Tire treads having tread elements with inclined leading sides

A method of reducing tread wear on a tire, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a tread having:
• a length, a width, and a tread thickness, the tread thickness extending inward from an outer, ground-engaging side in a direction normal to both the width and the length of the tread;
• the width extending laterally in a direction transverse to the tread thickness and to the length of the tread, the width extending laterally between a first lateral side and a second lateral side of the tread;
• one or more tread elements, each of the one or more tread elements being arranged between a pair of discontinuities extending at least partially in the direction of the tread width, where each of the pair of discontinuities is a groove, where one of the pair of discontinuities is arranged adjacent to a first longitudinally-spaced side of the corresponding tread element and where the other of the pair of discontinuities is arranged adjacent to a second longitudinally-spaced side of the corresponding tread element such that the pair of discontinuities and the first and second longitudinally-spaced sides of the corresponding tread element are spaced-apart at least partially in the direction of the tread length to define a length of the corresponding tread element, the first longitudinally-spaced side being a leading side of the corresponding tread element and the second longitudinally-spaced side being a trailing side of the corresponding tread element, where the leading side is configured to enter a tire footprint before the trailing side;
• where the one or more tread elements include a plurality of intermediate tread elements arranged along the length of the tread and axially between a plurality of shoulder elements;
• where for each of the one or more tread elements, the first longitudinally-spaced side is oriented at an average first-side angle relative to the direction of the tread thickness and the second longitudinally-spaced side is oriented at an average second-side angle relative to the direction of the tread thickness, where the tread is configured to rotate in a direction of rotation of a tire, the direction of rotation comprising one of opposing directions of the tread length, such that a positive average first-side angle and a positive average second-side angle orientation is obtained when the respective first longitudinally-spaced side and the respective second longitudinally-spaced side are each increasingly inclined in the direction of rotation as each respective first longitudinally-spaced side and second longitudinally-spaced side extend in the direction of the tread thickness towards the outer, ground-engaging side of the tread;
• where for each of the one or more tread elements, both the average first-side angle and the average second-side angle are equal to 18 to 30 degrees;
• and
• where an average inclination angle comprising a combined average of the average first side-angle and the average second side-angle for all of the one or more tread elements along the first and second longitudinally-spaced sides is substantially greater than zero.