the 'there's no such thing as a stupid question' bike maintenance thread

After the Ring of Beara my rear tire suddenly went from being in fairly good nick to ready for the bin and I'm scratching my head somewhat as to why. The pictures show pretty much the state of it all the way round. I did check them just before going to Beara and there was a tiny patch something like the more minor patches wear in the 2nd/3rd images, but I thought I'd chance it (it was fine when there). Given the conditions on the day I was too glad to get off the bike so didn't pay any heed at the time as there was the important matters of hot shower, pints, and rugby to be attended to.

Obviously this is headed for the bin, but I'm curious if anybody has any insight as to why they might have deteriorated so rapidly. They're Vittoria Rubino 28mm tubeless, and don't have huge milage on them - probably 4000km tops - but that'd be over 2+ years as circumstances have seen me either on the turbo or using the other bike a lot of the time.

Trying to get the replacement seated has been a fruitless exercise despite soapy water, removed valve cores, several track pumps, skinned knuckles, the children learning some interesting swear words - but that's a whole other story

Traction seemed fine - not that I'd have probably noticed anything anyway with the howling crosswinds and rain on the day. Road surfaces weren't anything out of the ordinary. I'm down in Waterford, but thanks anyway. I have a second tire lying around which I'll try to see if it's more amenable, otherwise I'll throw a tube in it for now so I don't miss another weekend.

it looks quite even all the way around - and the fact that you'd seen one worn patch, even if it was small, suggested the tyres were worn beyond their useful life at that point. could have been a fraction of a mm of rubber on the tyres which didn't take much to wear away.

I reckon this is the most likely scenario. Despite the low total mileage over the past couple of years, they've had a fair whack all told post Easter

what tyre pressure had you inflated it to?

I usually run them around 60-65psi which seems to be fine in terms of comfort and rolling resistance. It probably would have an impact on lifespan than if I were running say 75psi but if it's ultimately a tradeoff for taking the sting out of the washboards that pass for roads I usually take, that's fair enough.