Tyres for wet weather cycling

tunguska

Hi
I usually hang out over in the A/R/T forum but im injured at the moment and so that means Im on the bike for the next week or two. I was out on the racing bike the at the weekend, cycling up in the mountains, it was lashing rain at the time. When I was decending(on road, no off road stuff)as I came around corners I felt the rear end of the bike step out from behind me. I almost went down several times so it was a bit hairy. I was just wondering are there tyres I can get that have really good grip in wet conditions? More specifically, good grip while cornering in the wet. Somebody mentioned continental four seasons to me the other day, anybody know anything about them?
Cheers

Dr_Colossus

Don't know anything about the continental four seasons but the Continental GP4000s are supposed to be a great tyre both in the wet and dry. Fairly expensive though so most seem to reserve them for summer cycling and racing.
Plenty of discussion about winter tyres in this thread
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056030803&highlight=winter+thread

Signal_ rabbit

Dr_Colossus wrote: »

Don't know anything about the continental four seasons but the Continental GP4000s are supposed to be a great tyre both in the wet and dry. Fairly expensive though so most seem to reserve them for summer cycling and racing.
Plenty of discussion about winter tyres in this thread
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056030803&highlight=winter+thread

Definitely +1. when I first got them I tried desperately to try and lose it on the corners in the wet, but to no avail. I have been running them for two years now, they tyres a little saucy (no pun intended!) but well worth it!

seve65

yup its GP4000s for me too. Cant beat a bit of hot chilli and Vectran (thats the stuff they made the airbags round the Mars Rover from I think)

mc2000

yeah definitely the GP4000S [make sure the "S" is there!] are a great tyre - well worth it - one thing you don't want is coming off on a wet corner and then it takes you ages to get your cornering nerve back [hint: DON'T BUY Michelin Lithion tyres for wet weather :eek:]

columbus_66

you might also check your tyre pressures as that affects grip as well. I find if I have 100psi or 7bar I have a lot more grip than my normal dry racing pressure of 8bar or 120psi.

Lumen

My 28mm Ultremo R1s are holding up very well considering the weight. Not a mark on them and plenty of grip.

niceonetom

Lumen wrote: »

My 28mm Ultremo R1s are holding up very well considering the weight. Not a mark on them and plenty of grip.

I had an ultremo split and delaminate underneath me yesterday, and it's not the first time that's happened to me. I think I've had three ultremos and one stelvio cut and delaminate/blowout in very similar ways over the years and that's it for me. The rubber is lovely and grippy but it's not well enough attached to the carcass.

I've had continentals cut up too, but the difference seems to be that when they do go, the carcass retains enough integrity to be boot-able (duct-tape in the saddlebag ftw) and a roadside repair will get me home. The ultremos just rupture and leave you stranded.

I fear crashes more than punctures though, so I wouldn't be the type to advocate gatorskinz or similar, but there's no substitute for rubber on the ground. I've just ordered a pair of these in 28c (should just about fit the Planet-X because continental lie about their tyre widths. They have black chilli, so that's good.

Chips Lovell

Never thougth about 28s. Significant difference in speed?

niceonetom

el tonto wrote: »

Never thougth about 28s. Significant difference in speed?

I'm slow as custard right now anyway... I have no idea what speed penalty moving to 28s will have but I've used (much heavier) 28s on my fixie before and found that, while accelerating and climbing was noticeably affected, cruising speed on the flat seemed more-or-less the same.

Conti 28s are anybody else's 26s to my eyes too.

Caroline_ie

Just got Schalbes Marathon tires in 28 for the fixie as i also train with it quite a lot in the winter ... Now I am wondering if I should have also got 28's for the road bike...

Lumen

el tonto wrote: »

Never thougth about 28s. Significant difference in speed?

Nope, they just feel fatter. They're actually 26.4mm wide, so not vastly different.

@Tom: would be good to hear how those Contis work out (incl weight and true width). I don't remember seeing 4000 in 28 when I was looking a while back.

niceonetom

Lumen wrote: »

Nope, they just feel fatter. They're actually 26.4mm wide, so not vastly different.

@Tom: would be good to hear how those Contis work out (incl weight and true width). I don't remember seeing 4000 in 28 when I was looking a while back.

No I think they only go to 25. The 4 Season GP come in 28 too and have a higher tpi and more vectran. More expensive and is doesn't say anything about balck chilli.

As to weight and width; I'm afraid I lack your obsessiveness dedication to empiricism so I don't feel a vernier calliper and precision digital scale are necessary cycling kit.

oflahero

niceonetom wrote: »

(duct-tape in the saddlebag ftw)

That reminds me, I still owe you a pint for having that one time.

niceonetom

Lumen wrote: »

@Tom: would be good to hear how those Contis work out (incl weight and true width). I don't remember seeing 4000 in 28 when I was looking a while back.

Well the update is that the 28s don't fit the fork on my Planet-X. Sccccccccccccrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaapppppppppppppe.

ARSE!

They're about the same width as my Conti sport-contact 28s (but a good deal lighter) but, crucially, they stand a mm or two prouder of the rim.

English Bob

Put grand prix four seasons on few weeks back. Went for 25mm to see what they were like as a training / commuting tyre.
These tyres are seriously good. Planning to stick with them year round to train with. Can't beat GP4000s for racing with though.

tunguska

Cheers lads, I think I'll order the continental GP4000s. Although I was on chainreaction.com and they seem to only have 700x23. Would 28s be safer?

seve65

tunguska wrote: »

Cheers lads, I think I'll order the continental GP4000s. Although I was on chainreaction.com and they seem to only have 700x23. Would 28s be safer?

they would, but personally I have had no problems with 23. They must be kept at something close to the expected psi though.

Can you get them in 28 ?

btw, ebay is cheaper, and there are some on shinybikes (never used them) for 25 sterling .

tunguska

seve65 wrote: »

they would, but personally I have had no problems with 23. They must be kept at something close to the expected psi though.

Can you get them in 28 ?

btw, ebay is cheaper, and there are some on shinybikes (never used them) for 25 sterling .

No they only had them in 23s. 100psi, would that be about right?

I ordered the 23s anyway. Cant wait now, cant believe I'm so excited over a set of tyres..........