what size type of tyres do ye all use?

holmeboy

What size/type of tyres do ye all use? Thought my bike was handling brilliantly (had a lot of confidence in it) and then swapped the back 700/25 with tread (got a few slow punctures with it, one on a 90 deg bend with disastereous consequences) , for a 700/23 slick, now I always feel a bit nervous descending specially in the Rain. The front is a 700/23 also. Am I just being a big girls blouse or did I have the combination right in the first place? 8) :twisted:

System_1

Vredestein Fortezza Tricomp in 23. Never used anything other than a 23, previously in Conti GP3000 or Ultrasport Kevlar flavours.

What model are you using yourself? Some tyres are just crap no matter what size they are. It could be the make and model rather than it's size that is giving you the heebie-jeebies

giant_man

Most people use 23s generally and 25s or even 28s on bikes with extra clearances.

holmeboy

Yeah, there both Schwalbe, front blizzard sport, back stelvio. Definitly feel a bit of drift on corners I never felt before. :evil: :twisted:

NWLondoner

I use 23c specialized all condition elite.

In the dry they are the dog's bits. I have LOTS of confidence in them.

I am very careful with them in the wet. The rear has a tendency to suddenly flip out.

Not too scary if you expect it, but when it catches you out. Squeaky bum time :shock: :oops:

andrewgturnbull

holmeboy wrote:

What size/type of tyres do ye all use? Thought my bike was handling brilliantly (had a lot of confidence in it) and then swapped the back 700/25 with tread (got a few slow punctures with it, one on a 90 deg bend with disastereous consequences) , for a 700/23 slick, now I always feel a bit nervous descending specially in the Rain. The front is a 700/23 also. Am I just being a big girls blouse or did I have the combination right in the first place? 8) :twisted:

Hi there.

23s front and back is the standard racing set up, although 25s should technically be faster, and the wider-radius tyre could improve cornering. Maybe you could try a 23 up front with a 25 rear?

Probably more important to handling is tyre pressure - knock it back by 10psi or so for riding in the wet.

Tread is counter-productive on a road tyre, I would always recommend slicks.

Cheers, Andy

andy_wrx

wot he sed.

What pressures are you running ?
If 100 or 110psi, drop them a bit in the wet.

A tread pattern (not 'tread', even slick tyres have 'tread' - they have smooth tread/no tread pattern...) will give you less grip on a smooth tarmac road as you have less rubber incontact with the road. You need it for mud or snow, but that's different.

dennisn

Wasn't it Sheldon Brown who wrote an article about bike tire tread with grooves and the
like were completely useless and were put there by the manufacturers for looks and
nothing more. Slicks work as well in the rain as grooved tires. Of course I would think
that tire traction would then depend on the rubber compounds used to make it and that
certain compounds would give really good traction but wear quickly while others offer
long wearing properties but sacrifice a bit of traction. I too once believed that tread patterns made a difference in wet or dry and apparently they do for car tires but bike
tires are different for strange reasons I won't go into here. Somebody help me out
there. I know I have read about this on this website.

Dennis Noward

Mettan

23's - Rubino Pro Folding.

pete.whelan

Depends on which bike I'm on.

23mm on the TT, RR and racing tandems, 25mm on the lightweight toruing bike, 28mm on the touring tandem, 28- 32mm on the grass track bike, 37mm on the winter touring/commuting bike, 32mm on the Trice, 28mm on the 3spd fixed, whatever's on the Brompton, ........

andy_wrx

dennisn wrote:

Wasn't it Sheldon Brown who wrote an article about bike tire tread with grooves and the
like were completely useless and were put there by the manufacturers for looks and
nothing more. Slicks work as well in the rain as grooved tires. Of course I would think
that tire traction would then depend on the rubber compounds used to make it and that
certain compounds would give really good traction but wear quickly while others offer
long wearing properties but sacrifice a bit of traction. I too once believed that tread patterns made a difference in wet or dry and apparently they do for car tires but bike
tires are different for strange reasons I won't go into here. Somebody help me out
there. I know I have read about this on this website.

Dennis Noward

Yeah, it was us Dennis, seems a lifetime ago !
http://www.bikeradar.com/road/forums/vi ... t=12564916

Cheers, Andy

holmeboy

Wow! Learned more about bikes on this web site in afew days than I have in my cycling past. (Past being being old road bikes bought for less than £25 and riding them to destruction). Anyway to answer a question someone onced asked I blow my tyres upto 100 psi. Think I will replace the back tyre with a 25 (slick) as I felt I could pass most cyclists with the 25 on the back before and never had any sensation of the front losing grip.

May all you hills be small ones


8) :twisted:

dennisn

andy_wrx wrote:

dennisn wrote:

Wasn't it Sheldon Brown who wrote an article about bike tire tread with grooves and the
like were completely useless and were put there by the manufacturers for looks and
nothing more. Slicks work as well in the rain as grooved tires. Of course I would think
that tire traction would then depend on the rubber compounds used to make it and that
certain compounds would give really good traction but wear quickly while others offer
long wearing properties but sacrifice a bit of traction. I too once believed that tread patterns made a difference in wet or dry and apparently they do for car tires but bike
tires are different for strange reasons I won't go into here. Somebody help me out
there. I know I have read about this on this website.

Dennis Noward

Yeah, it was us Dennis, seems a lifetime ago !
http://www.bikeradar.com/road/forums/vi ... t=12564916

Cheers, Andy

Just as I remember it. Maybe my alzheimer's isn't as bad as I thought. And it was in April of this year, so if short term memory goes first I'm not doing too badly.

Dennis Noward

hodsgod

dennisn wrote:

Wasn't it Sheldon Brown who wrote an article about bike tire tread with grooves and the
like were completely useless and were put there by the manufacturers for looks and
nothing more. Slicks work as well in the rain as grooved tires. Of course I would think
that tire traction would then depend on the rubber compounds used to make it and that
certain compounds would give really good traction but wear quickly while others offer
long wearing properties but sacrifice a bit of traction. I too once believed that tread patterns made a difference in wet or dry and apparently they do for car tires but bike
tires are different for strange reasons I won't go into here. Somebody help me out
there. I know I have read about this on this website.

Dennis Noward

Yes he did, and I would suggest it his only his opinion. In my opinion he is wrong. Any tyre needs somehere for the water to go to as you move in the wet. I wouldnt use completely slick tyres.

holmeboy

One of the other reasons I was asking about tyre size was.......
I bought the new tyre at a Shop in Aviemore the day before the Cairngorm 100 and fitted night before the event, It was raining at the start and the start was from the ski centre a steep downward hill as you may know. Anyway at probally the steepest part of the descent my front wheel started to wobble violently, it was a straight bit of road and as I say it was raining and wet. The bike was alright for the rest of the day although there were no as steep downhill parts, and been ok since, I have had to tighten the headstock since, what are the theories on the cause? Tyres? Headstock? just one of them things?
:roll: :oops: :twisted:

dennisn

hodsgod wrote:

dennisn wrote:

Wasn't it Sheldon Brown who wrote an article about bike tire tread with grooves and the
like were completely useless and were put there by the manufacturers for looks and
nothing more. Slicks work as well in the rain as grooved tires. Of course I would think
that tire traction would then depend on the rubber compounds used to make it and that
certain compounds would give really good traction but wear quickly while others offer
long wearing properties but sacrifice a bit of traction. I too once believed that tread patterns made a difference in wet or dry and apparently they do for car tires but bike
tires are different for strange reasons I won't go into here. Somebody help me out
there. I know I have read about this on this website.

Dennis Noward

Yes he did, and I would suggest it his only his opinion. In my opinion he is wrong. Any tyre needs somehere for the water to go to as you move in the wet. I wouldnt use completely slick tyres.

I have just re-read Sheldons take on tread pattern - no tread pattern for bike tires.
Right or wrong he makes a compelling argument FOR slick tires.

Dennis Noward

always_tyred

I think that treads are useless from the perspective of water displacement.

Think of it that the only reason that car tyres need them is because they have 6-12" of width in contact with the road. The treads displace water that doesn't have time to move 3-6" during the revolution of the wheel. The idea is to get the maximum area in contact with the road without water in between.

A bike tyre is the equivalent, at most, of a single tread block. The water has plenty of time to move to the side. Therefore, on a perfectly smooth surface, the argument is that that further treads on the contact patch would simply reduce the side of the conact patch.

However, roads are not perfectly smooth. I wonder if a little tread, even on the shoulders, provides ridges which come into contact more intimately with "gravelly" tarmac surfaces. On imperfect surfaces which have lower grip bcause they are cold and wet anyway, I'd guess this factor becomes quite important in the real world.

alfablue

hodsgod wrote:

dennisn wrote:

Wasn't it Sheldon Brown who wrote an article about bike tire tread with grooves and the
like were completely useless and were put there by the manufacturers for looks and
nothing more. Slicks work as well in the rain as grooved tires. Of course I would think
that tire traction would then depend on the rubber compounds used to make it and that
certain compounds would give really good traction but wear quickly while others offer
long wearing properties but sacrifice a bit of traction. I too once believed that tread patterns made a difference in wet or dry and apparently they do for car tires but bike
tires are different for strange reasons I won't go into here. Somebody help me out
there. I know I have read about this on this website.

Dennis Noward

Yes he did, and I would suggest it his only his opinion. In my opinion he is wrong. Any tyre needs somehere for the water to go to as you move in the wet. I wouldnt use completely slick tyres.

I think it is more than opinion, I think he (or someone I read) cited research by michelin where a bike tyre needed to be used at above 140mph to suffer from aquaplaning. With a narrow slick tyre the water is displaced either side of the contact patch - just look at the dry line you leave behind you (without falling off in the process!).

Having cycled with treaded mtb's tyres on tarmac it is far easier to skid/lockup than with slicks.

kr1s

23c conti gaitorskins - sticky and puntureproof ( claimed )
on offer at wiggle with tubes at the mo (im not on commision!!)

bornagaincycler

I've had 7 punctures this year on 25C Continental Gatorskins. They're not as puncture proof as they claim. Mind you I think I was just born unlucky.

ACMadone

kr1s wrote:

23c conti gaitorskins - sticky and puntureproof ( claimed )
on offer at wiggle with tubes at the mo (im not on commision!!)

Used them all through winter and completely disagree to them being sticky and puncture proof. Had around 5 punctures with them and they don't stick at all in the wet.

Usually use Hutchinson Fusions in the spring and summer, a lot stickier and a lot more puncture proof.

pete.whelan

I had trouble with Conti Sport Contact (26" x 1.6") sticking to the road on corners anything above 15mph. As it was my winter bike, I put Travel Contacts on instead and had no further problems.

Rich-Ti

Got a pair of Conti GP4000S for sale that are only 3 rides old - nowt wrong with them other than the fact my chainstays are EXTREMELY short so I have clearance issues!

£30 posted? 8)

chewa

I use Conti TT 2000 (I have a small supply left!) 700x28 on my commuter.

Gatorskins 700X23 on My Cinelli Supercorsa

Vittorio Rubino (I think) 700X25 on my Flying Scot (just because the tread is black and red and the bike is red!