Narrow Tyres

Rob Wood said:

I have been using 23mm wide tyres on my road bike winter & summer. However
I have slid & come off twice recently. Will changing to widertyres help
prevent this during the winter or should I just take the corners more
carefully?

Tire traction is one important factor in cornering. Wider tires, lower
pressure, and smooth tread will improve traction. Tread material is also a
factor. Look for a tire with carbon black tread.

If you're riding in rain, snow, or ice you need to be more careful.

Art Harris

"Rob Wood" wrote ...

Quoted message said:

I have been using 23mm wide tyres on my road bike winter & summer. However

I

Quoted message said:

have slid & come off twice recently. Will changing to widertyres help
prevent this during the winter or should I just take the corners more
carefully?

Many thanks

If you're sliding and coming off on dry pavement, sand, gravel or in the
rain you definitely need to corner more carefully. IME keeping the tires
fully inflated helps them maintain traction (works for tyres, too).

If you're cycling in snow and ice there are studded bicycle tires available,
the best ones seem to be made by Nokian (Finnish maker of car and bicycle
tires, specializing in winter tires). They are available in 700C and 26"
sizes, but they are a good bit wider than the 23 mm tires you currently
have, so check frame clearances. The folks at uk.rec.cycling can probably
refer you to a UK source for these.
HTH,
--
mark

mark said:

IME keeping the tires
fully inflated helps them maintain traction.

How do you reckon that?

Art

I thought slight underinflation helps improve traction; this is most
commonly used in the context of mountain bike tires and off-road usage,
where lower inflation increases the size of the contact patch.

Get the air pressure too low, though, and you won't be able to corner
on a road bike tire.

Rob Wood said:

I have been using 23mm wide tyres on my road bike winter & summer.

You didn't mention your weather conditions; if it's icy or not, true
winter conditions do not favour such a skinny tire. Do try a set of 28's
@ 80 psi or so, you'll be rewarded with a fatter contact patch and a much
more comfy ride. I doubt your speed will suffer much. 😉

"Arthur Harris" wrote

Quoted message said:

mark said:

IME keeping the tires
fully inflated helps them maintain traction.

How do you reckon that?

Art

My experience is that fully inflated tires on a car or bicycle will grip
better on pavement. As another poster pointed out, decreasing tire pressure
will aid traction on soft/loose surfaces by increasing the contact patch of
the tire, albeit at some increased risk of pinch flats.

My guess is that a softer tire will deform and slide around irregularities
on hard pavement, causing it to lose traction more quickly on pavement.
On/in dirt or sand, the tire will sink in and mold the surface that it is
on, so the softer tire with a larger contact patch will grip better.

My experience with cars and bicycles in snow is that a narrower tire with a
knobby tread works best, and metal studs are excellent for hardpacked snow
and ice. I haven't looked for or found any correlation between tire pressure
and traction on snow and ice.

I'm not an engineer, the aforementioned is just a guess based on my own
observations.
--
mark

mark said:

"Art Harris" wrote

Quoted message said:

mark said:

IME keeping the tires
fully inflated helps them maintain traction.

How do you reckon that?

My experience is that fully inflated tires on a car or bicycle will grip
better on pavement. As another poster pointed out, decreasing tire
pressure
will aid traction on soft/loose surfaces by increasing the contact patch
of
the tire, albeit at some increased risk of pinch flats.

An increased contact patch will increase traction on pavement. I'm not
saying to drop pressure from 110 psi to 50 psi, but 85-90 psi in a 25mm road
tire is a good idea in wet conditions. I certainly wouldn't inflate to the
maximum pressure in the rain.

Art Harris

maxo said:

Rob Wood said:

I have been using 23mm wide tyres on my road bike winter & summer.

You didn't mention your weather conditions; if it's icy or not, true
winter conditions do not favour such a skinny tire. Do try a set of
28's @ 80 psi or so, you'll be rewarded with a fatter contact patch
and a much more comfy ride. I doubt your speed will suffer much. 😉

This is true, but you can go lower in pressure that that with a 28mm tire. Not
only does a softer tire conform to the ground better, it absorbs little
irregularities that could jostle you loose and start you sliding.

When it's slippery, I leave my road bike at home and ride my mountain bike. Big
tires and a supple front suspension help keep me from slipping. Too much speed
is a bad idea in such conditions anyway.

Matt O.