Slick tires vs. others

S. Segal said:

What are the pros and cons of slick tires? What kind of traction do they provide? Can you ride on
wet roads?

Tread is entirely superfluous on a road-going bicycle. As always, Sheldon Brown has chapter and
verse: sheldonbrown.comtyres.htmlOpen ↗

Dave Larrington - legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uklegslarry.beerdrinkers.co.ukOpen ↗
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Quoted post said:

Originally posted by S. Segal
What are the pros and cons of slick tires? What kind of traction do they provide? Can you ride on
wet roads?

No real traction on smooth roads, as the other poster alluded to in their Sheldon Brown post.

But I have found tread to be nice on the more imperfect roads I travel. Not a lot of tread but tread like a Schwalbe Marathon or Avocet Cross II that i currently run.

I have tested this on the same bombed out roads. I used Primo Comets, some other slicks and the tires mentioned above. The tires with slight tread handles the imperfections in the road a bit better. Though both styles do well on wet roads.

IMHO the more important issue is width vs. tread. Skinnier and higher pressure are usually faster.
But, the Tioga Comp Pool is fat, slick and 90
psi and rolls great! You'll find as many opinions about tires as anything in the recumbent world ...
there is very little real study of this topic, as conditions, usage and personal bias ultimately
determine tire selection. Oh, and of course the deals that bike manufacturers cut with tire
manufacturers. Jon Shinefeld Philadelphia, PA "S. Segal" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

What are the pros and cons of slick tires? What kind of traction do they provide? Can you ride on
wet roads?

Two things:

1) On tours and sometimes on day rides, I find myself on a variety of surfaces, including coarse gravel in campgrounds, plus some stretches on the road, fine gravel on rail trails, rough pavement, pavement with small amounts of dirt on it, etc. Sometimes I ride on grass at campgrounds as well.

2) Seems to me a tire with some tread might be able put more distance between the tube and the road than a slick tire. Or if the slick tire has the same tread thickness, it would be heavier than the treaded tire.

So for my purposes, I would look for a tire with a smooth center, some tread beside it, and relatively flexible sidewalls, maybe a Schwalbe Marathon.

Just before a recent tour, I switched from some treaded Haro BMX tires, which have never gone flat in urban riding, to some Comp Pools. I didn't notice a huge jump in speed, but I don't ride very consistently, speed wise. I _did_ notice a tendency for the tires to pick up glass and wire bits, such that on a week long tour, I did flat from a piece of wire and removed a deeply imbeded piece of glass that would have eventually worked its way to the tube.

John Riley <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Two things:

1) On tours and sometimes on day rides, I find myself on a variety of surfaces, including coarse
gravel in campgrounds, plus some stretches on the road, fine gravel on rail trails, rough
pavement, pavement with small amounts of dirt on it, etc. Sometimes I ride on grass at
campgrounds as well.

2) Seems to me a tire with some tread might be able put more distance between the tube and the
road than a slick tire. Or if the slick tire has the same tread thickness, it would be heavier
than the treaded tire.

So for my purposes, I would look for a tire with a smooth center, some tread beside it, and
relatively flexible sidewalls, maybe a Schwalbe Marathon.

Just before a recent tour, I switched from some treaded Haro BMX tires, which have never gone flat
in urban riding, to some Comp Pools. I didn't notice a huge jump in speed, but I don't ride very
consistently, speed wise. I _did_ notice a tendency for the tires to pick up glass and wire bits,
such that on a week long tour, I did flat from a piece of wire and removed a deeply imbeded piece
of glass that would have eventually worked its way to the tube.

Tire Savers will prevent debris from embedding in the tire. I mount mine on fender ends, 1-2 mm
above tire tread. Have not had a flat (except for the nail that pulled the end of the saver off).
Good luck finding them commercially. You can make a set with spoke or similar wire and tygon tubing.