Road bike tyres

[Funk-Meister]

What tyres would you recommend to use during the autumn/winter in order to give best traction in the wet and also puncture resistance. Is it better to opt for slightly wider tyres. Thanx

 

[cheadle hulme]

What do you have at the moment and on what bike?

 

[Funk-Meister]

Spec allez with slick no tread tyres unsure of the make

 

[palinurus]

I use tougher tyres during the autumn/winter, currently Armadillos but there are plenty others. A lot of folks find Armadillos sketchy in the wet but I take it so easy I don't think I've ever noticed.

Up until recently I've used 23s or 25s but this year I've gone up to a 28 just because my new commuter can take a fatter tyre. Not found 23s a problem though.

 

[cheadle hulme]

Grip is a function of contact patch so wider the better. Presume you'll putting raceblades on it? If so, I'd go for 28mm. Conti gatorskins get good reviews for puncture protection, but I find them a bit skittish in the wet.

Conti top sport come in 28mm and have been v relaible on my hybrid, 1 year guarantee against punctures too! (not had to use it).

 

[bonj2]

michelin pro race 3.

 

[HJ]

I have been using Conti GatorSkins year round for some years now...

 

[HLaB]

For my winter/ training bike i'm currently using conti 4 seasons (23mm on the front and 25mm on the rear), they seem to give good traction and touch wood give good p'ture resistance.

The official site blurb

 

[potsy]

For my winter/ training bike i'm currently using conti 4 seasons (23mm on the front and 2mm on the rear), they seem to give good traction and touch wood give good p'ture resistance.

The official site blurb

2mm on the rear?

 

[andy_wrx]

Spec allez with slick no tread tyres unsure of the make

No, no.
All tyres have 'tread' - tread is the grippy rubber moulded on the outside of the tyre, over the radial/crossply carcasse.
'Tread pattern' is what you're talking about, not 'tread' - even slicks have tread, just it's a smooth tread.

Slick, non-tread-patterned tyres are fine on bikes in the wet, put more rubber on the road and so should give more grip than patterned-tread tyres, especially if made from stickier rubber.
A patterned tread does not assist in grip on wet tarmac, has less rubber on the road and also introduces 'squirm', where the tread pattern moves around and gives even less grip.

Agreed, slicks don't work on a F1 racing car in the rain, they aquaplane or skate along on the water which pools-up under them.
But that's because a F1 rear tyre is 355mm wide and flat in profile, so a lot of water can pool under it - a bike tyre is say 23mm wide on a roadbike, or 1.5in on a typical MTB slick and is a curved profile : the rubber touching the road is about the width of your fingertip or less, so you don't get any water build-up underneath it or aquaplaning (someone calculated that you would, but at 160+mph, so that rules it out for me)

An offroad MTB knobbly does have a very agressive tread pattern, but that's for grip in soft surfaces like mud or sand, not for wet tarmac...

Basically this idea that you need to have pattern-treaded tyres on your bike in the wet is from people used to being told that their cars would fail their MOTs, and the tyre companies - both for car and bikes - are more than happy to sell us more tyres...

 

[HLaB]

2mm on the rear?

missed the 5

 

[SimonRoberts0204]

No, no.
All tyres have 'tread' - tread is the grippy rubber moulded on the outside of the tyre, over the radial/crossply carcasse.
'Tread pattern' is what you're talking about, not 'tread' - even slicks have tread, just it's a smooth tread.

Slick, non-tread-patterned tyres are fine on bikes in the wet, put more rubber on the road and so should give more grip than patterned-tread tyres, especially if made from stickier rubber.
A patterned tread does not assist in grip on wet tarmac, has less rubber on the road and also introduces 'squirm', where the tread pattern moves around and gives even less grip.

Agreed, slicks don't work on a F1 racing car in the rain, they aquaplane or skate along on the water which pools-up under them.
But that's because a F1 rear tyre is 355mm wide and flat in profile, so a lot of water can pool under it - a bike tyre is say 23mm wide on a roadbike, or 1.5in on a typical MTB slick and is a curved profile : the rubber touching the road is about the width of your fingertip or less, so you don't get any water build-up underneath it or aquaplaning (someone calculated that you would, but at 160+mph, so that rules it out for me)

An offroad MTB knobbly does have a very agressive tread pattern, but that's for grip in soft surfaces like mud or sand, not for wet tarmac...

Basically this idea that you need to have pattern-treaded tyres on your bike in the wet is from people used to being told that their cars would fail their MOTs, and the tyre companies - both for car and bikes - are more than happy to sell us more tyres...

Andy has it, word perfect - saved me some typing there!

 

[MacB]

missed the 5

52mm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[HLaB]

52mm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can you get tyres that wide

 

[threefingerjoe]

I've seen them in 60mm.