Winter tyres that won't kill me

anonymousblackfg

I ditched scary gatorskins and now use Rubino Pro's, far better and not the same as your experience suprisingly. I also made the switch to 28's from 23's.

chilling

Gp4seasons for me year round.

Bordersroadie

I accept the slightly inferior wet grip of Gators and have them on my two main road bikes because of their
A superb p* protection
B lowish cost
C hardwearing nature.

Not to tempt fate but I've done thousands of miles on them since the last p*. That's good enough for me, so why should I change?

I had a a nasty off on them last winter but I've found the solution is to go round wet corners a bit more slowly.

Hot Orange

I've not noticed any grip problems with the Gator Hardshells on my winter commuter, but I have noticed the flipping punctures. I'll be looking for something else when they wear out (which will be quite soon judging by the plethora of cuts).

On the plus side, the bike has a hub gear, and I'm getting pretty good at removing and installing the rear wheel now.

itboffin

meanredspider wrote:

Funny - I've had no issues at all with the Rubinos - are you sure it's the tyre and not just the conditions? Even the best slicks won't find grip where there isn't any.

I'm using disc brakes too

Chuck Norris could find grip

itboffin

Here goes

I run Conti hardshells on the wet (mud guards) commuter and they grip in everything but ice, even over the regular oil spills we have out here.

I have Conti 4000s on the Trek and whilst I trust the grip they give over almost any other tyre they do cut up esp. on the sidewalls.

The dry commuter has schwalbe ZX HD which I love to bits and the grip is amazing but thin, so cut and split just looking at the roads around here.

My FGSS (now in London - hopefully) is wearing a pair of halo twin rail courier which if you havent seen them in the flesh have a semi grooved nobbly tread made from material superman would have trouble puncturing.

Then there's my newest introduction to the stable currently fitted to my carbon Ribble, a set of challenge forte open tubular AWESOMENESS - these things are handmade, strong and stick like superglue.

Challenge Forte Open Tubular Road Tyre Specification:
700 x 23
Corespan TKT casing
Competition level tyre
Challenge's Puncture Protection System (PPS)
Open tubular. 300 tpi
115-200 psi.
210 grams

In the process of getting to the above set up I've been through just about all of the main brands, I hated the standard Conti's so much so I even sent a set back to them.

I wont bother listing the CX tyres mostly because I'm not 100% sure I have the right tyres yet, although I am cheating by running zefal tyre liners on the CX after a few to many black thorn incidents.

Good luck in "you" quest

PS. I have a brand new set of 4-season waiting for the hardshells to die

jibberjim

80 quid though Mat? A pair of Ultremo ZX's (or even Aqua's) or Pro Race 3 are 40 quid at most, I don't think I've spent more than 17 quid in ages - other than for 650's.

10-13 quid for Rubino Pro vs 17 for PR3 or ZX's (which I don't have the problem with I know many people do) I just wouldn't take the extra risk of a crash.

bigmat

Where can you get ZX for 17?

jibberjim

BigMat wrote:

Where can you get ZX for 17?

http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/k980/a ... ition.html

16.81

Although they'll be delivery if you're not spending a couple hundred.

andyrr

I had Vittoria Rubino's on a bike a few years ago and found them really sketchy - a rare thing for me I then took them off well before they were worn out, I've run Gatorskins with no real issues, just the cheapest ones (Ultras ?) not the Hardshell version.
Last 2 years or so I've run Bonti All Weather tyres - came as std on my Trek SS - these were ok, hardly a sprightly tyre but for 28mm they're ok and lasted fine.
I'd buy the Conti's long before considering Rubinos but that's just me and my experience, for me I lost confidence in them and did not appreciate the scary slides they gave me on a few occasions.

daviesee

BigMat wrote:

I'm not forking out £80 for a pair of race tyres to commute / go training on a piissing wet night in the middle of November, knowing full well they'll be cut to buggery by spring. I want a training tyre - something that is reasonably cheap, will last a few thousand miles and, as a bonus, I'd like to avoid nearly falling flat on my face every time I have to brake in the wet anywhere near a manhole cover / white line / painted surface etc. I'll try the Rubinos with a bit less pressure and if that doesn't work will try the Vredesteins I think. Cheers all.

I got that. I was just pointing out that you are looking for a balance, hard & long wearing won't have grip. You have to decide for yourself where the line crosses over between grip and wear, plus including price.
For me on the winter bike/commuter it is Conti 4 Season. Over a year and around 3k miles with plenty to go and one visit from the PF in heavy rain due to something unseen.
The Colnago gets Vittoria Pave as it gets less miles put in so they appear to last a long time, and no visits.

bompington

roger merriman wrote:

my commute/road bike I've put Mavic Aksion's on. They are mid weight 255g or so, mid compound 65 road tyres seem to be 60-70, and about twenty pounds.

seem fine, though i suspect for for true wet grip need to lower the pressures, I used to run the front 25mm Marathon plus at 60PSI on the last bike which gave a remarkable amount of grip.

Mmmmm. The aksions that came with the aksiums I bought this year have actually tried to kill me - at least, they have lost grip catastrophically a couple of times, once sending me sliding sidewise across a roundabout, and this morning - first time I've been on my bike in a couple of weeks, so the first time they've been on a heavily salted road - I simply lost all traction every time I stood up on uphill slopes, even quite shallow ones. Ended up in a very inefficient kind of "leaning back hanging on the handlebars" kind of position.

Old GP4000s going back on tonight.

okgo

I've used some of the cheapest, worst tyres you can imagine for winter, and apart from something obvious like a drain cover, or heavy fallen leaf cover I don't think I've had too many issues. Maybe you guys should adapt your riding to the conditions a little bit? Flying round corners at 30 mph in the wet on any tyre might be a bit dodgy, and heavy braking with the front brake on a wet road? Well, unless I had to I don't think I'd be doing that on a wet road either!

roger_merriman

bompington wrote:

roger merriman wrote:

my commute/road bike I've put Mavic Aksion's on. They are mid weight 255g or so, mid compound 65 road tyres seem to be 60-70, and about twenty pounds.

seem fine, though i suspect for for true wet grip need to lower the pressures, I used to run the front 25mm Marathon plus at 60PSI on the last bike which gave a remarkable amount of grip.

Mmmmm. The aksions that came with the aksiums I bought this year have actually tried to kill me - at least, they have lost grip catastrophically a couple of times, once sending me sliding sidewise across a roundabout, and this morning - first time I've been on my bike in a couple of weeks, so the first time they've been on a heavily salted road - I simply lost all traction every time I stood up on uphill slopes, even quite shallow ones. Ended up in a very inefficient kind of "leaning back hanging on the handlebars" kind of position.

Old GP4000s going back on tonight.

well the GP4000s should be sticker, but equally I've not had anything like that with the Aksion's. I have a SS so I stand up for all but the shallowest slopes, no slippage I am fairly heavy and my true love for want of a better word is MTBing , Which may or not make a difference.

daviesee

okgo wrote:

I've used some of the cheapest, worst tyres you can imagine for winter, and apart from something obvious like a drain cover, or heavy fallen leaf cover I don't think I've had too many issues. Maybe you guys should adapt your riding to the conditions a little bit? Flying round corners at 30 mph in the wet on any tyre might be a bit dodgy, and heavy braking with the front brake on a wet road? Well, unless I had to I don't think I'd be doing that on a wet road either!

It rains in Summer too.

Mr Will

jibberjim wrote:

Why do you need more puncture protection in the "winter" anyway? In cities the risks are mostly glass etc. In the North Downs the risks are mostly flint (unlike some rural places where thorns are the main problem and they are seasonal) Roads can be slightly wetter as they don't dry as quickly but there are as pretty much as many wet days in the winter as summer here, so the extra puncture risk in the rain isn't that high.

So grip at low temperatures vs high temperatures seem to be the only thing worth having... And there aren't any that are different for that?

I don't actually mind to odd puncture on a sunny summers evening - spending five minutes sat beside the road sorting it out isn't that unpleasant. I cannot say the same about trying to fix a puncture with numb hands and stiff tyres in the freezing rain and dark on a cold winters night when I just want to get home.

That is why puncture protection is more important in the winter.

daviesee

Mr Will wrote:

That is why puncture protection is more important in the winter.

Without wishing to tempt fate, my personal experience over the last 4 years would contradict that theory.

daviesee

daviesee wrote:

Mr Will wrote:

That is why puncture protection is more important in the winter.

Without wishing to tempt fate, my personal experience over the last 4 years would contradict that theory.

Dammit!
I am never mentioning this topic again as that was fate well and truly tempted.
Fortunately it was a slow that I didn't notice till I was home warm and dry but still......

bompington

A few posters have now suggested that if you're skidding, it's basically your own fault for going too fast.
While this might be unarguably true in one sense, the point I was trying to get across was that I am currently (on aksions) sliding around at times when, I'm pretty sure, I wouldn't have done with the GP4000S I had before.

Anyway, nothing less than studs would have worked on 12 or so miles of untreated roads this morning - one short stretch on an urban trunk road was gritted, but absolutely nowhere else. Thankfully the fog was thick enough as I approached Perth to keep it above freezing, a big relief as, quite apart from the sheer terror, having to go at half normal pace was beginning to make me feel awful cold.
I never actually went down but I lost count of the number of times one wheel or another went slightly. Every time a vehicle went past I could just imagine this was the time it would go, had me feeling paranoid in the proper clinical sense of the word - a voice in my head that kept saying "you're going to die" :shock: ;-)

EDIT - so, one last effort - anyone know where you can get 700c studs at less than 35mm?

UndercoverElephant

Nokian make the A10 in a 32mm, which apparently measures up more like a 30.

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/studdedtires.asp

MBCaad8

bompington wrote:

A few posters have now suggested that if you're skidding, it's basically your own fault for going too fast.
While this might be unarguably true in one sense, the point I was trying to get across was that I am currently (on aksions) sliding around at times when, I'm pretty sure, I wouldn't have done with the GP4000S I had before.

Anyway, nothing less than studs would have worked on 12 or so miles of untreated roads this morning - one short stretch on an urban trunk road was gritted, but absolutely nowhere else. Thankfully the fog was thick enough as I approached Perth to keep it above freezing, a big relief as, quite apart from the sheer terror, having to go at half normal pace was beginning to make me feel awful cold.
I never actually went down but I lost count of the number of times one wheel or another went slightly. Every time a vehicle went past I could just imagine this was the time it would go, had me feeling paranoid in the proper clinical sense of the word - a voice in my head that kept saying "you're going to die" :shock: ;-)

EDIT - so, one last effort - anyone know where you can get 700c studs at less than 35mm?

This is why I left Scotland and am never going back.....ever.

bompington

MBCaad8 wrote:

This is why I left Scotland and am never going back.....ever.

They do say that every time a Scot leaves Scotland to go to England, the average IQ rises on both sides of the border