slick tyres...

[Fab Foodie]

The tyre compound makes a difference - I've done my fair share of testing tyres over the years - tread makes no difference wet or dry - a softer compound tyre will stick better in the wet or dry, but in the wet you get diesel over the surface, so that can negate any advantage.....

Tread won't help you, nor will slicks if there is 'grease' on the surface. What you'll usually find is that slick tread is on more expensive tyres, that generally roll better, hence grip as well.

I love the Michelin Pro Race 2's - outstanding tyres, the best I've used in a long time, and better than any Race Tubulars I used 10 years ago...grippy and fast, and 23mm's provide enough bump deadening....

I've used slick road tyres for 20 years, what is more important is the compound - like on racing cars, and motor bikes. The dual compound works well these days, I remember when you had to be careful cornering when the contact patch switched - was a bit skittish until full contact was made with the sticky bit.....

This is all you need to know about road-bike tyres...

 

[fossyant]

Pro Race2's rock, that's it ( plus conti's GP4000's.....) tread or not - it's all about compound......

Did you not know...dual compound tyres were out on pedal bikes before they were on racing motor bikes in general availability.......that was years ago...had some good micky taking of the bikers in my office over that...... years ago.... I loved my Michelin Axial Pro's......

 

[HJ]

I happily use slicks year round, but then the sun always shines here in the Scottish climate...

 

[Dave5N]

who said that? of course wet is more slippery than dry

why? If a bike tyre won't aqua plane (ie, slide on a film of water between tyre and road), why is wet slippier? There isn't a film of water there, remember?

 

[Smokin Joe]

why? If a bike tyre won't aqua plane (ie, slide on a film of water between tyre and road), why is wet slippier? There isn't a film of water there, remember?

There is a difference between having a film of water under the tyre and aquaplaning. On a wet road the tyre will still grip so that you can steer, although the grip is much reduced and you need to go slower when you corner.

When you aquaplane you have no steering at all and the tyre will not respond to any steering input.

 

[Tynan]

indeed

you'd think no-one on here had ever stuck the brakes on urgently before

 

[Dave5N]

all explained here

 

[Tynan]

it explains aquaplanning

I think we've already agreed that bike tyres don't really do that but nonetheless, bike tyres will not handle a wet road as well as a dry road

 

[yenrod]

I use slicks all year round on the road.

Tread patterns serve no useful purpose on bike roadtyres which are used on-road only.

Car tyres have treads to deal with water because they operate at lower pressures and have a wide, flat contact with the road - all of which can lead to problems when travelling in very wet conditions at speed.

A high pressure, narrow and rounded bike tyre contact doesn't create the same problems. The treads are cosmetic - because uninformed people feel they need them.

In any case, the treads in a bike tyre are so shallow compared to the unevenness in a typical UK road surface that they couldn't possibly have any effect.

I 2nd this - I used to ride Specialized Fatboys...

And I used them in all conditions obviously ice was tricky...but I'd trust my life with them ! I've done upto 52mph with them....

I used to ride Michelin Pro 19's and they were super hot fast too coupled with the old Campag' Omega V rim...critically great situation ! ! !

Ive actually got a brand new pair of these (which a bought from a shop really cheap - as they where getting rid of them) but am looking for a quality hub to throw them onto !

 

[buggi]

treads don't serve any purpose. There is very little surface contact between the high pressure of any road bike tyre and the road, but the difference is with a slick tyre there is a constant contact of tyre to road which creates the stickiness, whereas with a treaded or knobbly tyre there is not constant contact because there are gaps between the knobbles.

This means that when you corner on knobbly tyres (on an MTB for instance) you have not got as much contact between tyre and road and much more likely to slip out. you can even slip out in the dry but obviously its worse in the wet as knobbly tyres are for off road and designed to grip mud not tarmac. the extra slipiness of tarmac in the wet is not down to the tyre, but down to the water and other grime, and you would naturally ride more carefully, as you would drive more carefully even tho your car tyres have tread. as for going over man hole covers, again your no better off with knobblies than slicks.. both are just as likely to slip out.

as for treaded tyres, not really necessary either, as the contact is again limited to the middle of the tyre and, as with slicks, the water gets dispersed out to the sides of the tyre. so no point in the tread. the only reason cars have tread is because it has a wider surface in contact with road and therefore needs channels to disperse the water. not necessary on a road bike because the water gets dispersed to the side.

The only reason i can see for tread is for hybrids when people choose to ride them down tow paths and stuff. but if you're road only, i'd go for slicks. i ride slicks in all weathers on the road and never have any problem with skidding around.