it always happens 100 yrds from home-a winter tyres question

[Itsallicanafford]

so...out for very nice quick 50K yesterday in a bit of winter sun around midday, temps +4...roads pretty slippy but just wet and no ice. I was slowly approaching the very last mini roundabout before home, signalling to turn right. All clear to my right and the lady to my left has stopped so i move onto the roundabout...but the lady to my left hasn't actually seen me (she must have stopped to see if the car to her left was stopping) and starts to move onto the roundabout as well, she then realises i am there and slams on the brakes, as do i and the back end breaks away and i'm down on the road in the middle of the mini roundabout still clipped in. All very low speed and with 3 layers on my arms for the cold, no damage done. I can see how she didn't see me, i had front and rear lights on and wear dayglow yellow shoes and gloves but i could have been in her blind spot and the sun was pretty bright and would have been right behind me. She was also very apologetic and concerned i was OK, which was nice....

Anyway, this is a question of tyres, i am running the same as i did during the summer so these are Continental Grand Prix 4000s II, they have done approx. 2000K. Tyre pressures were at 80Psi as i checked before setting off.

Do people swap tyres for winter road cycling? (if so, any recommendations for road use) or do people alter PSI? Apologies is these questions are obvious, new to cycling and only really cycle on my own at present so no other sources of advice.

Cheers!

[travel is dangerous]

ooo, this is a good opportunity for our own winter tyre argument.

I have to say I have never needed them and i regularly ride my carbon framed road bike in 12 inches of snow with slicks with no problem at all, i never fall off and never spin a wheel. It's all about how you press the pedals. you must just be a rubbish cyclist.

[travel is dangerous]

It's nothing to do with skill it's that a road bike is fundamentally designed for low grip conditions. It's just sensible to use the right tyres for conditions. I have had my £10,000 carbon/titatnium road bike modified so that I can fit tyres like this for the winter:



summer tyres are simply not designed to operate in cold temperatures. There is nothing wrong with using the right equipment for the job.

[neil-1323bolts]

Hi , a sensible reply here , yes it's better in my experience to swap tyres to a winter set , I use continental 4 seasons , not exactly cheap but best for the job .if it helps just a little bit to not fall off its worth ever penny in my book , other winter tyres probably work well also

[neil-1323bolts]

travel is dangerous said:

ooo, this is a good opportunity for our own winter tyre argument.

I have to say I have never needed them and i regularly ride my carbon framed road bike in 12 inches of snow with slicks with no problem at all, i never fall off and never spin a wheel. It's all about how you press the pedals. you must just be a rubbish cyclist.

Stupid reply no help at all

[TwistingMyMelon]

4 seasons 25c are my winter tyre of choice , I run 70/80psi depending on temperature.

Frame geometry, position and weight play factors as well, my heavy steel bike on cheap £8 Wiggle commuter tyres has been ace & stable on about 150 miles of thick ice and frost, whereas my light nimble cinelli winter road bike gets skittish on just damp roads! I don't even bother with my carbon Wilier from autumn onwards .

Ideally get some 28c 4seasons if your frame can accommodate them , all it takes is a split second of getting caught out!

[smn159]

neil-1323bolts said:

Stupid reply no help at all

Amusing though if you've followed the winter tyres thread elsewhere.

I thought so anyway

[neil-1323bolts]

smn159 said:

Amusing though if you've followed the winter tyres thread elsewhere.

I thought so anyway

Ah that explains it , sorry for putting in my size tens , missed that one

[travel is dangerous]

neil-1323bolts said:

smn159 said:

Amusing though if you've followed the winter tyres thread elsewhere.

I thought so anyway

Ah that explains it , sorry for putting in my size tens , missed that one

no way, you inadvertently entered into the spirit of a proper winter tyres debate, which is exactly what we need, more totally idiotic ( ) replies please.

for the record, I use cyclocross tyres (so 'mild knobbly') all year round on my commuter (occasionally take it around the pentland hills nr Edinburgh at the weekend) and they definitely provide a bit of extra security at this time of year.

[shouldbworking]

I swap to schwalbe snow stud tyres in the winter on the commuter. I don't do road cycling in the winter unless it's commuting or exceptionally dry.

[BoRED S2upid]

travel is dangerous said:

ooo, this is a good opportunity for our own winter tyre argument.

I have to say I have never needed them and i regularly ride my carbon framed road bike in 12 inches of snow with slicks with no problem at all, i never fall off and never spin a wheel. It's all about how you press the pedals. you must just be a rubbish cyclist.

You must have a bit of weight on those tyres as my carbon on summer tyres in the slightest bit of wet can spin the wheels easily.

I change to tyres with tread for winter leave the slicks well alone far too easy to loose it this time of the year.

[Gren]

The only reason I ever use different tyres is to put something with more puncture protection on in the winter - 4 seasons usually. Wet roads with plenty of crap on them just make the fairy more likely to appear.

If it's bad enough to be a bit slippery on road I just move to the knobbly tyred bouncy bike and have some fun in the (frozen) mud.

[Collaudatore]

My tuppence worth

FWIW I'm commuting on a road bike in all weathers in NE Scotland, including the recent snowy weather

The only time I had an off was with the non-folding cheapo kenda tyres the bike came with.

After a winter "off" which scared me, I bought 25mm Vredestein Senso Elemento Extremo things, which were great and grippy in comparison, but like cycling in mud.

Winter 2 - i stuck with the continental force/attack combo - real racy tyres, 22/24mm - which I'd been using for the summer sportives. I never had any problems in the winter, but it wasn't a bad winter.

This winter, (Winter 3) I put on Pirelli P Zero 4S. Again 25mm. When the first blast of snow came out, I found a quiet spot and did my damnedest to lock them up. I was pleasantly surprised how difficult that was.

My summary, I change for winter tyres. From what I have seen they seem to grip well, but I would strongly recommend not running cheapo and/or old tyres in winter. That said, Ice is ice and if you hit some at speed and unbalanced, you;re going down