Winter Cycling - knobby tire for front or rear?

Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.



PDA

View Full Version : knobby tire for front or rear?

Seggybop
02-10-06, 08:46 PM
I'm tired of my bike sliding out underneath me and I think I'm going to switch out one of my slick tires with a knobby I have lying around. The question is whether I should put it on the front or rear. I've heard that it's much better to have extra traction in front, but every single time I've wiped out or almost wiped out it's seemed like it's been from the rear fishtailing while the front remained straight. thoughts?

cerewa
02-12-06, 11:04 AM
For a lot of winter conditions, knobby tires are actually not going to help with traction. That said, if you have problems with rear traction, I think you should try out the knobby on the rear.
2manybikes
02-12-06, 12:50 PM
You really need two knobbies.

It's easier to contol the bike when the back slides out than when the front slides so I vote for the front if you don't use two.
Try to pedal softly, and use momentum when possible, to keep rear traction.

Roody
02-13-06, 10:49 AM
I would guess that you use the rear brake more than the front brake, and that's why the rear slides?

If so, you might want to put the knobby on the front and also get used to using the front brake more. Front brake stops you better, but like 2manybikes said, it's harder to control a front skid.