On Jul 10, 3:24 pm, Nate Knutson <
[email protected]> wrote:
> On Jul 10, 1:31 pm, still me <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > For training riding (not racing, just getting exercise and not
> > crashing, and sticking with something you can find in 700C):
>
> > Are cross tires, maybe seriously knobby tires, any better in the wet?
> > Or are you better off with a standard tire since hydroplaning is
> > (possibly) not a bike issue at reasonable speeds (no need to channel
> > water) and you still want to just get as much tread on the road as you
> > can? How about in wet and wet leaves with pavement somewhere
> > underneath? Do cross tires help there or hurt? I'm not thinking of
> > deep mud, but just messy & wet conditions.
>
> All else being equal, true slicks are best on wet roads, for the same
> reasons you describe except that bikes basically can't hydroplane.
> Road tires with typical cosmetic tread are technically worse but it's
> generally negligible. Any kind of tread, even inverted, that's
> aggressive enough to do anything for you in any kind of off-road
> conditions is going to make traction worse in wet on-road conditions.
> There are some fairly narrow tires with more serious inverted tread
> marketed as "commute tires," like 700x28 Michelin Transworlds. This
> whole genre is really horrible and useless for most people, since they
> won't actually be riding anyplace where the tread will do much at all,
> not that it will ever do much, but you really want every bit of
> cornering safety you can get in the wet. Compound and especially
> pressure are both factors in all this too, of course.
>
> I don't know about the leaves but I don't think there's much you can
> do about it that won't compromise things when not riding on leaves.
Knobbies also squirm on paved corners and give you less traction than
slicks. There are rare road conditions where knobbies are superior,
like when the road is so crappy you are essentially trail riding -- or
not making contact with the pavement because of snow or leaf pack.
But most of the time, your tire makes contact with the pavement, and a
slick will give better traction in that situation. I ride 28mm tires
during the long rainy season. Even though the super tough tires (like
my current Bontrager "Hard Case") are good to have because they are
flat resistant, they suck traction-wise in part because of the tread
compound but also because they are so stiff and non-compliant. I
prefer a soft compound, compliant tire for riding in the rain,
although that may mean fixing more flats in the rain. As for fresh
leaves (and not hard packed leaves stuck to the pavement), you're
screwed. Nothing will give you traction because even if your tire
sticks to the leaves, the leaves are not sticking to the pavement.
It's like riding on banana peels.-- Jay Beattie.
