outside section and only shows minimal wear on the center portion which would lead me to believe there was either exsessive force asserted to it or there is still something wrong from the aformentioned accident. If the forks are not perfectly in line with each other they will put the tire at an angle that is not the normal angle that it tends to roll on thus creating a high friction sliding motion instead of a low friction rolling motion. Cheapest way to tell is buy a new tire and see if similiar situations arise. Either way good luck and get that thing replaced.

 

Since the accident, I have put on a little less than 400 miles. Would I be able to tell in that short of distance if something is wrong? As far as I can tell, everything on the front end is straight. The forks are lined up, the triple is straight, the fender isn't tweaked... Guess I'll find out when I get a new tire[&:] The only wear the center of the tire sees is on the way to the canyons. I don't commute with this bike, its strictly canyons.
I'm just curious if that "blistering" in the middle of the side of the tread is from normal tire wear or something else.

 

what kind of conditions are you riding in? like weather, how hard you're riding, etc.?
also how old is the tire?
tires will ball up and have the same effect when riding very hard, like on a track, etc...but as far as the big chunks of your tire coming apart like that...no...it doesn't appear that it's because of your wreck though, but rather, the tire biting it on you...whether it's just a bad tire, end of life or whatever...
also...you shouldn't be riding so hard in the canyons...takes just one tiny slip up.
brisk smooth riding takes the cake as far as speed, fun, safety...and tire longevity.

 

Does the bike roll straight "hands off"? If it doesn't you've got an alignment problem. I have one too, they're a B*t*h to diagnose.

 

I had the metzler M-1 on the front of my F-2 it wore all on the left side and none on the right, guess I leand more on my left then my right, my new front is a "Pilot Power" so far its a great tire