What difference do tyres make?

[Gwylan]

Suppose if you have to ask you don't need to know!

Anyway my town ebike, a Cowboy, came with sexy slicks.
Around Christmas I skidded off and decided they were useless on wet and slimy roads.
Swopped them for what was available that day at the LBS.
They gave a tread and have been fine during the winter.

Have to change the brake pads so wondering whether to change the tyres back whilst the wheels are off.

What is the wisdom?

 

[wafter]

The riding experience is definitely worse without tyres.

 

[Gwylan]

The riding experience is definitely worse without tyres.

Sorry but my expectations were at a slightly higher level.

 

[wafter]

I think it's been "proven" that given the loads involved treaded tyres aren't required on bikes to displace water on typical road surfaces...

IME fat slicks are good on most stuff - wet / dry road, hardpack earth, uniform rounded and not-huge gravel.. They're understandably not good on sloppy mud or grass (especially wet).

Whether you want to refit your original tyres depends largely on what you ride on; although I'd agree that slicks are suitable for a greater range of terrain when it's dry.

 

[Gwylan]

I think it's been "proven" that given the loads involved treaded tyres aren't required on bikes to displace water on typical road surfaces...

IME fat slicks are good on most stuff - wet / dry road, hardpack earth, uniform rounded and not-huge gravel.. They're understandably not good on sloppy mud or grass (especillay wet).

Whether you want to refit your original tyres depends largely on what you ride on; although I'd agree that slicks are suitable for a greater range of terrain when it's dry.

Thanks for that. Interesting.

 

[Randomnerd]

Jan Heine will be a right read if you want to get into it. He’s done loads of tyre testing and concludes that the fine thread pattern is best. Coincidence that he manufactures these very things?
I run fat Grand Bois rubber with a fine file pattern and they suit me on most surfaces

 

[HLaB]

What type of riding are you doing @Gwylan If you are mainly riding on road or paved surfaces slicks not pumped too hard and depending on the compound are actually grippier than a tyre with tread as more of it is in contact with the road/ tarmac. Too hard or the wrong compound they'll just bounce off the surfaces and feel skittish and that plays a much bigger factor than tread in grip on paved surfaces. A bike tyre is too narrow to aquaplane, I forget the physics but its something like a 4 inch wide tyre needs to go 40mph to aquaplane, an 8inch wide tyre needs to go 30mph and the opposite a sub 1inch tyre needs to go 80mph. It just isn't possible to go fast enough relative to the tyre width a motorbike or car can and that's where tread kicks in. Tread only really has an advantage on loose/ soft surfaces.

 

[raleighnut]

Yep like @HLaB says pushbikes don't really have enough weight/speed to make tread an issue although the tyre 'compound' does. Also new tyres can be bloody awful at first, 'Marathons' of any type are lethal for the first couple of hundred miles, really 'squimy' until the mold release agent used in manufacture has been worn off and then they're fine.
My own worst experience with tyres was with an MTB i'd built up with these new type of tyres that looked like motocross jobs, looked absolutely fantastic on this bike, almost like 'tractor' tyres (bear in mind this was 30yrs ago) anyhoo I was off to work and my normal commuter bike had a flat so I thought 'sod it' I'll use the one I'd just built up. Now part of the route involved a short section of dual carriageway downhill into a 3 lane roundabout where I turned right (so 3rd exit) so as usual I went in on the right hand lane at probably 30mph or so (bear in mind I'd just come down a hill) and as I lean't over the tyres started not losing grip but the sticky outy 'blocks' of tread moved on the carcass so the bike is 'drifting' across the lanes. I got through it but had to stop afterwards, shaking like a leaf,
So in short 'tread' on bicycle tyres is a bit pointless however you have to be aware of the road conditions and ride to them.

BTW when I had this really scary 'moment' the roads were 'bone dry'

 

[Drago]

The compound is far more important on a bike for tarmac ise than any nominal tread pattern. With such a small contact area the physics involved in treading water are totally different to that of car tyres.

 

[sleuthey]

They make a huge difference. Mine flop up and down when I'm on the Treadmill. Would be much better off without them.

 

[biggs682]

You get less fairy visits with no tyres

 

[chriswoody]

If you dig around Schwalbe's website, they also have a bit of text where they admit the tread on their road tires is only there for asethitics and of very little practical use.

On my folding bike that I use for commuting I run slick tires year round with no bother. Only in the snow does it get a little sketchy. Both of my off road bikes have treaded tires to cope with the mud and sand I encounter, but ultimately I choose tires to suit the conditions I'm going to predominantly riding.

 

[matticus]

so wondering whether to change the tyres back whilst the wheels are off.

What is the wisdom?

You will struggle to change them when the wheels are NOT off.

 

[Cycleops]

No matter what tyre it won't cope well with greasy road conditions.
A bike tyre without tread is a bike tyre . Tread patterning is added by manufacturers simply to differentiate it from other makers products.