Commuting on slicks, never used before

bennett_346
bennett_346 Posts: 5,029
edited February 2012 in Commuting general
I have an old carerra vulcan that i've started commuting on and have a pair of Schwalbe City Jet 1.9 tyres for it. Now i've never really been a big road/commuter rider before and i've pretty much only ever rode my proper mountain bike (different bike). That always has my off road tyres on so whilst draggy, grip on road was never an issue and i never even considered it.

I have the city jet on the back of my bike that i commute on now, but i'm wary of using the other on the front. I guess im scared it'll lock easily if i brake hard and i'll fail to pull up without hitting the car in front, or that it'll step out and i'll slide on a corner. It really is a slick roadgoing tyre with no rain grooves and i'm wondering just how bad it would be if i did ride it in the wet.

Luckily my route only has 2 significant heavy braking spots down a slight hill and 2 major corners. The rest is just straight out blocks of signals.

If i was to use it, what sort of pressures would i run? I'm used to having really soft tyres for off road and if i do slide out off road its no biggie. I know it depends on my weight but a ballpark would be good as i really have no idea.

Sorry for the length but i really am a newbie to commuting!!

Here is a pic of the tyre:

Schwalbe-City-Jet-26.jpg

Comments

  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    You are worrying about nothing.

    Run a city slick on the front as wll.

    I run Kojacks front and rear with no problems at all.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • bennett_346
    bennett_346 Posts: 5,029
    nicklouse wrote:
    You are worrying about nothing.

    Run a city slick on the front as wll.

    I run Kojacks front and rear with no problems at all.
    That is reassuring. So would you say i should run it fairly soft so that the tyre leaves a fair contact patch or just inflate it so thats its solid? Never done any road type stuff before so i don't know what the game is.
  • pdw
    pdw Posts: 315
    You'll have more grip with slicks than with your off road tyres. Bike tyres don't need rain grooves as they simply won't aquaplane. The grooves are just there for decoration.

    As for pressures, just go for something towards the top of the range on the sidewall for the rear, and in the middle for the front. Go higher if you're heavy, and lower if you're not. Then adjust to taste. Lower pressures will be a bit more comfortable over the bumps, but a bit more rolling resistance, and vice versa.
  • bennett_346
    bennett_346 Posts: 5,029
    pdw wrote:
    You'll have more grip with slicks than with your off road tyres. Bike tyres don't need rain grooves as they simply won't aquaplane. The grooves are just there for decoration.

    As for pressures, just go for something towards the top of the range on the sidewall for the rear, and in the middle for the front. Go higher if you're heavy, and lower if you're not. Then adjust to taste. Lower pressures will be a bit more comfortable over the bumps, but a bit more rolling resistance, and vice versa.
    This was v. helpful also, thanks. It has suspension forks so i would probably not need the tyres to absorb much impact but this may change as i've been looking for cheap rigid disc mount forks. Anyone know of any?

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