tires for cornering

I don't know of any tire that will break traction like that unless you are VERY far over or you hit
a patch of dirt or loose gravel

"Harald" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:tfc7b.80912$kW.51628@edtnps84...

Quoted message said:

The other day I was happily zipping around a corner on my Hepcat when I suddenly found myself down
on the pavement accumulating road rash. It was

a

Quoted message said:

complete surprise to me - I did not feel that I was going to fast.

So now I am wondering about my tires. I have a set of Schwalbe Marathons and I noticed that they
are somewhat taller and narrower than other 1.5" tires. I suppose that this shape reduces rolling
resistance and

aerodynamic

Quoted message said:

drag - but I wonder if it is at the expense of cornering ability.

I am thinking of switching to a "rounder" tire such as a Tioga City

Slicker,

Quoted message said:

for example. Has anyone had any experience with various tires in fast corners?

Cheers;
Harald

"Harald" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<tfc7b.80912$kW.51628@edtnps84>...

Quoted message said:

The other day I was happily zipping around a corner on my Hepcat when I suddenly found myself down
on the pavement accumulating road rash. It was a complete surprise to me - I did not feel that I
was going to fast.

So now I am wondering about my tires. I have a set of Schwalbe Marathons and I noticed that they
are somewhat taller and narrower than other 1.5" tires. I suppose that this shape reduces rolling
resistance and aerodynamic drag - but I wonder if it is at the expense of cornering ability.

I put about 2500 miles on my 1.5" Marathons before recently switching to Stelvios. I rode those
tires in the rain, on dirt & gravel, and just this summer I did a lot of riding in triple-digit
temperatures where the roads were literally oozing wet tar. Never did I feel like they were lacking
in cornering grip. Going to a 1.75 or 2.00 wide tire will buy you a softer ride and better traction
on dirt and gravel, but your 1.5" tires should have more than enough grip for pavement. Are you sure
you didn't hit some oil or water or sand on the road? Sometimes a little dew in an area that hasn't
seen rain in a while can make for some very slick pavement. I tend to be pretty conservative on
curves, since the recumbent position leaves me very little recourse in the event of traction loss;
and as you unfortunately found out, they go down with no warning at all.

Bill Anton 2001 Vision R-40 SWB, OSS Lubbock, TX, USA

Thanks, Mark and Bill, for your comments. We all know that oil, gravel, etc. can cause a spill, but
these were not a factor in my fall. Obviously I was leaning over too far when I fell down. But I
didn't think that I was. The fall was a surprise to me. Maybe I am inexperienced - I have only had
my Hepcat for 6 months. But I have been riding DF's since I was a kid, and rode motorcycles for
several years - I think I know what to expect from a two-wheeled vehicle.

So, either I need to revise my ideas about how far to lean in corners, or perhaps I could improve
cornering with better tires. I am looking for feedback from guys (and gals) who like to ride fast.
Are there good, sticky tires out there that excel in corners? Does profile make a difference? Does
size (bigger = more contact) make a difference?

Or maybe the 20/26" wheel combination affects handling. Perhaps the inherently lower stability
of the 20" wheel requires greater steering inputs for balance which can throw one off the
cornering line.

I am sure someone has the answers.

Cheers;
Harald

"Harald" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:gzo7b.95338$kW.36970@edtnps84...

Quoted message said:

Thanks, Mark and Bill, for your comments. We all know that oil, gravel, etc. can cause a spill,
but these were not a factor in my fall. Obviously I was leaning over too far when I fell down. But
I didn't think that I was. The fall was a surprise to me. Maybe I am inexperienced - I have only
had my Hepcat for 6 months. But I have been riding DF's since I was a kid, and rode motorcycles
for several years - I think I know what to expect from a two-wheeled vehicle.

I've cornered motorcycles until they started grinding lower parts and had plenty of traction, while
I doubt you can go that far on a bike tire I'd guess you'd have to be VERY FAR over in order to lose
traction and it just doesn't sound like that is the case in your incident

Quoted message said:

So, either I need to revise my ideas about how far to lean in corners, or perhaps I could improve
cornering with better tires. I am looking for feedback from guys (and gals) who like to ride fast.
Are there good,

sticky

Quoted message said:

tires out there that excel in corners? Does profile make a difference? Does size (bigger = more
contact) make a difference?

Or maybe the 20/26" wheel combination affects handling. Perhaps the inherently lower stability of
the 20" wheel requires greater steering

inputs

Quoted message said:

for balance which can throw one off the cornering line.

I doubt size of the tire makes much of a difference here, I've cornered at fairly extreme angles on
my Baron and had no problems. It's a 26/20

Hi Harald,

Quoted message said:

The other day I was happily zipping around a corner on my Hepcat when I suddenly found myself down
on the pavement accumulating road rash. It was

a

Quoted message said:

complete surprise to me - I did not feel that I was going to fast.

So now I am wondering about my tires. I have a set of Schwalbe Marathons

<snip>

Don't know whether this might apply but if your Marathons are like the ones I had:

I have around 9200 miles on a Vision R40 SWB/USS. Most of those miles have been on Primo Comet
Racers, 32-559 (26x1.25) on the rear. These tires are slick all around (well, there is a very
fine texture when new but that wears away quickly) and have a more or less circular radius
profile down to the sidewall. After putting about 3500 miles on the first Comet I decided to try
a Schwalbe City Marathon 37-559 (26x1.4) which had a slick center but the sides had a tread
that, when leaning hard in a corner, had maybe 70% rubber contacting the road and 30%
non-contacting grooves. Also, the profile seems to be a larger radius curve toward the center
then towards the sidewalls the radius shortens.

During the first 3500 miles I got used to doing a lot of aggressive (well, for me anyway)
cornering with no problems. There is a particular curved right-turn-only lane a bit beyond the
bottom of a hill which I took many times at 18-20 MPH with no problems. After putting the City
Marathon on I took that same corner, with my usual track through it, at that same speed, and had
my first (and only, so far ;-) fall when the rear suddenly lost traction - "it was a complete
surprise to me" too! I rode that tire for another 2000 or so miles but I was always more careful
on turns. After going back to Comets I worked my way back up to trusting them and now probably
corner even more aggressively than I did before with (so far) no problems.

Of course there is a limit to how fast a given corner can be taken but I'm leery of any grooved
tread for paved road use.

Terry

Quoted message said:

So,> Does size (bigger = more contact) make a difference?

Well my wife says bigger......oh, never mind. Actually I've always felt more sure footed with my fat
tired MTB than I do on my skinny tired road bike when cornering (not to mention riding rough roads).
Considering 20" tires, I also feel more sure footed when cornering with my 1.75+" Tioga Comp pools
than my narrow Schwalbe Stevios on my RANS Tailwind or V-Rex. I don't have a scientific explanation
why, but I definitely feel the difference.

Brian

"Harald" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<tfc7b.80912$kW.51628@edtnps84>...

Quoted message said:

The other day I was happily zipping around a corner on my Hepcat when I suddenly found myself down
on the pavement accumulating road rash. It was a complete surprise to me - I did not feel that I
was going to fast.

So now I am wondering about my tires. I have a set of Schwalbe Marathons

Harald, I have the same tire on my P38. I like it, but you must realize that bents are not as
agile as an upright. On an upright you can shift your weight, extend a knee, pull on the
handlebars, etc. The main thing to do on a bent is try to keep the bike upright (perpendicular to
the pavement) as much as possible, and be extra wary of gravel and other slicks.

I had a Schwalbe for quite a while with no problems. Are you sure you didn't hit a patch of gravel?