coloured road tyes

Interesting thoughts.

I've seen pros riding coloured tyres (in glossy magazines in the privacy of my own home!).
If they grip less - it must be an infintesimal amount to have not received any mention anywhere (apart from where you found out from).

Bigbananabike said:

Interesting thoughts.

I've seen pros riding coloured tyres (in glossy magazines in the privacy of my own home!).
If they grip less - it must be an infintesimal amount to have not received any mention anywhere (apart from where you found out from).

Word of mouth. Many pros believe that coloured tyres grip less- a bit like not shaving before a time trial. 😄

These comments on rubber compound come from the website of Sheldon Brown:

Once the fabric has been woven between the beads, and the tire has its basic shape, it is coated with rubber. The rubber is mainly there to protect the fabric from damage, and has no structural importance.

The rubber that comes into contact with the ground is called the "tread." This area usually has thicker rubber than the "sidewalls" of the tire, mainly for wear resistance. Most tires have some sort of 3-dimensional pattern moulded into the tread, which may or may not enhance traction.

Manufacturers mix different additives with the rubber to achieve desired traction/wear characteristics. Generally, a softer formulation will give better traction, but at the expense of more rapid wear. Rubber is normally a sort of tan color, but most tires are black. This is the result of adding carbon black to the mix. Carbon black considerably improves the durability and traction of the rubber in the tread area.

Some manufacturers substitute a silicon compound for the carbon black. These tires usually have a grey tread. Whether silicon or carbon black provides better traction is subject to dispute.

"Dual compound" tires feature a center strip of fairly hard rubber for improved wear, with a softer, grippier formulation toward the sides of the tread. The intent is to provide better cornering traction without compromising the lifespan of the tread.

Many bicycle tires are "gumwalls" or "skinwalls." Gumwall tires have tan sidewalls, with no carbon black. This may make the sidewalls slightly more flexible, reducing rolling resistance. It is not clear to what extent this makes a difference. Skinwalls have either no rubber on the sidewalls, or a very thin layer. This, too is an attempt to make the sidewall more flexible and reduce rolling resistance.

p38lightning said:

These comments on rubber compound come from the website of Sheldon Brown:

Once the fabric has been woven between the beads, and the tire has its basic shape, it is coated with rubber. The rubber is mainly there to protect the fabric from damage, and has no structural importance.

The rubber that comes into contact with the ground is called the "tread." This area usually has thicker rubber than the "sidewalls" of the tire, mainly for wear resistance. Most tires have some sort of 3-dimensional pattern moulded into the tread, which may or may not enhance traction.

Manufacturers mix different additives with the rubber to achieve desired traction/wear characteristics. Generally, a softer formulation will give better traction, but at the expense of more rapid wear. Rubber is normally a sort of tan color, but most tires are black. This is the result of adding carbon black to the mix. Carbon black considerably improves the durability and traction of the rubber in the tread area.

Some manufacturers substitute a silicon compound for the carbon black. These tires usually have a grey tread. Whether silicon or carbon black provides better traction is subject to dispute.

"Dual compound" tires feature a center strip of fairly hard rubber for improved wear, with a softer, grippier formulation toward the sides of the tread. The intent is to provide better cornering traction without compromising the lifespan of the tread.

Many bicycle tires are "gumwalls" or "skinwalls." Gumwall tires have tan sidewalls, with no carbon black. This may make the sidewalls slightly more flexible, reducing rolling resistance. It is not clear to what extent this makes a difference. Skinwalls have either no rubber on the sidewalls, or a very thin layer. This, too is an attempt to make the sidewall more flexible and reduce rolling resistance.

Thanks for the detailed info, Lightning. I am currently running conti gp4000 blACK CHILLI tyres one my Addict and they are by far the best tyres I have used in terms of traction. They grip where other tyres are skittish or disconcertingly indecisive on what their role is. I run krylion carbons on my "training" bike for winter and endurance training. Just thought a pair of michelin pro race3 service course tyres in ivory white would look great on the white R4. I have seen a Supersix in white with white vittoria tyre and it looked so badassªª

Of course everybody's taste is different, but I can't remember seeing a colored tire that I liked. I think they make an otherwise nice looking bike look silly. But that's just me. I can't imagine colored tires on a car or motorcycle either.

A few years ago in Formula 1, Michelin attempted to use colored tires. They could not get the same level of performance out of them so they were never used.

Adding carbon ie for black tires could increase the durability provided it actually bonds to the rubber molecules when it is hot, carbon adds strength to steel, we've seen the strength in carbon fibre etc so its understandable. The other bonus of black tires is black is the most UV stable colour, so the tires will last longer before the rubber goes off. I would say that adding colour to a tire would make such miniminal difference that in terms of grip, if you were going to go down in a given situation it wouldnt matter what colour your tire is. I personally ride dark blue pro 3;s, and the corner as fast as i want, and faster than any1 with black tires that does not have the skill to corner as quick.

Now in terms of the rigours of formula one racing like Bro said, the grip factor and heat on tires is 1000's of times more extreme, so id buy black if i owned 1 of those.

I can't really talk about traction on the colored tires, however I used the Michelin Pro2 Race blue on my bike until the LBS ran out. I averaged about 3,000 miles on a pair without a flat. I bought a pair of Michelin Pro3 Race red, just because the blues were out of stock at the LBS, I had nothing but trouble with the red Pro3 race, they flatted on the same roads about every hundred miles. I have since changed to Specialized Armadillo's. The Armadillo's are much heavier and there is a noticable difference in rolling resistance but, I have not had a flat since......