Box Hill in the rain

mcvw

Hi,

I'd planned to do a couple of laps of the Olympic loop this mid-afternoon - only at the moment it's drizzling, and I'm apprehensive that it'll be pretty greasy - or raining - later, and I only have the stock tyres as fitted to my Giant (PR3's) and I really don't fancy an 'off'.

Should I get myself a set of winter/wet tyres from the LBS - and do the laps tomorrow - or should I have confidence in my tyres?

Thanks,


Mike

KnightOfTheLongTights

the surface is pretty good these days, wouldn't worry too much, just take the hairpins easy

mcvw

I hadn't really considered the uphill sections - I was more concerned with the return part of the loop i.e. the long descent

okgo

Good lord.

Just don't take the corners like Valentino Rossi and you'll be fine won't you.

KnightOfTheLongTights

mcvw wrote:

I hadn't really considered the uphill sections - I was more concerned with the return part of the loop i.e. the long descent

I thought your concern was cos you were going down the hairpins (also that's the way, as a contrarian, I usually go)

jibberjim

mcvw wrote:

I'd planned to do a couple of laps of the Olympic loop this mid-afternoon - only at the moment it's drizzling, and I'm apprehensive that it'll be pretty greasy - or raining - later, and I only have the stock tyres as fitted to my Giant (PR3's) and I really don't fancy an 'off'.

Should I get myself a set of winter/wet tyres from the LBS - and do the laps tomorrow - or should I have confidence in my tyres?

So must winter tyres are much worse in the wet than summer tyres - they sacrifice grip for puncture protection, if you were genuinely getting some high grip wet tyres (e.g. Ultremo Aqua's) then maybe, but probably not, a Michelin Pro Race 3 will have a lot more grip than any "winter" tyre.

marcusjb

There's not really such a thing as wet/winter tyres for road bikes (ignoring studded tyres for snow!). The tread on most road tyres serves little or no purpose and offers little benefit in terms of grip or water displacement. There are tyres more suited to wintery conditions, but this is typically to minimise the chance of a puncture (as there's little worse than changing a tube at the side of the road on a cold and wet January day) rather than to offer specifically more grip etc.

The best thing you can do is to let a small amount of air out and take it steady. You have to learn to ride in all conditions, and certainly a bit of drizzle shouldn't keep you in. I'm about 30km from there, but if conditions are similar (fairly heavy drizzle but warm), then it looks great weather for riding a bike.

The only conditions that anyone should consider potentially unwise to venture out in are icy ones.

jibberjim

marcusjb wrote:

There's not really such a thing as wet/winter tyres for road bikes (ignoring studded tyres for snow!).

There are different tyres for extra grip though - which isn't about tread, but about sacrificing rolling resistance for grip - Ultremo Aqua, Pro Race Grip etc. And the only reason you'd want that extra grip is in the wet, so they are really wet weather tyres.

I can't imagine using them for other than racing though, you should not be descending juniper anywhere near the grip limits of your tyres pretty much regardless of what they are.

wavefront

I relish the chance to go to box hill in the wet.... because you'll have it all to yourself! 99% of riders who go there are fair weather riders

If you take it easy and are sensible then you'll be fine. As you already pointed out, it's not the wet that's so much of the issue it's the wet + leaves/mulch + oil that can spice up a ride.

diy

The worse bit is really here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHc_c0jitMA&t=27m5s

You have to watch it going down these bends, but as long as you brake on the straight its ok in the wet and then a bit further on where the golfers sometime cross the road without looking.

mcvw

diy wrote:

The worse bit is really here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHc_c0jitMA&t=27m5s

You have to watch it going down these bends, but as long as you brake on the straight its ok in the wet and then a bit further on where the golfers sometime cross the road without looking.

Haha! I also ended up doing the 10-mile lap as I missed that left turn (combination of too much speed, and being unfamiliar with route). Still, I gave it a fairly good crack if a little apprehensive in places - and I stopped at the top on the 2nd lap for a selfie (for my kids), and also a bit further on (2nd lap) my phone suddenly went mental and all sorts was playing out of the loudspeaker, so I stopped briefly to sort it out).

I felt ok afterwards - and reckon I could've gone round another couple of times without too much bother

http://www.strava.com/activities/213135178/

diy

its a nice loop and for me I can throw in another 10 depending how much time I have, so you can make it 20, 30 40 etc. Always plenty of people out if you need to set the guy in front as a target.

If you have a garmin and live in the area - have a go at the Legs of Steel route:
http://www.fulontri.com/legs-of-steel

see resources - short and long courses are both nice.

craigus89

mcvw wrote:

Hi,

I'd planned to do a couple of laps of the Olympic loop this mid-afternoon - only at the moment it's drizzling, and I'm apprehensive that it'll be pretty greasy - or raining - later, and I only have the stock tyres as fitted to my Giant (PR3's) and I really don't fancy an 'off'.

Should I get myself a set of winter/wet tyres from the LBS - and do the laps tomorrow - or should I have confidence in my tyres?

Thanks,


Mike

Just get on with it, you'll be fine. You don't get winter tyres, the tread makes no difference.

il_principe

Just take the corners easy and don't brake through them. My back wheel stepped out in greasy conditions in Richmond Park the other morning, you just learn how to handle these things.

mcvw

diy wrote:

its a nice loop and for me I can throw in another 10 depending how much time I have, so you can make it 20, 30 40 etc. Always plenty of people out if you need to set the guy in front as a target.

If you have a garmin and live in the area - have a go at the Legs of Steel route:
http://www.fulontri.com/legs-of-steel

see resources - short and long courses are both nice.

Cheers diy, that short route looks tempting. I don't have a garmin/gps yet (it's next on the list) - so for the time being I have to rely on memory/road-signs