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To stay away from people the other half and I were walking a lovely bit of the North Downs near Rochester today. An absolute mudfest but I was slightly jealous to see/heartened by recent tyre tracks.... and lots of them.
Before I know it I'm speculating on the tyre brand and trying to imbue a sense of excitement into my partner. I found it genuinely fascinating to look at the tyre choices being used.
Please, please tell me I'm not the only sad sod that does this?
Thank God, I thought I was alone!
Spotted an ardent out in the wild today, madness.
Perfectly normal behaviour, carry on.
Doesn’t everyone?!
I once went for a ride in the Pentlands, saw a tyre print, and guessed correctly who it was- bumped into him later on. "Crossmarks? In this day and age? It'll be Dave, or a Woozle."
Are you kidding? Surely everyone looks at the tracks in the mud and goes ‘Hmm... a DHR and a Shorty? Surely that must be Jimbob? That should mean I’ll see Mark’s Magic Mary close by... ahh, here it is!’
Or ‘A Chronicle 2.8? Pesky e-bikers’ or ‘I see Rob’s been out on his gravel bike again, he’ll never learn...’
no? Just me then... 😊
Yup. Was doing it on a dog walk today. Felt a bit jealous if I'm honest.
I don't even know what tyres i have on my bike let alone recognise the patterns in mud!
Definitely not alone! I have been guessing at bike tyre marks since at least the early ‘90’s.
Woop! I'm not a freak!
Nope. Whilst I know what tyres are on my bikes, I have no interest in their leavings let alone those of others. Now, Number plates is another matter.
Another "I thought I was the only weirdo who did this" here. Glad I'm not alone!
I passed what are I think some Richey Alpine today.
Quite pleased to see something 'unusual' and had to Google it back home.
It's normal behaviour, no?
Traxidermy.
Steve Behr, I think.
matt_outandabout
Full Member
I passed what are I think some Richey Alpine today.
Blimey, you just made it competitive!
Not sure I've seen /recognised one of those in the wild.
Yeah, used to do that back in the day when I was a mountain biker and au fait with tyres. Now it’s fell shoes up on the moor. Hmm, Walshes in a size 10? I wonder who that is...
Not sure I’ve seen /recognised one of those in the wild.
I didn't, I just knew Richey do some odd inverted tread things...
Do it all the time 😊
It's been particularly fun the last few months with all the new cyclists on old bikes they've had in the shed for decades exploring. Spotted a Smoke/Dart combo twice now and even one WTB Velociraptor!
I do sometimes catch myself muttering stuff like 'Crossmark? In this mud?' or 'That's a particularly worn out XYZ, need to change it!'.
I am a bike nerd 🤓
😂😂😂 That's made me smile OP you sad get, and yes I look out for tyre marks when out walking on countryside tracks for cheeky trails 👍
Smokes n Darts is a worthy shout, arguably a soupcon above Conti Verti Pros, Wildgrippers or Onza Porcupines.
I lament selling my Tricross and Crossroad combo with my '86 Rockhopper. Could have drawn spotters in from miles away with such rarity.
I have noticed some Surly fat bike tyres like the Nate leave quite recognisable patterns. Also older Continentals like Mountain Kings with the small triangular knobs.
The smoke/dart tread pattern's still used on some cheap no-name tyres, my brother's cheapy mtb had a set. So that could be a trick.
i’ve been doing this for over 30 years. it’s frustrating when i see a pattern that i can’t place, but then the joy when i realize that it’s actually 2 treads overlaid and that i’m not out of touch with tyre treads. this happened just this afternoon.
Of course! Doesn't everyone do this. I used to do it so much in the 90s that I got the t-shirt:
Ha, I never knew this was a thing! Bonkers. Carry on.
Haha, yep all the time...
Guilty as charged. Someone has been whizzing around on G-Ones on the local Rec!
I once tracked my mates down by following tioga pyscho and onza porcupine tyre tracks, pre mobile phone days.
Yes I do. Also I like to see if I can identify my own tracks from recent previous rides.
Standard.
My most-responded posts on Insta are when I get a new tyre and ask people to name it from the tread.
Even the obscure ones tend to be guessed correctly within about five mins.
Back in the day (early 90's) I used to see which of my mates had been riding that day by the tyre tracks as there weren't that many of us MTB'rs around.
It's quite a transferable skill.
There are so many dog-eggs on the pavements round our way I try to identify the dog-breed from the style of dog-egg that has been laid.
I do it all the time. But I'm pretty terrible at it. Unless it's a 1990 Specialized Ground Control, I'm clueless. Except I did spot the admittedly very distinctive tracks of a Panaracer Gravel King SK yesterday on the North Downs Way.
I try i'm just not very good at it
Now, Number plates is another matter.
Agreed. My subconscious does it in the background. Quite often I'll be driving along and get a delayed report that the car driving the other way was XXX from school or someone else.
My tracking skills are stuck in the mid noughties as I think I can only recognise maxxis tyres: minions, high rollers and wet screams. I think cos they were the tyre of choice on uplift trailers 10-15 years
Don't know anything about these new fangled schwalbe tyres
Yes. /skulksoffintothebushesagain
I do try but tractor tyres are more my speciality used to get very exited about a Kleber back in the late 70's
I try and do this but I only know about 4 tyres. It does make it quite exciting when I do see & recognise something though. It's like a rare treat.
Welshfarmer, I kept hoping that the tyres on our Ford 5000 would wear out so we could put some of those Klebers on it.
On my trails it was pretty easy to tell what tyres and who was riding from 1985 upto about 2010, but then the proliferation of riders from then on stopped that, now it's just down to what tyre and bloody hell haven't seen that one before.
Anyone else get a little frisson when they see a DHF, High Roller or some other "posh" tyre tread mark on a local bit of footpath while walking the dog?
I had someone ask to see the tread pattern on my boots once. They had found some rubbish on the hill and were determined to return it to the culprit as they had deduced from the sole marks around the area this person must be wearing such and such a brand. Luckily I was removed from their wanted list on inspection of my tread pattern. I would have enjoyed being there if they had caught up with someone with the tread pattern in question but were entirely innocent to see what the result was. Kept me amused for a hours thinking on that meeting.
Not tyre brands (I'm too new for this), but I sessioned a bit of track yesterday and as I was climbing I was trying to find my previous tracks in the mud..
I thought everyone did this.
Although I draw the line at looking for scat and sniffing it to see how long it has been since the 'Lesser Spotted Kenda Nevegal' passed by.
I do it all the time. But I’m pretty terrible at it. Unless it’s a 1990 Specialized Ground Control, I’m clueless. Except I did spot the admittedly very distinctive tracks of a Panaracer Gravel King SK yesterday on the North Downs Way.
Ooh! You didn't spot the tracks up near Bluebell Hill did you?!
I do this, the other thing I do when out walking is scope lines as if I were riding. My wife regularly says "you're working out if it's rideable aren't you?"