Techniques developed over recent years have progressively refined the interlamellar spacing to produce harder, more wear resistant pearlitic steels. This study aims to explain the mechanisms for the wear performance by observing how the microstructure adapts to the wear loading. Four pearlitic steels, with similar chemical composition but with different interlamenar spacings, have been examined. Wear test have been conducted under both pure sliding and rolling-sliding conditions. The worn surfaces and the plastically deformed subsurface regions have been examined by optical metallography and scanning electron microscopy. It was observed that the plastic deformation produced considerable fracturing and realignment of the hard cementite lamellae. The softer ferrite matrix was severely deformed, allowing a reduction in the interlamellar spacing on approaching the worn surface. The effect of these realignments on the surface was to present an increased area fraction of hard cementite lamellae on planes parallel to the surface.