How does tire tread affect water and road schmutz spray?
landotter
done to death. I'm more curious how different treads throw off water.
I took the fenders off the Kona to fit fat 38mm WTB Interwolf cross
tires so I'd hook up a bit better on the local trails. They've been
just great. No flats, great n quiet on the road--if palpably slower
due to the tread squirm. The ride and the practicality make up for it.
At any rate, I got caught in a T-storm today and took shelter at a
forgotten pavilion at my ancient local park. Found epic graffiti in
pencil (!!!) dating to 1914. Forgotten is not misused here. Waited for
the cloud to pass, and headed out on the very wet road, expecting to
get soaked shoes and flecked shins.
But no! Unlike my previously mounted IRC Tandems (heart that tire, bye
IRC), the Interwolfs have a fatter contact patch (40psi front) and
don't throw up a center dribble like road tires do. Maybe they do a
bit of a mist at speed on wet pavement--but not enough to warrant
fenders. The down tube has no major gunk on it after twenty miles, and
the seat tube cluster just has a shy dusting of schmutz.
What's up with that? I'd have thought that a switch to knobs would
have had a negative impact on dirt n water throwage.
Here's the tire:
http://www.wtb.com/products/tires/hybrid/interwolf/
Lou Holtman
My experience is the same. Slicks do spray much more than knobby's.
Especially the wider ones.
Lou
Jobst Brandt
> This isn't a tread vs no tread question for performance. That's been
> done to death. I'm more curious how different treads throw off
> water.
The smoother the drier the tire tread is.
> I took the fenders off the Kona to fit fat 38mm WTB Interwolf cross
> tires so I'd hook up a bit better on the local trails. They've been
> just great. No flats, great n quiet on the road--if palpably slower
> due to the tread squirm. The ride and the practicality make up for
> it.
Traditional tread patterns throw (carry) more water than slicks.
> At any rate, I got caught in a T-storm today and took shelter at a
> forgotten pavilion at my ancient local park. Found epic graffiti in
> pencil (!!!) dating to 1914. Forgotten is not misused here. Waited for
> the cloud to pass, and headed out on the very wet road, expecting to
> get soaked shoes and flecked shins.
... and dirty bicycle.
> But no! Unlike my previously mounted IRC Tandems (heart that tire,
> bye IRC), the Interwolfs have a fatter contact patch (40psi front)
> and don't throw up a center dribble like road tires do. Maybe they
> do a bit of a mist at speed on wet pavement--but not enough to
> warrant fenders. The down tube has no major gunk on it after twenty
> miles, and the seat tube cluster just has a shy dusting of schmutz.
> What's up with that? I'd have thought that a switch to knobs would
> have had a negative impact on dirt n water throwage.
> Here's the tire:
http://www.wtb.com/products/tires/hybrid/interwolf/
That depends on how deep the road water is. My experience with common
bicycle road treads is that they throw more water than slicks.
Jobst Brandt
landotter
Wider slicks throw more, you mean? Funny--I'd been eying some Schwalbe
Kojaks in 35mm before I decided that I wanted off road capability.
I'm still amazed by the lack of spray. I had some Dutch style
throwover bags on the rear rack, as I needed to hit the grocery on the
way home--and they were barely moistened as well.
This is all a mild revelation to me--as I was trying to dial this bike
in to be a backroads adventure machine, but also civilized in the
city. I was loath to rid myself of fenders--but they're quite dumb on
the trail. Looks like they're redundant. Nice.
Andre Jute
Width of tyre of course also has in influence. I was so taken with the
little water that my Schwalbe Marathon Plus (and equivalent Bontrager
tyres) threw on my previous bikes, I ordered my Utopia Kranich with
the more dashing-appearing short version of the SKS P65 fenders. But
the Schwalbe's Big Apple Liteskins throw more water. The Marathon and
like are around 37mm wide, the Liteskins 60mm, neither with more than
a suggestion of tread. Since I'm not big on cleaning and polishing my
bikes, nor on wet toes, I'm in the process of making leather mudflaps
to match my luggage and frame protectors.
Andre Jute
"The brain of an engineer is a delicate instrument which must be
protected against the unevenness of the ground." -- Wifredo-Pelayo
Ricart Medina
Lou Holtman
I have the Kojaks on one of my bikes:
http://picasaweb.google.nl/LoetjeH/Misc#5336793883081138898
It is unbelievable how much water they throw up on a smooth road
surface. I was once caught in a downpour wearing my GoreTex wintershoes
and I had forgot to clip on my fenders. Once my cycling trousers were
soaked I had to stop every 10 km to pour the water out of my shoes.
> I'm still amazed by the lack of spray. I had some Dutch style
> throwover bags on the rear rack, as I needed to hit the grocery on the
> way home--and they were barely moistened as well.
Yep the same I get when riding my ATB's on wet tarmac. Hardly any spray.
>
> This is all a mild revelation to me--as I was trying to dial this bike
> in to be a backroads adventure machine, but also civilized in the
> city. I was loath to rid myself of fenders--but they're quite dumb on
> the trail. Looks like they're redundant. Nice.
Bonus heh...
Lou
pm
My experience on the commuter is that stock 35mm Nokian cross tires
soaked me, slickish 25mm Michelin Dynamics soaked a lot less and 32mm
Paselas were up there with the knobbies -- the little microtexture and
grooves is as bad or worse than knobs for for adhering water.
Your IRC tandems had grooved tread, like so?
http://www.irctire.com/tires/tandem.html
Seems plausible that grooves can catch water and not let go until it's
carried a fair way up.
-pm
landotter
> This isn't a tread vs no tread question for performance. That's been
> done to death. I'm more curious how different treads throw off water.
>
This thread is now the top search for "bicycle tire spray". Yikes!
I'm still a bit taken aback by how different these tires are in the
rain compared to slicks or semi slicks. Can't wait for some more wet
roads so I can check out the effect again.
You'd think that tire makers would advertise rain dispersion
effectiveness, especially a cross model such as this, which is
marketed also as a "crossover urban" tire.
I no longer have a fendered bike. Feels very strange.
datakoll
tires ?
the SHOVEL EFFECT ?
What surface has more shovel area ? slicks, knobs, or tread and
groove ?
what does an racing rain tire look like ?
this tire has more adhesion caws it throws water into the air ?
or caws the water is pressed out from under the tread whatever into
sipes and grooves where it drains to the side or backwards ?
get a buddy ride alongside for a looksee.