Wow! What kind of tyres are you riding on? Just so I can make sure I never buy them! Unless you have a habit of riding on diesel affected roads, or riding at VERY excessive speed and lean angles, then surely tyres should not have that much of a negative effect?
Dodging the rain
- Thread starter travellingwest
- Start date
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Wow! What kind of tyres are you riding on? Just so I can make sure I never buy them! Unless you have a habit of riding on diesel affected roads, or riding at VERY excessive speed and lean angles, then surely tyres should not have that much of a negative effect?
N0bodyOfTheGoat
Über Member
- Location
- Hampshire, UK
Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
I did a search in Google and nothing came up with this data. Hence why I asked.
N0bodyOfTheGoat
Über Member
- Location
- Hampshire, UK
"how many dry days in {my town} so far this year" works here and is quite specific about when the dry days were, but is very vague for a few other places around the UK I've tried. No idea why, Bitterne on eastern edge of Southampton is far from special!
Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
Seems a bit variable though. It just came back with the answer 12 days, compared to your 6. Google seems to be making it up.
N0bodyOfTheGoat
Über Member
- Location
- Hampshire, UK
Given I asked on Saturday, maybe it was looking at less data for February? I can't recall.
The other thing is Google can give very different answers depending on exact phasing of search, maybe I used slightly different search sentence on Saturday.
matticus
Guru
Currently, even if I ride when the sky is dry, my feet get wet and the bike gets filthy due to all the standing water. No hope of keeping a "nice" bike clean!
(I've commuted every day this winter, so in reality i DO ride in the rain, sadly ... )
(I've commuted every day this winter, so in reality i DO ride in the rain, sadly ... )
Dogtrousers
Lefty tighty. Get it righty.
We live in a world of AI. Where any answer that looks plausible will do. And no need to reference any actual reliable data.
Bristolian
Über Member
- Location
- Bristol, UK
AI doesn't appear to know how to fact check itself. According to Giggle "Based on data reported as of February 6, 2026, it has rained every day so far this year in parts of the South West, including the Filton/Horfield area of Bristol." This doesn't agree with empirical data from my back garden which has registered 6 rain free days so far.
There are thousands of privately owned weather stations around the UK, many of which feed into the Met Office forecasting models. Here is a snippet from my station in Filton (Bristol) showing rain data.
The forecast for North Yorkshire was drizzle all day, however it’s been dry all day. I chanced it and went for a ride and there was water every where make roads quite narrow due to very large puddles on either side.
I was lucky my bike was already filthy as it certainly was when I finished.
I was lucky my bike was already filthy as it certainly was when I finished.
Gatorskins. Having slipped a couple of times I am leery now, probably more than needed. Nevertheless, since I now corner if it is wet in an upright position, I never slide now.
Gatorskins are the best - other than rainy conditions , etc. I have not had a puncture in thousands of miles on any of my bikes. As is said by wise men, if it isn't broken, don't fix it.
The one down side of Gatorskins is that they are a bugger to remove, but as said up paragraph, no punctures no need to remove.
briantrumpet
Legendary Member
- Location
- Devon & Die
Forecast looking like we might get to 45 consecutive rainy days for Exeter... currently no rain forecast for Saturday, before it resets the clock with rain forecast for Sunday. Had to divert my ride home tonight as a section was deep underwater.
I dont know they can sometimes or at least its one of those things thats very hard to disprove once youve kind of lost confidence in a tyre make, as its just feel isnt it, part of me thinks there are more factors too it, like I had Vitorria tyres for a while and often felt they were squirrely as hell in the wet, though I know people rate them quite well for wet weather handling. whilst my current Bontrager ones seem ok in the wet when its raining, but dont seem to handle damp winter weather.
but then I kind of analyse in more detail and generally when Im feeling the bike feels loose, its kind of this time of year, not necessarily icy, but still <10C, and the roads have a nasty film of dirt, mud, combined with the salt treatment and generally a degree of moisture whether its raining or not, plus diesel, which doesnt really go away till the temp starts to rise, and so really has it got anything to do with my tyres at all ?
the roads have felt very slippy, and I dont mean when its been icy, this winter to me.
fritz katzenjammer
Der Ubergrosserbudgie
No chance of rain… ‘twas 23C degrees below freezing this past morning.
brisk, one might say.
brisk, one might say.
