Lacking grip in the wet

bickers

Having ridden 3 winters on some 23c Conti 4 seasons on my Dolan i decided to splash out and upgrade to a frame that takes bigger tyres and disk brakes. Went for a Mason Definition which is great BUT i chose some tubeless 28c Hutchinson Sectors - slightly suckered by their description of "built for pros for the worst of the roubaix" thinking this would be a good winter/around tyre.

But my god, they lack any confidence in the wet lanes where i live - im riding nothing too arduous, just the usual roughish, film of muck country lanes you get this time of year. Im riding like a granny on some the twistier parts - this may in part be due to crashing on ice recently (no tyres would have helped there!) but i it feels constantly like they are going to slip.

Am in need of applying rule5 or am i on a poor tyre choice? I'd happy swap back to the 4 season if they did a tubeless version.


(tried lower pressure also)

sloppyschleckonds

I run Maxxis Padrone tubeless all year round. Maybe a slight luxury in winter but Maxxis were knocking them out for £25 on BF.

Reassuringly expensive or something. I used Schwalbe Pro Ones before, useless in the wet.

If you have deep enough pockets for a Mason, I'd go for GP 50000s Tubelsss

cycleclinic

I tried the padrone this November gone. They lasted two days before the front tyre got a big split. Comfortable, grippy enough but they are not robust it's not luck either. It's not a robust tyre for wet weather use. That by itself is not so bad but there main proble is they are also too loose a fit and installing is awkward even compressed air on a number of rims. Many layers of tubeless tape are requires. 5 or 6 layers when two normally do . I don't care how cheap they are, if you flat and I have the tyre will unseat meaning you have to fit a tube. Since I don't carry tubes,only plugs, the tyre must be retained by the rim.

Cheap does not mean good. The hutinson sectors may be a bit lacking in grip but they are more puncture resistant and fit rims far more easily and unseat less easily making leaving your tubes at home more practical.

step83

I found the Pro Ones close to lethal in the wet seem very happy locking up. Few of the guys locally to me are tubeless on Bonty R3's, they can make turns I cant an dont seem to be suffering punctures.

timothyw

thecycleclinic wrote:

I tried the padrone this November gone. They lasted two days before the front tyre got a big split. Comfortable, grippy enough but they are not robust it's not luck either.

Cutting a new tyre within two days of usage is pretty much the definition of bad luck.

Unless you happen to use your bike to get around the scalpel factory.

I've been running lifeline Prime Armour tyres from wiggle so far this winter, been pleasantly surprised in that I've had almost no hairy moments grip wise and just the one puncture in over 1000 miles (and I'm tough on bikes, this was on a new build and it's time for me to replace the chain).

And with almost no evidence of cuts on either tyre (apart from the flint puncture) I can say that they are robust.

Unfortunately they aren't tubeless, but you can buy two of them and a pair of tubes for less than the price of most tubeless tyres individually.

Your mileage may vary.

svetty

Step83 wrote:

...Few of the guys locally to me are tubeless on Bonty R3's, they can make turns I cant an dont seem to be suffering punctures.

Strange, I found tubeless R3s were excellent in the dry but seriously lacked grip in the wet....

svetty

bickers wrote:

.... Im riding like a granny on some the twistier parts - this may in part be due to crashing on ice recently (no tyres would have helped there!) but i it feels constantly like they are going to slip.

After a crash where the tyres slipped out from under you it's natural that you have some reticence about cornering and cranking the bike over. It's likely you are unconsciously tensing up, not transferring your weight properly and thus cornering like a noob. The tyres are probably fine...

cookeeemonster

bickers wrote:

Having ridden 3 winters on some 23c Conti 4 seasons on my Dolan i decided to splash out and upgrade to a frame that takes bigger tyres and disk brakes. Went for a Mason Definition which is great BUT i chose some tubeless 28c Hutchinson Sectors - slightly suckered by their description of "built for pros for the worst of the roubaix" thinking this would be a good winter/around tyre.

But my god, they lack any confidence in the wet lanes where i live - im riding nothing too arduous, just the usual roughish, film of muck country lanes you get this time of year. Im riding like a granny on some the twistier parts - this may in part be due to crashing on ice recently (no tyres would have helped there!) but i it feels constantly like they are going to slip.

Am in need of applying rule5 or am i on a poor tyre choice? I'd happy swap back to the 4 season if they did a tubeless version.


(tried lower pressure also)

I've read a number of times that they can be sketchy in the wet, it's not just you. Not sure if they improve once 'worn in' a bit - might be worth a Google.

Schwalbe g-one speed 30mm tyres are the ones I'd personally go for, they review very well from what I've read (if you decide to change sooner rather than later)

step83

Svetty wrote:

Step83 wrote:

...Few of the guys locally to me are tubeless on Bonty R3's, they can make turns I cant an dont seem to be suffering punctures.

Strange, I found tubeless R3s were excellent in the dry but seriously lacked grip in the wet....

You should try Pros then! I do feel its almost a tubeless trait to have horrible wet grip. I ended up just going back to tubes for winter purely for grip so conti classics back on for winter the pros can come back out when the weather improves.

cycleclinic

As I said the cut is not the problem with the padrone The msin problem is the baggy fit to all the rims I tried. These are not tubeless compatible tyres as if you have to use 5 layers of tape and compressor then that too much effort. It will be a mess it took me a good while to get mine setup and I lost slot of sealant too. 5 layers of tape also obscure the features on the rim ( if there are present) that retain the tyre when the is no pressure that mean the tyre will unseat when you flat.

That means the setup is not tubeless. You can't use plugs to fix a proper goat as the tyre has unseated. Mavic, Shimano, campagnolo and me get tubeless vkmpability. One of the key things is tyre does not unseat at zero pressure. You should be able to ride the thing flat. You can't with the padrone. That's the main issue I have with it.



For grip I like IRC tyres. They also don't split at the first sight of flint.

Hutinson fusion 5 endurance are pretty good too. Not as robust as the IRC and they wear out in half time. Good thing they are cheaper then.

Hutchinson sectors are notorious for poor wet grip. A bit schwalbe like. To be honest there are not many winter tyres that ride well and grip well. Cheap tyre don't manage that. You get what you pay for.
Today I was on IRC Roadlite tubeless tyres. They rarely cut and while they don't have the grip of the X guard or rbcc tyre I had no problem coming down the A57 today from the top into Glossop.