Thud...owww

[Resound]

I had the unpleasant experience of having my front wheel slide out from under me in the wet yesterday. No serious damage...scuffed left knee and curiously sore left heel for me and paint loss and a couple of minor gouges for the bike. Other than the obvious "slow the hell down for corners in the wet", has anyone got any advice to offer on riding in the wet or on loose surfaces? I'm riding a MTB with 26"x1½" slicks which are great in the dry, but (it appears) rubbish in the wet.

 

[byron27]

lean the bike into corners, not your body. Keep your body as upright and central as possible. The more you can reduce the weight being placed over the front wheel the lower the likelihood of it slipping out from underneath you AND the more time you have time to react.

 

[majorhavoc]

Put as much weight as you can on your outside pedal and lean the bike, not your body. Countersteering at it's most basic....

 

[eric_the_red]

In addition to the above advice stay off the brakes in the corners, do the braking before turning. Also you can try a little lower tire pressure in the wet.

 

[Resound]

Originally posted by eric_the_red
In addition to the above advice stay off the brakes in the corners, do the braking before turning. Also you can try a little lower tire pressure in the wet.

Interesting...I would have thought that you'd want a higher pressure to open what little tread there is and go for smaller contact patch/higher contact pressure per area. Not necessarily disagreeing with you here, just that that would have been my first thought.

 

[eric_the_red]

Originally posted by Resound
Interesting...I would have thought that you'd want a higher pressure to open what little tread there is and go for smaller contact patch/higher contact pressure per area. Not necessarily disagreeing with you here, just that that would have been my first thought.

My thinking goes the opposite way, the bigger the contact patch the more rubber sticking to the road. And as for "tread" on road bike tires I feel that's more for decoration than anything else. The best tires I've found for wet roads are totally smooth, running about 90 psi.

 

[cuervo]

Balance your braking power to the rear brakes and avoid the use of the front brakes, or at least use them as lightly as you can.

 

[ed073]

Originally posted by eric_the_red
My thinking goes the opposite way, the bigger the contact patch the more rubber sticking to the road. And as for "tread" on road bike tires I feel that's more for decoration than anything else. The best tires I've found for wet roads are totally smooth, running about 90 psi.

Eric...you are right. Bike tyres do not work in the same way as car tyres do by actively dispersing water through the tread patterns. On a bike, it's all about the contact area and the amount of friction between the two surfaces.

Wet cornering is all about keeping the outside pedal weighted, keeping a low centre of gravity and trying to stay "centred" between front and rear wheels. Scrub off your speed before you lean for the corner, start accelerating again once you are vertical again around the bend.

 

[davidbod]

Originally posted by Resound
I had the unpleasant experience of having my front wheel slide out from under me in the wet yesterday. No serious damage...scuffed left knee and curiously sore left heel for me and paint loss and a couple of minor gouges for the bike. Other than the obvious "slow the hell down for corners in the wet", has anyone got any advice to offer on riding in the wet or on loose surfaces? I'm riding a MTB with 26"x1½" slicks which are great in the dry, but (it appears) rubbish in the wet.

In the wet you do not lean the bike you keep the bike as upright as possible and lean the body. When its dry its completely opposite you lean the bike and keep the body upright. Always weight the outside pedal and keep your center of gravity low and over the saddle.

See the notes on cornering at the end of this page: http://www.baddlands.org/coaching/training_tip.htm

 

[JSWin]

It's almost like we need all weather tires on the slick road. You know. The tires on a mountain bike are much better on wet pavement. All terrain vehicle to ride is what I like, even if it is more work.