Not feeling confident with current tyres
hostman
Posts: 104
Hi,
Riding a Boardman Pro Carbon with the default tyres it came with (Mavic WTS 700 x 23c I believe). Other bike is a Boardman Road Team, with Continental tyres (can't recall the exact version will check when home).
I had a crash last week riding to work, not involving a car, a damp sharpish downhill left bend, taken it many times at speed, as it's horribly cold and damp in the mornings it's a bend to be cautious with this time of year. Despite being cautious I ended up on the deck, hitting the floor quite hard, bike slid off and came to rest against an oncoming car who had managed to come to a halt before running over me and the bike.
Came away relatively unscathed, big bruise and grazing on my left hip and an impressive graze on my jersey. Bike itself came off lightly, the worst being scuffing on the left side of the bar tape.
I've had the Boardman Pro since the summer and used it as my primary ride since (incidentally this was bought last year after I was knocked off riding home from work by a taxi on the other bike). It always felt a little twitchy through corners, I put it down to generally being a new bike and more time to adjust required.
I rode the bike back home day of the crash in the afternoon, the bike felt fine, albeit I had a sore hip.
Went for a spin yesterday, it was cold, windy and damp again. Possibly related to the crash and a loss of confidence, but the bike felt like it had 0 grip through bends.
Now I'm thinking I need to get rid of the standard tyres and put on a decent brand. Be that the Continental's I already have or if anyone else has some suggestions that would be great. Specifically winter tyres or tyres for damp / wet conditions.
Riding a Boardman Pro Carbon with the default tyres it came with (Mavic WTS 700 x 23c I believe). Other bike is a Boardman Road Team, with Continental tyres (can't recall the exact version will check when home).
I had a crash last week riding to work, not involving a car, a damp sharpish downhill left bend, taken it many times at speed, as it's horribly cold and damp in the mornings it's a bend to be cautious with this time of year. Despite being cautious I ended up on the deck, hitting the floor quite hard, bike slid off and came to rest against an oncoming car who had managed to come to a halt before running over me and the bike.
Came away relatively unscathed, big bruise and grazing on my left hip and an impressive graze on my jersey. Bike itself came off lightly, the worst being scuffing on the left side of the bar tape.
I've had the Boardman Pro since the summer and used it as my primary ride since (incidentally this was bought last year after I was knocked off riding home from work by a taxi on the other bike). It always felt a little twitchy through corners, I put it down to generally being a new bike and more time to adjust required.
I rode the bike back home day of the crash in the afternoon, the bike felt fine, albeit I had a sore hip.
Went for a spin yesterday, it was cold, windy and damp again. Possibly related to the crash and a loss of confidence, but the bike felt like it had 0 grip through bends.
Now I'm thinking I need to get rid of the standard tyres and put on a decent brand. Be that the Continental's I already have or if anyone else has some suggestions that would be great. Specifically winter tyres or tyres for damp / wet conditions.
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Certainly some tyres are better than others in the cold/wet, but a great deal will be down to confidence.
The Bontrager R1's that came on my bike are atrocious. I dropped it while riding in a straight line once.... That set me back a bit in terms of confidence (and stil does to the wet to an extent)
Don't forget that there could be all sorts of fluids that have been dropped by cars/vans etc. It might not all be the tyres fault.0 -
Changed the Continentals on the other bike for the Mavics and see how it feels then.
Otherwise something like Michelin Pro Race 4 should provide some confidence.Postby team47b » Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:53 am
De Sisti wrote:
This is one of the silliest threads I've come across.
Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honoursmithy21 wrote:
He's right you know.0 -
You could try switching to 25mm instead of 23mm, knowing you have a little extra width might help improve your confidence again (which as Peat says is probably the biggest problem you have right after coming off). FWIW I've been using a pair of these for over a year now in all sorts of wet and nasty conditions and they've performed really well.0
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The Endurance tyres linked in the post above are probably as good as any and better than most if you want durable winter tyres with decent grip. If you go with 25mm you can drop the pressure a fair bit which should give better comfort and better road adherance on bumpy surfaces, i.e. the tyre follows the contours better rather than bouncing around.
It's likely that the perception of having no grip following the crash is mostly a confidence issue but maybe it's a bit of both.0 -
Without knowing it I had a similar issue with descending after losing grip and clipping a wall at speed. The following rides I felt like I was hanging back from the group and I was beaten by people who are normaly slower than me.
All back to normal now though thank god.Advocate of disc brakes.0 -
My bikes original tyres were poor in the wet and kept getting punctures. Changed to 4 seasons tyres and found they gripped better with no punctures for over a year now. They are also lighter and roll better. Other similar cheaper tyres are available.0
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I'm not a massively experienced roadie (yet) but have heard a few negative things about Mavic tyres (to the point I don't want to use the 'free' ones that came with my Aksiums). I run the Conti 4 seaons in autumn and winter. The rubber is specially designed to remain soft and grippy even in really cold weather. Although, like one of the guys above siad, if there was diesel or something similar on the road, you're probably going o go down.0
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Mavic tyres are atrocious. For this time of year Conti GP 4 Seasons are my favourite followed by Michelin Pro 4 Endurance.English Cycles V3 | Cervelo P5 | Cervelo T4 | Trek Domane Koppenberg0
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Ah well, there's always one with a counter opinion. I have ridden 23mm Yksion Pros for 5,000km in Switzerland on mountain roads in all weathers.
No punctures, no lack of grip, better ride then my previous 4000s tyres and last just as long. They really aren't that bad. In fact, in the autumn, I was on a group ride and hit a greasy corner on a fast descent. Two riders washed out, one was on 4000s and the other was on Schwalbe Ones. On my shite Yksion Pros, I got around with absolutely no drama.0 -
I have to say that I have not ridden on a bicycle tyre made in the last decade or more that is actually poor.
This includes roadbike clinchers, MTB tyres, touring tyres and more...
If it was cold and the road was damp, I'd be looking to that rather than the tyre.
Pressure can also have an effect. You don't mention pressure in the OP.
I'd be strongly disinclined to discard a part-worn tyre just because I'd fallen on a cold, damp, slippery bend while riding on it.
For what it's worth, I quite like Gatorskins and various types of Vittoria on a road bike, usually a 700C x 21. I've never ridden on a road tyre that doesn't move about a little in really horrid conditions; it's a case of being cautious where appropriate. The conditions and location described in the OP suggest that the tyre may not have been the issue. Get straight back on that horse.0 -
Had a similar experience week Saturday, down hill left turn, not nice, bike front just fell away, not been out the front door since and yet to drive my car, knee and wrist knackered and upper body was compressed, so think my internals all switched sides:)
I have been thinking Tyres, even to the point of looking at 700-28's. Used a Hybrid for many years and only come off once in 2008, did break ribs, but PotHole to blame. I'm currently running Conti GP4's 700-25's, reason for considering going wider, not sure if they will fit my bike, but would give me more confidence right now, if I was going out. As mentioned, if some diesel on the road your going to go what ever the tyre size.0 -
Trouble is if the road has some spilt diesel on it I don't think it matters what tyres you have on it. Had a similar experience myself last year turning left at some traffic lights very carefully but still went down.0
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I also heard mixed reviews on the Yksion Pros. The primary complaint seems to be grip in the wet.robbo2011 wrote:Ah well, there's always one with a counter opinion. I have ridden 23mm Yksion Pros for 5,000km in Switzerland on mountain roads in all weathers.
No punctures, no lack of grip, better ride then my previous 4000s tyres and last just as long. They really aren't that bad. In fact, in the autumn, I was on a group ride and hit a greasy corner on a fast descent. Two riders washed out, one was on 4000s and the other was on Schwalbe Ones. On my shite Yksion Pros, I got around with absolutely no drama.
My Canyon Ultimate came with a set so I gave them a try.
I found them very nice. Good comfort, they seem quiet and fast rolling (but it's hard to be objective about that), never experienced grip issues and no punctures (but then I very rarely get punctures with any tyres I've used).
I used them quite a bit in the wet and never lost grip but I wasn't pushing them hard. I took them off getting into winter for something a little more robust but might return them to the bike next summer. I'm not sure I'd go looking for them but I wouldn't rip them straight off the bike and throw them in the bin either.0 -
Does anyone think that pro 4 service course lose grip when the temp is low enough for the roads to be icy?0
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I've fitted the Pro 4 Grip to my winter bike recently. If you go by Michelins claims, they have 15% better grip in the wet over the SC which in turn has better grip (not sure if dry or wet or both?) than the Endurance. The downside is they only come in 23c but they certainly feel fast, grippy and comfortable for my liking.0
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johngti wrote:
Unless you're running studded tyres, black ice will get you every time.English Cycles V3 | Cervelo P5 | Cervelo T4 | Trek Domane Koppenberg0 -
Relative to a corner. Uphill (but barely!), a VERY gentle leftwards curve (although that's overstating it!) and there it was.0
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Debeli wrote:I have to say that I have not ridden on a bicycle tyre made in the last decade or more that is actually poor.
This includes roadbike clinchers, MTB tyres, touring tyres and more...
If it was cold and the road was damp, I'd be looking to that rather than the tyre.
Pressure can also have an effect. You don't mention pressure in the OP.
I'd be strongly disinclined to discard a part-worn tyre just because I'd fallen on a cold, damp, slippery bend while riding on it.
For what it's worth, I quite like Gatorskins and various types of Vittoria on a road bike, usually a 700C x 21. I've never ridden on a road tyre that doesn't move about a little in really horrid conditions; it's a case of being cautious where appropriate. The conditions and location described in the OP suggest that the tyre may not have been the issue. Get straight back on that horse.
This. I use a Gatorskin at the back on my training/commuting bike (because it's my preferred choice in 27"; front is 700c), and they're pretty atrocious for ride and grip, but that doesn't mean that I'm slipping over all the time.0 -
I run front and rear pressure at 100psi.
Other tyres are Conti Ultra Sport II, swapped one over to my other bike wheels last night, will do the other tonight, after I buy another innertube as I ruined a perfectly good one fitting the last bit of the tyre :roll:
As an unscientific test, the Conti tyres feel far superior and grippy to my fingers compared to the stock Mavic ones.0 -
If you're using 25mm tyres and you're not too heavy, you should be able to run them at 90-95psi0
