Method of manufacturing test tire and method of setting tread removal shape

A method of setting a tread removal shape serving as a reference for removing a tread when manufacturing a test tire that reproduces a worn state by removal of a portion of the tread of a tire that includes a groove on a tread surface, the method comprising:

• in a cross-sectional view perpendicular to a circumferential direction of the tire when the tire is mounted on an applicable rim and filled to a prescribed internal pressure,
• moving an outline of the tread surface inward in a radial direction to a position at which the groove has a predetermined depth to set a remaining groove outline;
• setting a point A on the tread surface at a position corresponding to 70% to 80% of a tread width and setting a point B at an intersection of a line segment extending from the point A in the radial direction of the tire with the remaining groove outline;
• setting a portion of the remaining groove outline that is farther inward in a tire width direction than the point B as a first removal reference line;
• setting a point at which a straight line, yielded by a tangent to the tread surface at the point A being translated to the point B, intersects an outer surface of the tire outward in the tire width direction as a point L;
• setting a line passing through the point B and the point L as a second removal reference line;
• and
• setting a shape defined by the first removal reference line and the second removal reference line as the tread removal shape.