jakebigham

> Speedy tire, with tread that sort of diverts water.

I don't think that any tread pattern has anything to do with traction
on wet pavement. tread has more to do with traction on loose surfaces
and directing water away from the center of the tire to reduce spray
coming off the back of the tire (creating the mud stripe on your back
when you ride without fenders in the rain). Tread pattern usually
does do that all that well anyway - a fender works much better. I
think a lot of tread patterns of road tires are a mixture of wishful
thinking and marketing. This is from "bike tires direct" a web store
but it is basically correct I think

> Bicycle tires are not susceptible to hydroplaning (at realistic
> speeds) because of their crowned profile and narrow width. The main
> purpose from tread patterns on bicycle tires is to provide better
> bite on loose surfaces such as dirt, sand and gravel. For road
> tires, a grooved tread will eliminate some of the water to the
> sides and thus reduce the amount of water that is sprayed up behind
> the wheel.
>
> For dry weather road riding, tread pattern is not an issue. Most of
> the high performance road tires have smooth or close to smooth
> treads. For wet weather road riding, we recommend a slightly wider
> tire with some grooving in the tread. The Continental Grand Prix 4-
> Season is a good example. For racing in the wet, the tread pattern
> is not as important as the rubber compound (for grip) and light
> weight (for performance), and something like the Michelin Grip or
> the Tufo C Giro Twix are better choice
http://www.biketiresdirect.com/information.asp?
inf=tiresize&tnum=4175516&c=5564118

Galen Mittermann

Schwalbe makes a pretty puncture proof tire:

http://schwalbetires.com/node/142/ok
http://www.biketiresdirect.com/productdetail.asp?p=SCMAR&tnum=4175273&c=5563794

it comes in a 25c as the smallest size. which is a good size for winter riding. schwalbes in general are pretty sticky on the ground, team midtown rides nothing but (they sponsor us - so this is a shameless plug).

and re-think the need for tread patterns, even in the wet:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tires.html#tread ive found i get plenty of grip with slicks in the wet; a soft compound is more important than tread patterns. i've slid out on hard tires (conti GPs, gatorskins are quite decent tho) where i have no problem with softer rubber (schwalbe anything). tread patterns have no effect on surfaces on which they leave no impression, and the round cross section of a high pressure bicycle tire does a great job of displacing water in front of the contact patch. you just can't hydroplane a bike tire, so getting water out of the way isnt really a concern. it's not like a car with a flat profile and 35lbs of pressure doing 75 on the freeway - just ain't gonna happen.

that being said, paint and metal and leaves and whatnot is going to be slick in the rain no matter what tires you run.

galen

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