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.
Great thread, thank you that makes a lot of sense. If I were more motivated I might do the test they mentioned but I honestly doubt I'd see much difference on a 25c tire rather than a fat MTB tire. My guess then is that the reversed front deals with turning better than the other way around and that the "tread" is basically cosmetic.