Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Thoughts on the Freedom Thickslicks.

Going to be upfront with this. Initially when I first got them last month they were great. Today I found that the front tire has developed bulges in two spots. One on the tread surface, the other on the sidewall. When I have a tire go bad on me, it's almost always the rear tire. So having it be the front took me by surprise, removed them from the bike they were on and threw on a GrandPrix 4000 on the front and a grandprix 4 seasons on the back.

I would say stick to gatorskins, armadillos, pasela tourguards Vittoria Randoneurs. The thickslicks really are not worth the $$$ afterall in my opinion.

One bad tire does not a pattern make. Anyone else had issues with them?

Mine worked fine...just a question though, what model did you have? and how long did you run them?

Hmm maybe give them a second chance? Sounds like a factory flop.... have you tried to explain what happened to whoever makes thickslicks for a replacement?

iirc I read another bfssfg guy complain about these tires too. I was really hoping these would be good tires :/

Probably should have waited for the reformulated Urban Elite model. Mine are amazingly tough.

Off topic, but I remember seeing somewhere online that sold Thickslicks for $18 or something like that... Does anyone know this site?

The internet, how the **** does it work?

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=google#sclient=psy&hl=en&safe=off&tbs=p_ord:p&tbm=shop&source=hp&q=freedom+thick+slick&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=3fefd58a5338adeb&biw=1278&bih=618

http://www.ebikestop.com/freedom_sport_thickslick_700x25c_tire-TR1023.php

The internet, how the **** does it work?

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=google#sclient=psy&hl=en&safe=off&tbs=p_ord:p&tbm=shop&source=hp&q=freedom+thick+slick&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=3fefd58a5338adeb&biw=1278&bih=618

http://www.ebikestop.com/freedom_sport_thickslick_700x25c_tire-TR1023.php

u were used boi

I feel dirty, like damaged goods:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt32dARKqGs

The internet, how the **** does it work?

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=google#sclient=psy&hl=en&safe=off&tbs=p_ord:p&tbm=shop&source=hp&q=freedom+thick+slick&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=3fefd58a5338adeb&biw=1278&bih=618

http://www.ebikestop.com/freedom_sport_thickslick_700x25c_tire-TR1023.php

I looked, but I couldn't find it. I didn't think to use Google Shopping. I don't see why people get like this over helping someone out who can't find the answer.. isn't that what is forum is for?

But thanks for the links, I appreciate it.

If you do buy these, make sure to get the Urban Elites. You'll thank me.

If you do buy these, make sure to get the Urban Elites. You'll thank me.

damn the elite urbans cost 17 bucks more, may i ask what's so much better about them, or if this tire is even worth $30 (and shipping)

480g for the Urban Elite model!!!

I would just get randonneurs if I wanted something bombproof and cheap.

damn the elite urbans cost 17 bucks more, may i ask what's so much better about them, or if this tire is even worth $30 (and shipping)

The sidewalls are reinforced, preventing what happened to Dannihilator's. I can see mine lasting a long time. I was skidding like crazy yesterday just for the hell of it and there aren't even any visible marks on my rear tire. Also, I think you may need to shop around more:

http://www.treefortbikes.com/product/333222371029/1/Freedom-Elite-Urban-ThickSlick.html


I would just get randonneurs if I wanted something bombproof and cheap.

I kinda hate Randos. Sure, they're tough as Hell on steroids but I find them to be pretty sluggish, even when over the recommended psi.

Excuse me for asking, but will these work with schrader valve tubes? And what PSI do they go up to?

Whether or not a Schrader valve will work depends on the rim, not the tire. If you've got rims drilled for Schraders, you'll have no trouble.

25s are rated for 65-110 psi and 28s are 65-100 (but I've got about 120 in my rear 28).

I see. What's the difference between the 25s and the 28s? Are they different width or different thickness?

i have a thickslick, albeit i think one of the cheaper models. i have allot of tires. like, allot just hanging around that i dont use lol anywho....

the first time i tried this thickslick i threw it on the back of my road bike. and tried it for the first time in rainy conditions. i thought slicks were supposed to be more grippy but my back tire skidded a touch on tighter turns, did it a handful of times. i took it off and put a fyxation 700x23c on the back instead. IMO just from personal experience, fyxations have excellent grip, and feel solid in tight turns. they have wrap around tread but i think whatever material they use just seems/feels grippier.

anywho im giving the thickslick a second chance on the front now that its getting hotter/sunnier. perhaps they just need to be worn in or something i dunno

slicks are definitely grippy, but they are not to be used in wet conditions as there are no threads.

well i guess that makes sense lol

I see. What's the difference between the 25s and the 28s? Are they different width or different thickness?

Both.

slicks are definitely grippy, but they are not to be used in wet conditions as there are no threads.

Not exactly true.


People ask, "But don't slick tires get slippery on wet roads, or worse yet, wet metal features such as expansion joints, paint stripes, or railroad tracks?" The answer is, yes, they do. So do tires with tread. All tires are slippery in these conditions. Tread features make no improvement in this.

-sheldon (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tires.html#tread)

is it complete and utter blasphemy to disagree with one point made by the great sheldon brown? im not going off of fancy physics, just personal experience....2 slick tires ive ridden didn't seem that grippy on concrete roads, especially in wet conditions, while more treaded tires ive ridden (like the fyxations with tread on the walls) seemed much more grippy, especially in turns in wet condtions.

perhaps both tire and road material has some factor on tire grip. people say slicks have more grip since there is more surface contact but i would think a treaded tire with grippier tire material would be more grippy than a slick with more slippery material....

the cheapo thickslick i bought has a material that definitely feels more slick while the fyxation i have feels much more....tacky i guess. i dunno

my point was based off of personal experience and extensive research from when i use to do track days (motorcycle / cars) racing. slicks usually come with softer rubber compound and provides better grip due to full contact patch vs a treaded tires. think of treaded tires like nubs on mtb tires, it is suppose to disperse water when riding over wet surface. i dont know how different this applies to bicycle tires, but id assume the concept is the same.

slick tires should be pretty sticky once broken in. then again, it depends on how soft the rubber is and the condition of the weather. soft rubbers will become hard in cold condition and softer in warm/hot condition. thats why there is a difference between winter and summer tires.

obviously in wet/loose surface, any tires will not perform at 100%.

aw thats probably why my thickslick was pretty slippery at first...maybe it just hadn't had the time to break in + it being cold/wet out.

but is this thought that no-tread slicks are better than treaded tires based on them being used on very flat, perfect asphalt or whatever race tracks are made of? what about less than perfect roads that are permeated with lots of cracks/tiny rocks/etc that treads would grab onto more....

im just speculating.

For any smooth flat surfaces, there is no real need for any tread pattern. When you start getting really rocky, as in mountain biking, you'll start to need tires with more tread for better grip on the loose rocks and dirt. If you're roads are generally really rough then yeah you might notice a difference between the slicks and the treaded tires. But what you're probably noticing is more of the difference in construction, material compound and weight between the tires.

Obviously if you prefer the treaded over slicks, then by all means go for it. Riding is all about personal comfort and what works for one person isn't going to be the best for another. Just from a physics view, on a flat surface such as a road, the tread on a bike tire won't give you any advantages over a slick in almost any condition.

perhaps both tire and road material has some factor on tire grip. people say slicks have more grip since there is more surface contact but i would think a treaded tire with grippier tire material would be more grippy than a slick with more slippery material....

the cheapo thickslick i bought has a material that definitely feels more slick while the fyxation i have feels much more....tacky i guess. i dunno

It is definitely more than just tread that affects traction, it's a function of how sticky/grippy the rubber is. If you had a slick that was made with the same rubber the fyxations are, you'd probably find the thickslick grippier in corners.


think of treaded tires like nubs on mtb tires, it is suppose to disperse water when riding over wet surface. i dont know how different this applies to bicycle tires, but id assume the concept is the same.
Water dispersion isn't really an issue for bicycle tires, the pressure of the tire on the road is much greater for bicycles than it is for cars because the contact area is so small. I think sheldon says that to hydroplane on a bike you'd have to be doing something like 200mph. MTB tires are knobby so that the nubs can penetrate loosely packed material to gain a hold, not to disperse water.

FWIW, I find my Krylion Carbons way more grippier than my Gatorskin in the wet.

I think a lot of it has to do with the rubber compound and thread count but not so much tread patterns (or lack thereof).

EDIT:Beaten by 5 minutes...i type too slow bro

Water dispersion isn't really an issue for bicycle tires, the pressure of the tire on the road is much greater for bicycles than it is for cars because the contact area is so small. I think sheldon says that to hydroplane on a bike you'd have to be doing something like 200mph. MTB tires are knobby so that the nubs can penetrate loosely packed material to gain a hold, not to disperse water.

Not that I'm disagreeing. But I don't understand the tendency to take everything Sheldon ever said as gospel. He was not a scientist, and I think sometimes was just saying whatever random **** he happened to believe. Take the whole "it's near impossible to cut through a rim because of the force of the spokes, pinching the blade". I'm sure by now we've all seen the video of the guy cutting through a rim and tire with ease. Sheldon probably had no empirical reason to believe what he said, it just made sense to him.

Also, if the pressure on the road of a bike tire is so much higher than that of a car tire, does that mean that getting your foot run over by a bike tire would cause more damage than if a car ran over your foot? (I've always wondered what that felt like)

Not that I'm disagreeing. But I don't understand the tendency to take everything Sheldon ever said as gospel. He was not a scientist, and I think sometimes was just saying whatever random **** he happened to believe. Take the whole "it's near impossible to cut through a rim because of the force of the spokes, pinching the blade". I'm sure by now we've all seen the video of the guy cutting through a rim and tire with ease. Sheldon probably had no empirical reason to believe what he said, it just made sense to him.

Also, if the pressure on the road of a bike tire is so much higher than that of a car tire, does that mean that getting your foot run over by a bike tire would cause more damage than if a car ran over your foot? (I've always wondered what that felt like)

ive had my foot ranover by a 1997 toyota camry, on purpose. it didnt hurt at all.

Both.

Got it... for a while I had no idea what the difference was!

Not that I'm disagreeing. But I don't understand the tendency to take everything Sheldon ever said as gospel. He was not a scientist, and I think sometimes was just saying whatever random **** he happened to believe. Take the whole "it's near impossible to cut through a rim because of the force of the spokes, pinching the blade". I'm sure by now we've all seen the video of the guy cutting through a rim and tire with ease. Sheldon probably had no empirical reason to believe what he said, it just made sense to him.

Also, if the pressure on the road of a bike tire is so much higher than that of a car tire, does that mean that getting your foot run over by a bike tire would cause more damage than if a car ran over your foot? (I've always wondered what that felt like)

I don't think we're taking Sheldon's reference as 'gospel' per se, since a lot of what he talks about is just physics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroplaning_(tires)). Sheldon's stuff is just a quick, easy, and generally very reliable resource to turn to.

Either way, everyone has already said it a dozen times now: rubber compound, weight, etc. are all much more important factors in road tires than tread.

mine seems to be working as advertised

Seem really heavy. If I wanted a durable urban tire, I think I'll go with Gators or Armadillos.

I don't get it. Seems like the RiBMos offer equal performance and puncture resistance for the same price, and are a lot lighter.

But they don't look as cool. ;)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v166/scrodzilla/BF/rear2.jpg

They're sending me a new one to replace the one that has bulges.

Not that I'm disagreeing. But I don't understand the tendency to take everything Sheldon ever said as gospel. He was not a scientist, and I think sometimes was just saying whatever random **** he happened to believe. Take the whole "it's near impossible to cut through a rim because of the force of the spokes, pinching the blade". I'm sure by now we've all seen the video of the guy cutting through a rim and tire with ease. Sheldon probably had no empirical reason to believe what he said, it just made sense to him.

Also, if the pressure on the road of a bike tire is so much higher than that of a car tire, does that mean that getting your foot run over by a bike tire would cause more damage than if a car ran over your foot? (I've always wondered what that felt like)

Like jessesv said, I don't take everything Sheldon said as gospel and I don't recommend you do either. But he does talk sense, most of the time. And yeah, there really is less pressure under a car tire than a bike tire. There's even less pressure under a tank's treads than there is under a car tire, it's simply a function of mass and contact area.

must resist urge to put my foot under a car tire. . .

But they don't look as cool. ;)

Yeah, I guess it really doesn't matter if you're running an Aerospoke up front.

Yeah, I guess it really doesn't matter if you're running an Aerospoke up front.

Truth.

As a sidenote, after giving my 725 a good cleaning this morning I accidentally put my Aerospoke on backwards (for those who may not know, the spokes do have a asymmetric shape and are wider in the front) before I went out riding. Noticed it about a half hour in so I stopped, flipped it and actually noticed a pretty substantial difference when going fast.

Truth.

As a sidenote, after giving my 725 a good cleaning this morning I accidentally put my Aerospoke on backwards (for those who may not know, the spokes do have a asymmetric shape and are wider in the front) before I went out riding. Noticed it about a half hour in so I stopped, flipped it and actually noticed a pretty substantial difference when going fast.

Is it dangerous or just more/less aero?

It's not dangerous and until I rode with it backwards, I never would have thought it would make any sort of noticeable difference.

I'm running 700 X 25c tires, can I run 28's without new rims?

Most likely. Which rims?

I've got a 28 on an H+Son Formation Face with no issues.

It's not dangerous and until I rode with it backwards, I never would have thought it would make any sort of noticeable difference.

Good to know!

What inner tubes are you guys using?

Cheapo Kendas for me. A tube is a tube.

As an update on the ThickSlicks - I've put over 200 miles on them in the past week and they're perfect. I think I may even be in love with them. :love:

I do need to keep my 28c rear 10-15 lbs over recommended psi though or my bike feels like a slug.

Dude, I'm buying because of you! haha. You are so in love with them, they must be good!
& The logo makes me want them!

I was asking because I worrying about the valve being potentially too short?
I don't even have wheels yet, so idk what I'm talking about.

I was looking at these though:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300538648115&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

yay or nay?