Kenda Vs Schwalbe

Harrybelafonte

Considering it's starting to get slippy again, or at least the manhole covers are I was wondering which tyres I'm better off using, the Kenda Kriterium that came on the bike or the Schwalbe Blizzard Masters I also have?

blorg

Only one way to find out!

Chips Lovell

blorg wrote: »

Only one way to find out!

Get Boards' resident crash test dummy to do some crazy ass cornering in the rain on different sets of tyres?

Harrybelafonte

Meh, I'll but the Blizzards on next week or so. Look like they have better grips anyway, the Kenda's are smooth

Lumen

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

Meh, I'll but the Blizzards on next week or so. Look like they have better grips anyway, the Kenda's are smooth

Tread doesn't give you more grip.

Harrybelafonte

No but surely it'll cut through water better??

blorg

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

No but surely it'll cut through water better??

No

Canis Lupus

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

No but surely it'll cut through water better??

Irrelevant on a bike.

Harrybelafonte

Can someone explain then? Why bother having threads at all then?

Lumen

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

Can someone explain then? Why bother having treads at all then?

Marketing.

Harrybelafonte

"scratch that, read more of the Sheldon site"

Jumpy

Lumen wrote: »

Marketing.

So me being ultra careful during the SK was pointless? When I slipped it was on wet metal, but I was being verrrrry careful on wet road surfaces because my gatorskins are really smooth.

Lumen

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

But in the case of a slippery surface surely threads come into play? I.e. rear wheel slipped on a man hole cover yesterday nearly throwing me. Not something that ever happened when I had beefier threaded tyres on?

On slippery surfaces you want lower tyre pressure. Wider (beefier) tyres are often used with lower tyre pressures, and coincidentally often come with treads (for marketing reasons, because people expect to see them). But it's the pressure that matters (and the rubber compound, and other stuff), not the tread pattern.

and threads in a tyre are something completely different

experiMental

You should base your choice on grip, and other performance factors, rather than the brand.

I'm using Schwalbe Blizzard Masters, it does its job quite well, although TBH I haven't seen much of a difference between it and the previous brand I had.

blorg

Harrybelafonte wrote:

But in the case of a slippery surface surely threads come into play? I.e. rear wheel slipped on a man hole cover yesterday nearly throwing me. Not something that ever happened when I had beefier threaded tyres on?

The beefier does help (wider tyres=more rubber in contact with the road) but not the tread. Tread does help off-road.

DirkVoodoo

If you are cycling on soft ground, which is normally only in mountain biking or cross, then a tread pattern will "bite" into the mud. Unfortunately this doesn't work on tarmac. I think people then make the jump in logic that grippier mountain bike tyres will provide more grip on the road than treadless road tyres.

Like Lumen says, it's a matter of rubber compound and tyre width.

Also, cornering technique helps.

blorg

Jumpy wrote: »

So me being ultra careful during the SK was pointless? When I slipped it was on wet metal, but I was being verrrrry careful on wet road surfaces because my gatorskins are really smooth.

It is worth being more careful during wet conditions but non-smooth tyres will not give you any benefit... Having said that Gatorskins are not the grippiest tyre in the world, not the worst either but a proper race tyre is a fair bit grippier.

Lumen

blorg wrote: »

The beefier does help (wider tyres=more rubber in contact with the road) but not the tread. Tread does help off-road.

Talking of beefier, I've sometimes wondered how cattle manage to stay upright on slippery country roads, given the fairly small contact patches that must support their considerable weight.

Fortunately there are people worrying about this for me.

Harrybelafonte

Thank you people, all clear now. Unfortunately I was reading the piece in Sheldon's site while you were all writing. So am on straight and narrow now.

Chips Lovell

Lumen wrote: »

Talking of beefier, I've sometimes wondered how cattle manage to stay upright on slippery country roads, given the fairly small contact patches that must support their considerable weight.

Fortunately there are people worrying about this for me.

You've obviously never worked with cattle.

But I do admire your ability to drag up the most obscure research.

Canis Lupus

el tonto wrote: »

You've obviously never worked with cattle.

But I do admire your ability to drag up the most obscure research.

Let bullocks rip in a small area after keeping them in for the winter and it's a ****ing disco.

Harrybelafonte

Just a quick note in case anyone is interested. I'm one of those people who likes to skid around etc. Did a mssive one on Thursday and it ripped the bollo x out of the Blizzards. Never had a problem with the Kendas. Just saying..

briano

I had a pair of Kenda Kriteriums on my bike when I got it, Ended up changing them off it as I was getting a puncture every few days. I think even Kenda have admitted that they tend to "attract road debris"