New tyres for sportives

mjf1017

I've got a Giant Defy 1, which is an excellent bike and am doing long rides and sportives on it. My commute bike is a boardman hybrid, to which I've fitted city tyres. In the dry the Giant branded tyres are fine, but I have to admit as to being a bit nervous using slicks in the wet/dry summer weather we get.
Any recommendations for a good tyre probably a 25c that can be used in the dry and wet?

drlodge

Conti GP4000S or Michelin Pro4 Service Course. If you want harder wearing and a bit less performance, then Conti GP 4 Seasons.

slowbike

On tarmac the tread makes no difference to the grip. You're not going to aquaplane a bike tyre.

caedev

I've just ordered some Pro4 Service Course in 25mm. They should arrive tomorrow so I'll get back to you after a ride out tomorrow evening!

markhewitt1978

mjf1017 wrote:

I've got a Giant Defy 1, which is an excellent bike and am doing long rides and sportives on it. My commute bike is a boardman hybrid, to which I've fitted city tyres. In the dry the Giant branded tyres are fine, but I have to admit as to being a bit nervous using slicks in the wet/dry summer weather we get.
Any recommendations for a good tyre probably a 25c that can be used in the dry and wet?

Any slick tyre is fine in the wet. With the width of bicycle tyres and their contact area; any tread will reduce your grip in the wet, you need tyre in contact with the surface.

dj58

Panaracer Race Type D EVO 2 25mm http://www.panaracer.com/road.php

mjf1017

Thanks to everyone for their responses. Much appreciated.

One thing that (to be honest) surprised and amazed me was that road tyres don't aquaplane. Why not? I can see the logic of rubber on the road but how come and if this is the case, why the need for winter tyres?

drlodge

Its not about the tread, winter tyres are just more robust.

taon24

mjf1017 wrote:

Thanks to everyone for their responses. Much appreciated.

One thing that (to be honest) surprised and amazed me was that road tyres don't aquaplane. Why not? I can see the logic of rubber on the road but how come and if this is the case, why the need for winter tyres?

http://sheldonbrown.com/tires.html

Essentially the curved cross section of bike tyres push water away from the centre of the tyre.
Tread on a car tyre is necessary to remove the water because of the flatter cross section.

markhewitt1978

The curved cross section, as opposed to flat car tyres, plus they are just so narrow, a bicycle tyre can be thought of as the bit of tyre between the gaps on a road tyre, the gaps on a bicycle tyre are the fresh air on either side!

Winter tyres have a rubber compound which performs better at low temperatures plus they are more robust as the roads are dirtier and have salt etc.

From the link above

Bicycle tires for on-road use have no need of any sort of tread features; in fact, the best road tires are perfectly smooth, with no tread at all!

Unfortunately, most people assume that a smooth tire will be slippery, so this type of tire is difficult to sell to unsophisticated cyclists. Most tire makers cater to this by putting a very fine pattern on their tires, mainly for cosmetic and marketing reasons. If you examine a section of asphalt or concrete, you'll see that the texture of the road itself is much "knobbier" than the tread features of a good-quality road tire. Since the tire is flexible, even a slick tire deforms as it comes into contact with the pavement, acquiring the shape of the pavement texture, only while in contact with the road.

People ask, "But don't slick tires get slippery on wet roads, or worse yet, wet metal features such as expansion joints, paint stripes, or railroad tracks?" The answer is, yes, they do. So do tires with tread. All tires are slippery in these conditions. Tread features make no improvement in this.

bianchimoon

mjf1017 wrote:

Thanks to everyone for their responses. Much appreciated.

One thing that (to be honest) surprised and amazed me was that road tyres don't aquaplane. Why not? I can see the logic of rubber on the road but how come and if this is the case, why the need for winter tyres?

The contact area is so small you simply cannot cycle fast enough to get an aquaplane effect