Slick vs Semi-Slick

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mifletz

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Aug 25, 2009
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israel
How would the performance, rolling resistance, longevity, puncture resistance, ride, wet and dry road adhesion and roller grip of a 26x2.1 Continental Town and Country



compare to a totally slick 26x2 Schwalbe Kojak?

 

mifletz

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Aug 25, 2009
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israel
From what I've read, some hold that tread patterns to prevent aquaplaning are of absolutely no use at bicycle speeds, and would only be of avail above 50mph!
 
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pedro5189

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Jan 21, 2008
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England
Surely though when you corner in the wet you have greater grip with a semi than a full slick, they are proven to disipate water better, giving you greater grip. Just think about it though, it doesn't need proven maths to show positive results. Increased surface pressure though a smaller surface area will cut to the tarmac better than a wide footprint that a slick has.

Not only this but they stop as much rooster trail spraying up your rear end getting you wet because the water doesn't just leave contact at the centre of the tyre.
 

corgi1

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Aug 13, 2009
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Iwould think a straight set of groves running around the tire verses off to the side will cut through the water and corner well
The side decorations will grip in snow (and possible act as an ABS break system does ;as in,multipal contacts at each grove in cornering)
I think straight groves running around the tire as in old cruiser bikes affofr the nicest all around tire .(the more decoration groves =less rubber on the road)
 

42blue15

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Sep 18, 2008
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St Louis metro, USA
How would the performance, rolling resistance, longevity, puncture resistance, ride, wet and dry road adhesion and roller grip of a 26x2.1 Continental Town and Country compare to a totally slick 26x2 Schwalbe Kojak?
The slick is going to be best for roller grip, no contest there--as long as the tire is dry. Most other issues are not so cut and dry.

(Roller drives work poorly when wet and basically don't at all if they get wet or muddy, I hope you know.....)

For any type of on-road riding, you're probably not going to see much difference between the slick and the T&C tires. The slick will have more traction, but you may never ride in a way that the difference becomes obvious.

The slick may be more susceptible to flat tires. While the treads of a semi-knobby bicycle tire may be around 1/8" tall, slick "tread belts" are usually considerably less thick, often less than half as thick, because the thickness adds rolling resistance and most people who ride bicycles don't have engines mounted to do the pedaling work for them.

One thing can be said for certain: the ONLY vehicles that use knobby tires ALL THE TIME is motocross motorcycles, that race in loose soil and mud. You can ride an MTB off-road very well with slick tires mounted, as long as the ground is dry. Slicks are terrible in mud and snow, poor in loose soil but okay for everything else.
~
 

markeatmark

New Member
Jun 17, 2009
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jacksonville NC
Good subject slicks are great as far as rolling resistance more important is aerodynamics. If the bike is going 20MPH the top of the wheel is going 40Mph.
The thinner the tire the smaller the contact patch the more PSI pounds per square inch you can put to the road this translates into traction.
Wet and snow a very thin tire will find the asphalt sooner than a big heavy tread.
Unfortunately we have to ride on the side of the road where all the debris trash sand gravel broken glass ends up. You may be forced off the road in a emergency. This is where tread is needed

This is a 1" tire with 125spi and i have never had a traction issue. rain or snow. but ice is a different story. small patch of ice and your on the ground
 
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Sep 4, 2009
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Texas
I think one advantage to tread on tires is to spray the water to the sides instead of straight up in your face and on your pant legs. I rode the other day in Dallas with mudders on and I got a soaking and my pants were coated with road grime closae to my ankles. I had some bell comfort tires that did not do near that much splashing on me. I figure that's half the reason there's an arrow on the direction the tire mounts. I know a set of rims would be the ideal thing.
 

42blue15

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Sep 18, 2008
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St Louis metro, USA
Good subject slicks are great as far as rolling resistance more important is aerodynamics. If the bike is going 20MPH the top of the wheel is going 40Mph.
I don't know that the drag is the major thing you notice, assuming you're supplying the motive power. I've used tires as narrow as an inch on my (non-motorized) on-road bikes and as fat as the 2.3" Big Apples. The main difference is that the fat tires accelerate a lot slower, because they're so much heavier. Once you get rolling though there's really not much difference. I don't really race however, and wind drag issues increase with speed. Cruising at ~15 MPH I can't tell any difference in the wind drag of the fatter tires.

I still run the Big Apples when I will be riding on crushed gravel trails but not otherwise, because the rear 2.3" tire blocks off using the largest cog on the rear wheel. (this is on a long-wheelbase recumbent bike; most "regular" upright bikes won't have this chain-rub issue--but may have fender clearance problems, if you have fenders)

The thinner the tire the smaller the contact patch the more PSI pounds per square inch you can put to the road this translates into traction. ...
Well, no. Racing cars and motorcycles all use wider tires for better traction, not narrower tires....

This is a 1" tire with 125spi and i have never had a traction issue. rain or snow. but ice is a different story. small patch of ice and your on the ground
...but in bicycling, most people would never notice the difference in traction of a narrow and wide tire, because they never intentionally approach the traction limits of their tires.***

There's only two times when you really know that you need better traction: straight-line accelerating and while cornering. People don't have enough leg power to spin the rear wheels of bicycles in anything but mud or snow, so straight-line acceleration traction is usually not a problem. With cornering--to approach the limits of your tires' traction you basically have to enter the turn too fast and scrub off speed by drifting (two-wheel-sliding) around the turn. Bicyclists won't do that simply because they're afraid of falling, but also because speed lost is difficult to regain, so they just slow down entering the turn to where they think they won't lose any speed going around it and spare themselves the (wasted) effort.
~


***(If you watch videos of GP motorcycle racing, they commonly lean the motorcycles over 45º, and then the riders scoot off the motorcycle to the inside as well. A lot of bicyclists tend to think that they corner "about that much", but most get nowhere near that. Most casual bicyclists won't lean anywhere near that much--less than 5º during casual riding, maybe 15-20º when they're cornering "hard", and most bicycling pros will rarely ever lean the bicycle over more than 30º during a race. The reason racers won't do it is as I said--if you corner hard you slide sideways and lose speed, and in a race, losing speed costs effort. ....On good pavement and with grippy tires you certainly can lean a bicycle over 45º in a turn, but it's pretty terrifying)
 

happycheapskate

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Nov 26, 2009
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Rockwall TX
I think the mythology about abosolutely slick tires having more traction and not hydroplaning are a mfgr excuse to charge more for cheaper tires.

i'm using a mountain bike rear tire and a water tread Kenda 1.5 front tire on my MB.

The best water tread city tires i had were 1.75 Tioga "city slickers" with a very definite channel all the way around the center of the tread, and arrow shaped channels or chevrons off toward the edges. This tire didn't throw water up on my back and was great for rainy days. I gave them away when I moved, but miss them.
 

42blue15

New Member
Sep 18, 2008
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St Louis metro, USA
Who says people don't have enough power to spin the rear tire on a dry surface? Check this out.

YouTube - Crazy Burnouts On A Push Bike !!!
Yea well that's the rare exception..... ;)

Here's a entertaining thought: can anyone do a burnout on their MB by leaning over the front wheel like that? I can't, as my MB is a home-made frame that is way too long. On a normal-frame bike it should be possible.... ?
~
 

mifletz

Member
Aug 25, 2009
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israel
What possible advantage would a dense tread like this on a 26x2 confer?

DMR Transition Dual Ply Tyre | Buy Online | ChainReactionCycles.com


The manufacturer states:
"One of the important features we wanted was a tougher sidewall so we are using a double ply lay-up in the tyre carcass to stiffen up the tyre & improve impact protection. The dense tread pattern is fast rolling with a round profile that wraps bead to bead adding further protection to the sidewall."

If they're to be believed that the tyre is stronger than a regular one, and if it's suitable for a roller, I may choose it, as the roads in this part of N.Israel are still heavily pock-marked with katyusha hits from the 2006 war!
 
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corgi1

New Member
Aug 13, 2009
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Its a good water style tread and apears to keep a fairly smooth amount of rubber on the ground ,the wrap around tread sounds like it will weigh more ,but would help to protect the side wall from side hits
as far as hitting holes ,I would still avoid that.
It also looks like a tire that needs to be put on too spin in one direction as a rain type tire.