CX tyres on the road

Cornering semi-enthusiastically on the road this morning I fell off for no apparent reason.
I had cx nobblies on.
Is this why??

I shouldn’t think so… I put my CX tyres on when it gets a bit slippery out?

CX tyres will dig in and grip of a soft surface but on dry or wet tarmac they will offer less grip than a slick.

If it’s anything like where I live this morning, I think you might have fallen victim to localised, enviromentally generated, zero friction tempory road surface reflecting little or no light.

It could be or given the weather, ice?

Were you on a cx bike? cx bikes have a different geometry to road bikes and shouldn’t really be used on the road.

Not saying it’s the reason you fell off but….
I proper CX tyres terrible on the road, especially when cornering. They’re made for grass and muddy fields, not wet or dry tarmac. Add to that they wear down quickly, and the soft carcass mean you always risk the chance of punctures, I see no point in using them on the road.

A far better compromise are touring tyres.

I see no point in using them on the road.

You change tyres between surfaces on a ride? 😕

I see no point in using them on the road.

You change tyres between surfaces on a ride?

Isn’t that why they invented folding tyres? to make them easier to carry?

Following a full-on (for me) weekend of trail riding without an off, I managed to loose my cross bike from under me this morning at about 5mph on the way to work. I put it down to skinny slick road tyres, and wished I’d been on knoblies but we probably both got caught on black ice.

What tyres for sitting on the ground feeling like a tit?

CX bikes are fine on the road, CX tyres on the other hand are horrible squirmy things that offer little or no grip compared to a slick tyre. I put some on my tourer thinking they’d be great for the cycle path commute, they lasted a day before going in the spares bin and replaced by some cheep slicks.

On the other hand you may just have hit some ice.

cx bikes have a different geometry to road bikes and shouldn’t really be used on the road.

WTF?

WTF?

Humour, I believe/hope.

It wasn’t ice – I went back and checked.

Was riding my trusty Surly Cross check. I think I’m going to blame the nobblies…

The main thing is no-one saw me!!

WackoAK – Member
cx bikes have a different geometry to road bikes and shouldn’t really be used on the road.
WTF?

Back in ’64, I saw a CX bike explode, took four people with it. Tarmac friction. Lethal.

cx bikes have a different geometry to road bikes and shouldn’t really be used on the road.

I’m amazed I’m still alive!

You change tyres between surfaces on a ride?

That is why I said touring tyres. They are far more effective off-road than cross tyres are effective on-road. Plus I don’t get as many punctures.

For example, land cruisers if I will be doing lots of off-road. Or Marathons if my ‘off-road’ is just along tow-paths.

Yeah, common enough. Corners I would happily charge through on a road bike become sketchy lines of death on CX tyres. There’s one particular corner on my commute that I mince round because I’ve dumped it there twice now while old ladies on their slick-shod shoppers fly past me.

Here’s the one that will soak your noodle though.

Say you have a 50/50 on road/offroad commute as I do, is it better to fit slicks or knobblies?

My answer to that is most of the time, slicks are better. Faster on the road and less likely to put me on my arse and offroad, even if it’s muddy, working a bit harder will see me right. I’ve actually already got a slick on the back now with a knobblied tyre on the front just for one particular muddy corner. When it wears out I’ll put a slick on.

I really like my vittoria cross tyres offroad but they’re pish on tarmac- teeny tiny contact patches I think. I think I’d sooner ride offroad on my road tyres than do my commute in the wet on my cross tyres.

Another vote for CX tyres not being the most appropriate choice for road use – especially if you pump them up to reduce rolling resistance 😳

Crossing white lines on the road when wet is particularly fun, although nowt compared to the beloved tram tracks that we have in Sheffield.

I do enjoy the option of heading off-road* though on the commute and so I’ve stuck with them

*by off-road I mean riding the occasional road side grass verge or descending a set of small steps pre-tending I’m some kind of CX hero

Crikey, there are some specialized tyre choices here:

‘What tyres for the corner on water mill lane, 200m past the junction with smith road?’

What tyres for the corner on water mill lane, 200m past the junction with smith road?’

doesn’t every one have one of these following them around?