Winter tyres

Awww, really sorry to hear
Awww, really sorry to hear that, Cantab. Pretty galling, when cycling is meant to be a fun exercise!! Glad you’ve nothing broken and, like you, I’ve no wish to rearrange my mouth in another similar road dumping! (Altho some people probably wish I would!)

Have a look at this thread:

http://road.cc/content/forum/100172-it-me-or-are-roads-super-slippy-mo

Thr’s some interesting stuff there that other riders are experiencing which makes me think that the roads are super slippy at the moment.

As I said, I’ve ridden Gatorskins for quite a few years in the winters and only come a real cropper on the snow and ice – when no road tire will save you from a tumble. But a fall does make you wary – especially if you lose skin as well confidence.

Ride happy, stay safe.

comm88 wrote:Was a massive

comm88 wrote:

Was a massive fan of Gatorskins … until I got dumped the other day!!

It wasn’t a particularly wet day. Damp, but with v little surface water and mostly dry. Hump backed bridge with keen right hander was a bit wet so I rode gingerly having had a backend slither on farmer’s mud a little earlier, but I went down heavily – and suddenly – ripping my Asos gloves (yet again!) – thank god for Goretex repair patches!! – holing my leggings and ripping my bootee & hi viz (sorry guys, I want to live!!) over jacket.

Odd. I’ve ridden Gatorskins in winter for years, but I do have to question their grip in the wet. I skinned my elbow and hip, even though I was completely covered with kit, but I’m a bit wary now of riding again in the wet, damp days of winter.

May now look seriously at something with a bit of tread…

I’m running Gatorskins too… and also stacked it at the weekend!

Similar to comm88, it wasn’t really wet, more greasy or slightly damp road. I slid out on a right hander in a village, can’t have been doing anything more than 20kph. Hip and forearm are bruised and skinned, right wrist swelled up something lovely (and cost me 2 hours in A&E to be sure I hadn’t broken something), holes in my glove, baselayer, booties and bar tape (thankfully the arm warmers and shorts seem to have survived), and cornering confidence certainly shaken. My riding partner couldn’t steer round me, so kindly chose to hit my bike not me, and went over her handlebars, luckily only acquiring a bit of road rash on one shin to show for it!

I can’t decide whether it was a peculiarity of road conditions and tyre pressures or whether the gatorskins just don’t have enough grip for winter (Only had them on for 8 months or so, and have hardly overused them so I doubt it’s wearing down of the tread).

I might take a look at these Conti 4 seasons and the Schwalbe Marathon pluses. Given one of my work colleagues rearranged his mouth in a similar accident, I don’t really want to risk doing it again!

Was a massive fan of
Was a massive fan of Gatorskins … until I got dumped the other day!!

It wasn’t a particularly wet day. Damp, but with v little surface water and mostly dry. Hump backed bridge with keen right hander was a bit wet so I rode gingerly having had a backend slither on farmer’s mud a little earlier, but I went down heavily – and suddenly – ripping my Asos gloves (yet again!) – thank god for Goretex repair patches!! – holing my leggings and ripping my bootee & hi viz (sorry guys, I want to live!!) over jacket.

Odd. I’ve ridden Gatorskins in winter for years, but I do have to question their grip in the wet. I skinned my elbow and hip, even though I was completely covered with kit, but I’m a bit wary now of riding again in the wet, damp days of winter.

May now look seriously at something with a bit of tread…

Having the same problem here
Having the same problem here with Vittoria Rubinos, first time executing a gentle U-turn when the bike went from under me and deposited me on the tarmac, second time negotiating a mini roundabout. Definitely time to change!

erh that was mean’t to be a
erh :/ that was mean’t to be a +1 for the Conti GP 4 Seasons

going slighty “leftfield”
going slighty “leftfield” here.. schwalbe marathon plus..”commuter tyres” had them on my bianchi for the last two winters in the 23mm size….a faff to get on the rims,but two years, no punctures, plenty of tread left, used on the turbo, ridden through all the crap the good lord and the dvla and cars have thrown at them. And they handle very well and roll pretty fast too..though some guys on the club runs have asked if they are cyclocross tyres…. 8|

OK I admit it I am 52 and my
OK I admit it I am 52 and my Pro wannabe days are receding a bit. But I cycle 25 miles round trip to work 4 days a week on rural roads. Last winter I started using Schwalbe Marathon Plus. They aren’t race tyres by any means but they are bloody brilliant winter tyres. I got them last January and rode them until end of April and I put them back on in mid-September. In the summer I rode the very good Conti GP 4000 s and had three. So I calculate that at about 2000 odd miles for the Schwalbes with no punctures and they still look good to go. I also like that they have a reflective white sidewall. Shows up great in headlights. I don’t think there is a massive penalty in rolling resistance but there is definitely a massive benefit in reliability and grip especially in the wet.

AWP wrote:Continental GP 4

AWP wrote:

Continental GP 4 Seasons