How much tire tread is too little?

[J.T.]

My Ninebot One E+ has 2010 miles (3235 km) on it with original tire and I'm wondering how much life I have left on it.  Has anyone ever had their tire blow out?  I'm curious what the tread looked like at the time.  See attached for pic of what my tire currently looks like.  Thoughts?  Thank you in advance!

 

[Rywokast]

i wouldnt worry about it.. if it still rides fine i wouldnt bother until i started to see fibers lol.. ive only seen one person who had a tire that bad and i believe that was like 5000 miles the tire was literally worn right down to nothing.. its not a tubeless tire thats gonna blow out on you theres no safety concern in that regard its just thinner so the possibility of a puncture goes up, which would be a slow leak nothing dangerous not that the ninebot can go a speed that could be considered dangerous anyways.. if i were you i would just keep another tire on hand and then ride that one until death, unless of course it rides bad then you can change it whenever

[J.T.]

@Rywokast, that was an extremely helpful response, thank you!  I shall wait a little longer then.  I do have a backup tire ready in the closet for when I do need to change out the tire.  The original tire rides well on pavement.  I have noticed that the few times I've gone on gravel-like surfaces, that the grip isn't quite what it used to be, but it's also not anything that bothers me too much.  Also, that is an amazing collection of wheels you have!

 

18 hours ago, Rywokast said:

i wouldnt worry about it.. if it still rides fine i wouldnt bother until i started to see fibers lol.. ive only seen one person who had a tire that bad and i believe that was like 5000 miles the tire was literally worn right down to nothing.. its not a tubeless tire thats gonna blow out on you theres no safety concern in that regard its just thinner so the possibility of a puncture goes up, which would be a slow leak nothing dangerous not that the ninebot can go a speed that could be considered dangerous anyways.. if i were you i would just keep another tire on hand and then ride that one until death, unless of course it rides bad then you can change it whenever

 

[LanghamP]

Worn tires have progressively worse puncture resistance, and tires worn in the center ride "heavy", that is, they are more stable.

Put a new tire on, and be shocked at the twitchy handling.

Personally, I buy two new tires when I'm 50% worn, and leave one by the doorway to remind myself to change the damned EUC tire.

In comparison, I changed both tires on my bicycle last night, which took around five minutes for each, and I didn't have nor require tire levers. Try doing a bare handed tire change on a KS16...not possible, but if you ever meet the guy that can do so in a dark alley, run the opposite way.

[J.T.]

@LanghamP, can you help me understand what you mean by "twitchy" handling?  Also, if you were me, would you change the tire in the picture I posted?  Thank you for your help!

 

On 8/6/2019 at 3:21 PM, LanghamP said:

Worn tires have progressively worse puncture resistance, and tires worn in the center ride "heavy", that is, they are more stable.

Put a new tire on, and be shocked at the twitchy handling.

Personally, I buy two new tires when I'm 50% worn, and leave one by the doorway to remind myself to change the damned EUC tire.

In comparison, I changed both tires on my bicycle last night, which took around five minutes for each, and I didn't have nor require tire levers. Try doing a bare handed tire change on a KS16...not possible, but if you ever meet the guy that can do so in a dark alley, run the opposite way.

 

[LanghamP]

46 minutes ago, J.T. said:

@LanghamP, can you help me understand what you mean by "twitchy" handling?  Also, if you were me, would you change the tire in the picture I posted?  Thank you for your help!

 

 

When tires get worn in the center more than the edges, they become progressively less triangular and hence more stable. Since the wear occurs gradually, you will adjust and not notice it until you change tires. You might think the tire is overinflated/underinflated, but so long as the tire replacement is original, it's simply the normal wear pattern.

Personally, I'd start the replacement, that is, not immediate but getting ready for it, simply because EUC tires are a pain, and you need an hour or two of uninterrupted time.

Bicycle tires you can change on a busy sidewalk while chatting with another person, but not EUC tires.

[Circuitmage]

Back in my 2 wheel scooter days, I let my front wheel tire wear through to where you could see the white thread inside the tread on about a 1 inch diameter circle and told myself "Mehhh, one more ride should be fine."

At the end of about a 5 mile ride, I heard what sounded like a small arms gun shot, so I looked behind me. As I felt the front end go down and I flew over the handle bars, I realized my tire had just blown. 

I would say, as long as there is no tire thread showing inside the tire, you are good to go!

 

[LanghamP]

6 hours ago, Circuitmage said:

the end of about a 5 mile ride, I heard what sounded like a small arms gun shot, so I looked behind me. As I felt the front end go down and I flew over the handle bars, I realized my tire had just blown

Tires fall into the high risk category, whereby a bad tire can make your day pure expensive misery.

I basically just replace tires (car, bike, EUC) when they get about 2/3 worn, sometimes earlier if they are car tires. Don't need to be dealing with lack of grip of such trying to get a bit more mileage. Save hundreds while possibly losing thousands...I've done that multiple times in my life.