new roadie, what tyres to promote confidence?

macs

I am new to road riding (currently a mountain biker :twisted: ) but wanting to get a road bike or at least a flat bar road bike for commuting on but want some tyres that i will feel safe on and will give me confidence to carry on riding the road and really get into it for training etc. I'm not too bothered by the price so long as they are good tyres as thats the main thing i am looking for, i'm not on a budget.

What can you guys recommend to get me started? :?:

Thanks

Macs

redddraggon

Vredstein Tricomps, Michelin Pro Race 2 (or soon 3), Conti 4000s

People like different tyres, all do the job fine, so I can't see anything with any choice of tyre really.

Tom Butcher

I'd get a road bike rather than a flat bar - maybe some 25mm tyres which would give you that little bit more contact with the tarmac over 23s. I l ike ProRace but it does depend on the roads you are commuting on - a race tyre will probably cut up easier and will cost a bit more to replace than some tyres - that said I've been on GP4000 all this Autumn and Winter and no problems yet.

macs

Tom, why would you recommend a road bike rather than a flat bar?

But i prefer the idea of having more contact with the road so a 25 or maybe a 28.

How about a tyre with grooves rather than a fully slick winter tyre? Would that be a good idea or should i stick with a slick?

Sorry for all these numpty questions

nickwill

The tread on a road tyre makes no difference to the grip.
With regard to going for a road bike, the advantage is in the number of hand positions.
On longer rides it is a lot more comfortable to be able to change your grip. Your body will also thank you for not being locked into one, upright , position for the duration of your ride.

macs

ok, so long as i look at the compound of the tyre thats the thing that makes the difference to the grip on a road tyre?

Thanks for your help guys

orv

I tried a selection of different tyres after I had a nasty/scary fall on my folding bike (Airnimal) when the rear wheel slid out from underneath me at speed, cornering, in traffic.
Has taken me ages to regain confidence cornering, especially now I'm going considerably faster on my road bike.

Settled on Panracers for the Airnimal, really liked the Schwalbe Stelvio's but they didnt grip enough to feel safe in bad weather.

I have ProRace2's and Conti Gators for the road bike, thinking I'd swap between them using the race2s for long weekend leisure runs and the conti's for something a bit more rugged for commuting.... but I find the Michelins are just so good I use them all the time for everything.

Ivor.

thatlondon

I personally don't think it makes any real difference between road bike tyres and mountain bike tyres. Both are as lethal in the wet / ice the trick is to slow down and take it slow and careful.

Also I'm no expert on physics but I don't think fatter tyres will make any difference at all with regard to grip in the wet especially if there is no tread. I believe fatter tyres are worse as it causes aquaplaning ?

I ride Bontrager race x-lite 23c all year round, rain or frost and I'm quite happy. 25c should give more comfort and better puncture resistance but I would be doubtful if it gave any extra grip.

Its up to you what bar style you get but you can't race with flat bars, and I suspect that if you are interested in staring training a road bike is the way to go. It will have different geometry to a hybrid, so I would not recommend putting road bars on a hybrid if you decide to race or ride with a club.

aracer

thatlondon wrote:

IAlso I'm no expert on physics but I don't think fatter tyres will make any difference at all with regard to grip in the wet especially if there is no tread. I believe fatter tyres are worse as it causes aquaplaning ?

Fatter tyres will give more grip, wet or dry (provided you use the appropriate lower pressure in them), as grip with rubber does depend on how much rubber you put on the road (hence racing cars and motorbikes having wide tyres). Meanwhile you need to be doing over 100mph to aquaplane a bicycle tyre - even a fat one, and in the absence of mud you get more grip on a wet road with slicks than any form of tread.

Steve I

As Aracer said, the wider the tyre the better the grip, and any sort of tread is undesirable in a tarmac only tyre, it cuts down the amount of rubber in contact with the road. My choice in winter is a slick 28mm puncture resistant tyre. Any wider than 28mm gives bit of a dead feel IMO.

Personally, I think riding skill has a far greater impact on whether you stay upright than the particular make of your tyres. If you go hammering it round bends in the wet you're a dead cert to come off sooner or later. No tyre, no matter how wide, will grip well on ice, gravel, diesel spills, wet metal road furniture and wet white lines. Steering, cornering, braking, climbing and standing are the all the danger times when if you're on a slippery surface, you're much more likely to slide or spin a wheel.

BTW, it always amazes me when people say that their tyres don't have enough grip (muddy conditions aside). Orv, this isn't meant as having a go at you, but I don't know what you mean when you say "really liked the Schwalbe Stelvio's but they didnt grip enough to feel safe in bad weather." I've personally never experienced that on any road tyre and I do about 6000 road miles a year. How did you go about finding the limits of the Stelvios?

Monty Dog

The big advantage of wider tyres is that the bigger 'air pocket' allows you to run them at lower pressure and therefore presents a bigger contact patch - I use 25mm Michelin Krylions at 6 bar in winter. As said, the ability to 'feel' how the bike handles, keeping the weight centred and turn radius steady - as well as knowing what to do in a slide - which is contratry to your instincts is a useful skill. I agree on getting drop bars - the varied hand positions are particularly helpful once you progress to longer rides.

Tom Butcher

Re the road or flat bar - I just can't see any advantage of flat bar if you want to use it for a decent length commute and/or training. A road bike will just give you that little bit extra in terms of hand positions and probably give you the option of getting that little bit more aero - plus the narrower bars will squeeze through traffic a tiny bit better - only small advantages but you may as well have them as not. Also a bit better if you ever wanted to go out with a training group too - you may not but if you did a road bike would be the better option - though people do ride chain gangs on flat bars so it's certainly not a necessity.

orv

Steve I wrote:

Orv, this isn't meant as having a go at you, but I don't know what you mean when you say "really liked the Schwalbe Stelvio's but they didnt grip enough to feel safe in bad weather." I've personally never experienced that on any road tyre and I do about 6000 road miles a year. How did you go about finding the limits of the Stelvios?

Hi Steve,
I spent a few weeks riding on each of the tyres and swapped each of them over a few times each time I gave the bike a clean. The stelvios were the best tyres overall and were unsurpassed on dry days, but as I said I just felt more secure and confident on the panracers when the weather was bad.

Having said all that... and now thinking back I've only now just realised that the tyres would have been setup at different pressures, which I expect would explain any handling differences more than anything else. oops! :oops:

That said I just ride the Race2's all the time on my proper road bike now and haven't looked back.

Cheers,
Ivor.

APIII

Conti GP4000s work for me

dennisn

If you are new, and you say you are, I would advise going with a good quality tire
that claims to have decent puncture protection. More of a high mileage, training type,
than some really lightweight, paper thin, racing tire. Usually a wider tire(25m) will be a bit
more "comfy" because of less pressure than its narrower(22m) cousin with higher
pressures. As far as wet roads go, I tend to take it much easier when in the corners.
All tires can loose their grip if pushed to hard in the wet(and dry). Nothing like a crash
to screw up your whole day.

Dennis Noward