Commuting - Best tyres for rainy roads?

I'm in a monsoon-ridden country and it's the time of the year where it rains, every day, without fail, for at least 4 hours a day. I'm presently running IRC Metro 1" slicks on my MTB-turned-road bike, but beginning to think that I'm not getting enough clean traction with these tyres during this wet wet wet season.

Anyone have recommendations about what size/type tyres work best on roads and pavements which are perpetually soaked? Advice on specific brands and models would be much appreciated too...

:)

I run Panaracer T-Serv on my MTB (probably called something else in the US) Anyway its a foldable 1.25 Kevlar deal. Goes up to 80 psi so it rolls nice. Best part is that I haven't yet felt the slightest hint of slip on wet roads. I had a wall fray and blow up on me in the middle of nowhere. Panaracre sent out a replacement without seeing the bust one first then wrote a nice letter apologising and explaining that the tyre had in fact been poorly made and they would be contacting the plant that made to make sure it doesn't happen again. Despite that episode I recommend the tyre (I'm a Limey, it's how its supposed to be spelt :) )

We don't usually get monsoon rain just a succession of showers interspersed with a few days of steady rain at a time & our Winter temps tend to be in the 40s. I like Continentals & I have a set of sport 1000 on my rain commuter now because that was all I could find in 27 inch & they seem to be very similar to the ultra 2000 but I don't know if they will wear as well. Nashbar was selling Vittoria Phoenix kevlar belted tires at a steep discount & I put a set on two of my touring bikes & found they are good wet weather tires also but I don't know if they are still available. Don

What about something for barely wet roads? Those are the most slippery and dangerous. Not enough rain to wash off the dirt but just enough to make it slicker than owl crap!

There are readers who say slicks are better on all road conditions because there is more contract with the road. They make sense. Regardless of your tires, you should run them at the low end of the recommended pressure. The lower the pressure, the more contact with the road. But no matter what you do, you'll still have to go slower than you would on dry pavement.

It's too bad they don't have a tire test done for wet weather traction with the various tires; maybe the testing people think cyclist don't ride in the rain so why bother doing a test? Or maybe there is so little difference between all the tires on wet performance that it wouldn't matter?

Yeah, I'm too confused. I don't know whether having slicks or semi-tread is good for traction, dry or wet. :(

Yeah, I'm too confused. I don't know whether having slicks or semi-tread is good for traction, dry or wet. :(

All of the data I've seen on this subject shows that wet or shine, you're best off with slicks.

Now, my personal thought, is that soft-rubber slicks will do best in the wet, since they will conform more to any imperfections in the road, allowing you better traction. The downside is that they will wear out faster, so slightly harder slicks should be used in the dry months, so that you're not spending your gas-savings on tires. :-)

This will be my first wet season on my recumbent. We'll see how it goes. :)

I heard the same thing that Sean heard; it appears you gain nothing and may lose with a tread design, although Conti is "claiming" that their 4 Seasons tire is design to channel water away from the center of the tire much like a car tire...but I want to see proof of that.

Bikes really don't have any problems with hydroplaning the way cars have. Water just doen't build up under the threads. The only real considerations are road surface and it doesn't much matter what kind of tires you have if your riding on painted roads, metal hole covers, or oily surfaces. You just have to slow down and be careful in wet conditions.

Sheldon Brown solves all arguments. Here is his wisdom on hydroplaning (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tires.html#hydroplaning).

I often ride home in rain or just after rain. I had the stock 35s my 520 came with which have a raised center rib with a bit of tread cut into them. Recently replaced those with some Vitoria 28s with no tread. I've had no problems with eigther tire. I just keep an eye on the road and don't push the turns. The worst thing I've found are wet leaves. I slow down and try to run a straight line until I'm through them, or slow way down.

Not too shoot down anything that Sheldon Brown says, but he is entirely wrong about car tires not hydroplaning. There have been too many test done on this over the years to prove that car tires can and do hydroplane. When hydroplaning does occur, or at what speeds this would happen depends on the tire, but also depends on the road and whether or not there was a car in front of you that made a "path" in the water. Todays tires have come along way in preventing hydroplaning then even just 5 years ago. And it's not an issue of lower tire pressure that makes or keeps the tire from hydroplaning but it's more on the width-the wider the tire the more susceptable it is to hydroplaning. In regards to bicycle tires, now thats whole different thing, and Sheldon may be right, since the narrower the tire the less likely it is to hydroplane-again though not related to pressure. But could a bicycle tire hydroplane if it went fast enough? I kind of think it could but I could be wrong, but no one has ever tested this to prove yeh or nay, and no one rides their bike fast enough to get to that point anyway so what would be the point? You could ride the widest bicycle tire made and run it at only 25psi and still not go fast enough to get it to hydroplane. So with bicycle tires the lack of speed is the reason bicycle tires don't hydroplane, not the width or the pressure in the tires.

The biggest problem with bicycle tires in the rain is lack of grip.

Froze,

Likely you're right. I wasn't comfortable with his tire-pressure analogy WRT auto tires. The wide contact patch makes sense to me, and I've hydroplaned at 45 in a car.

Now, with bike tires, I'd still say you can't hydroplane at expected bike speeds. The contact patch is in line with the direction of travel, and the rounded tires allow the tire to cut through the water more effectively. I think PSI does play a part, since the higher PSI does reduce your contact patch.

Yes, the grip is gone in the rain. I fully expect a few cases of road rash this coming winter. :)

You don't hydroplane with bicycle tires, Sheldon Brown has some computations on his website, and I think one needs to ride at more than 120 mph to hydroplane.

However, wet pavement has less friction than dry pavement. So even though the bike tire actually contacts asphalt, there is less friction than there would be if the road were dry. That's even worst on ice or oil.

I don't know which tires are best, I only know that the IRC Tandem isn't as good as the Continental Top Touring. I also know one needs to ride more conservatively under adverse conditions.