Basically title, this symbol is on the tires of my new (to me) CAAD12. Are the tires on backwards? The right side of the picture is the front of the bike, the left side is the rear. This is the front tire. Another picture below showing which way the tread is facing. The tread “looks” right, it appears it would channel water away from the center correctly.
If I had to guess the arrow shows what direction the tire should rotate in and the correct direction is dependent on whether the tire is in the front or the rear.
I’m left wondering why the tread direction of a tire would differ if it’s on the front vs rear wheel of a bicycle. They’re still rotating the same direction, right?
Another comment said something about one wheel being under power and the other not having something to do with it.
Edit: and now I can’t seem to find it, I must be hallucinating.
I’m not aware of any other tire on land that would vary based on being driven or not. Sure, a driven wheel has torque applied to it, but I haven’t seen an automobile with an equivalent arrangement. Nor are rail wheels for that matter.
Also, all wheels are braked on a standard bicycle, which would subject them all to the same torque, which should exceed acceleration torque when adjusted properly.
This answer is correct, I’m not going to put my brain through the hoops of which way is which from the pics, but roll the bike forward and double check that the front and rear are rotating the appropriate direction, if not flip them. Although I doubt you’d ever actually notice it the rear would be positioned for best traction and the front for least resistance hence the opposite directions