I tend to panic on wet roads when decending with my current Bonty x lite road tyres and I am wonder if getting something like the Conti 4 season tyre would offer any noticeable benefit. Or would i be better putting some Cyclocross tyres on instead? I was thinking of getting some 25 or 28mm contis.
Its for my commute which is on rural backroads.
I may need to mtfu! Or take a skills course!

I’ve recently ditched the bontrager tyres from my Portland and replaced with Gp4 season tyres. They’re light years better.
Generally for All round road riding I’ve been very happy with Vredestein Fortezza which might be of interest.

Not cyclocross tyres – they’re great off road, but not so great on road.

If you’re really worried, then Conti 4 season, otherwise, Continental GP4000S tyres have lots of grip, and are lovely and light and fast.

Those Bontrager tyres are suicidal in the wet – wet leaves are particularly bad. I think they’re probably designed somewhere where it doesn’t rain. I got rid of mine after a few near misses and one sliding down a road experience. Just not safe for winter use (or wet summer days).

Joe

GP4S for me – love them – only doesn’t grip on black ice 🙂

Ive got spikes for the ice! 😮
Take this morning, Downhill in to a blind left, Bit to quick, brake, brake, Slide. Truth is i wasnt going quickly but they slide so easily on the rear brake and the front brake scares me in the wet so i treat it carefuly.
So will the 28mm behave better than 23mm in the wet or shall i go middle with the 25mm version?

I’d go with 25 – happy medium of you want a fatter tyre. I have not fallen off commuting to work on my GP4S 23c in the wet in the last year I have the tyres on. They are wearing very well having done quite a lot of roady riding compared with MTB’ing. Obviously not tanking on the corners commuting but have pushed it at the weekends. Also try leaning the bike not your body and you’ll get more grip.

Those Bontrager tyres are suicidal in the wet – wet leaves are particularly bad

No tyres grip on wet leaves.

Downhill in to a blind left, Bit to quick, brake, brake, Slide

Not being funny but braking in a wet corner, will any tyre perform better?

I don’t know the tyre but I wonder if folk are being realistic?

Truth is i wasnt going quickly but they slide so easily on the rear brake and the front brake scares me in the wet so i treat it carefuly.

No tyre is going to help you if you’re braking with the rear. Don’t ride a road bike like you ride a MTB. You’ve got to use the front heavily and only lightly use the rear. If it’s steep there’s no weight on the rear so it’s going to spin out regardless of what tyre you use. brake (on the front, in your drops) before your corner, plan your escape, lean it over, look at your exit, pedal out….simples.

Don’t take my word for it though, have a look here

For what it’s worth whilst I was cornering like a biginner too I found the performance of Bonty’s to be far superior to that of Conti 4000’s.

I don’t know if they’ve changed the compound, but I found conti 4 seasons absolutely lethal in the wet (this was ~5 years ago). El cheapo vitt rubinos were secure and surefooted in comparison.

Anything with soft shoulders is great, I don’t bother with ‘winter tyres’ anymore, 23c’s cut through water just fine, any ‘tread’ is just marketing. FWIW I cycled to work in ice and snow on 23c vittoria rubinos – in fact I was doing better on the frozen centre/margin than many cars were … ok it was super dodgy, but I lived …

Im not actually breaking in the corner but on the straight before it so i can be off the breaks in the bend. I prob dont use the front enough when its wet but I do use it. I have a fear of the front washing out, but in a straight line its prob not likely is it?

Vittoria Rubinos (cheap)

For a bit more cash, my winter (and year round commuter favourites): Vittoria Pavés. Designed for racing on wet cobbles, they’ll do just fine for commuting through the greasy, broken lanes of Cheshire.

Before I got the Bontrager road bike tyres, I’d ridden tens of thousands of miles on road bikes on Continental tyres on my old bike (mainly Top Touring, as it was a funny wheel size), since I got rid of the tyres (and got Continental GP4000S), I’ve ridden another 8,000 or so miles. All that time I’d never had a slide except on ice. Whereas in the 800 miles or so that I rode with the Bontrager tyres, I had multiple dangerous moments, they just don’t feel safe.

For what it’s worth whilst I was cornering like a biginner too I found the performance of Bonty’s to be far superior to that of Conti 4000’s.

And I do brake with the front, and do lean the bike. I’ve braked happily from 50mph to pretty much an emergency stop on other tyres without going over the bars or skidding (unexpected stuff on the road moment on a big descent in New Zealand). Those Bontrager tyres are fine in the dry, but in the wet they are a liability. I’d guess people who post patronising comments like the above, are probably people who never ride their road bike if it rains.

Joe

I don’t know about braking because I’m a wuss on a road bike but my CX tyres wheelspin on wet smooth tarmac climbs much easier than slicks.

I think you need to relax a bit, I think it’s pretty tough (i.e. near impossible) to lock up/wash out the front wheel in a straight line, even in the wet, unless there’s dirt/gravel about.

GP4 seasons (as long as they are black chilli compound, not sure if there are different version) are pretty good in the wet although personally I prefer Schwalbe Ultremos. That said no tyre is going to be particularly good as ultimately there’s a tiny contact patch on a slippery surface. 28mm would give better grip than 25mm but a lot of frames won’t take 28mm. A lot of people change from 23mm to 25mm for winter tyres (personally I stick with 23mm though).

I’d guess people who post patronising comments like the above, are probably people who never ride their road bike if it rains

Sorry, you misunderstood me. I rate Conti’s far higher than Bonty’s when used properly. Bonty’s suit a naive riding style.

As for how much I ride? 1176km’s (South Wales) in that last 30 days, you?

Just trying to be helpful, not patronising.

big fan of Paves, but they are too expensive.
I race on Diamant Pros, but for alround vey goodness I like Fortezas, now my choice winter tyre.

Just to be contradictory, I actually think there are lots of things about mtb technique which are indispensible for road riding – esp. braking and low grip situations.

If you brake a road bike just sitting down, all the force rolls to the front of the bike and you get the classic quandry described above – no weight on the back wheel and very nervous to use the front brake – but if you do as with off-road, and put your weight on your feet and not your bum and hands, then you can drive both tyres and not just the front. All about not letting your weight roll to the front of the bike, but keeping it in the middle and low down (in other words, ride on your feet).

And as for the low grip nervousness – again, some mtb lessons transfer really well. If slippy roads make you look down you start a really unhelpful self fulfilling chain of events – you get tense, start to over-inspect the surface, then you unconsciously make lots of little reaction movements, which gives you “slippy” feedback, which makes you do it more… and so-on. So – just like mtb, keeping your eyes ahead and not down helps massively.

Having said that, new tyres are a confidence booster too. Slightly larger, slightly less pressure in the winter.

but if you do as with off-road, and put your weight on your feet and not your bum and hands, then you can drive both tyres and not just the front.

Eh? You can’t change the laws of physics (those ones that make your weight transfer to the front wheel irrespective of whether it’s rested on you bum or pedals)

Al – You can move back, plus you can make sure that the weight goes down to the bottom bracket, rather then pushing across the top of the bike. You will still get transfer, but you can control where the force goes, just the same as riding off-road.

i.e. “bracing yourself”? Yep it helps a bit.

I wouldn’t call it that, because that sounds stiff and rigid. Really, the main point is not to let your weight roll over the top of the bike – not to be passive.

Only a real noob would do that though, Shirley.

Ok, Skills aside. would the best decenders have more confidence using an all season tyre over a regular road tyre in the wet? And would a thicker road tyre give even more grip on the road?

Noobs – In my experience a hell of a lot of very experienced road riders have had a moment of realisation when they have done a session on mtb braking. Just the same as mtb, do not sit down!

As for the tyres question – I like a 25mm tyre, mainly because the back roads round me are just covered in little sticks and stones and crap – a little bit more volume means fewer punctures and you can run a bit less pressure which is good for grip and confidence. Confidence actually gives you grip, because it stops you being tense.

Just a good quality all round race tyre will do fine job. Winter wet never feels as slippery as Summer wet conditions.

Just the same as mtb, do not sit down

**** me; it’s not. really, it’s not.

You can move back

That helps, particularly on a dry road where you’ll do a stoppie long before the front wheel skids.

plus you can make sure that the weight goes down to the bottom bracket, rather then pushing across the top of the bike.

This doesn’t make any difference at all. What matters is where your mass is.

Good tyres are good tyres on a road bike, and good race tyres pumped to the right pressure will grip better than any cheap ‘winter’ tyre…

GP4000s all year round – 23mm – stand up well to the gritty + rough winter roads of Herefordshire.
Big mistake is too much pressure in tyres esp in wet/winter conditions.
100psi for dry.
90-95psi if you know it’s going to be wet.

seanoc – Member
[list] Just the same as mtb, do not sit down[/list]
**** me; it’s not. really, it’s not.

Totally agree with you there seanoc.

i run GP4000s regardless on the roadie, 23mm mostly because they’re all i have.

I do find pressure make alot of difference, i think alot of road riders run their tyres far too hard, i never really venture over 100psi.

Meanwhile, I run a minimum of 120psi and ride all winter, rain, hail, ice, mud, leaves, diesel, you name it. Around 100psi and most 23c’s go all wallowy IME.

I the wet the back will fishtail a bit, just ride the fork.

I rate Conti’s far higher than Bonty’s when used properly. Bonty’s suit a naive riding style.

That’s brilliant 🙂 I’ll have to remember that one…

I was going to ask “what tyres for a naive riding style”, don’t need to now!

I don’t know if they’ve changed the compound, but I found conti 4 seasons absolutely lethal in the wet (this was ~5 years ago).

+1, I’m sure the Black Chilli compound is better, the old ones were dangerous.

I’ve got a Hutchinson Intensive ‘winter tyre’ on my Power Tap wheel, and it’s utter toss, spins out in the dry while climbing. IME most winter tyres are rock solid with **** all grip, much sooner have a decent race tyre through winter, Fusion 3s work well.