vasracer

I'm using my moutain bike this year for commuting during the winter and I've decided on purchasing a pair of WTB terrainasaurus Comp. The Tires are 26x32mm(1.25") and are inflatable to 90 p.s.i.. Does anyone have any experience with these tires?? I would like to get some feedback or at least hear something positive about them before I purchase them.

mx_599

hmmmm, no sorry. but can you report back and let us know how they go through the snow?

i just used some cheapies for my winter commute in snow and ice and slush and whatever and they seemed pretty good. i don't really think any alternate tread pattern would have made a difference for me in the bad weather. so i would pretty much get whatever.

i am sure some other bad weather riders might have a preference to offer. good luck and watch the black ice.

vasracer

I'm NYC and we get some snow, but nothing major. The problem is the streets after is snows, with thousands of cabs and cars passing through them, cyclist have the daunting task of riding through dirty slush.

vasracer

So, I got the tires in yesterday and rode with them today. One thing i have to mention is that it is an extremely tight bead, took me some time to get the first bead on the rim. We haven't had bad weather here in NYC so i inflated them up to 85p.s.i. and went out for a ride. Even though they have a deep thread pattern and some knobs on the side they are extremely fast tires. I would recommend these to anyone who likes a thin profile tire but does not want the resistance of a knobby or the danger of a slick on wet streets.

Chris_F

My Kenda road tires (for my mountain bike) also have a very tight bead. Wonder if all slicks are like that...

ghettocruiser

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/tires.html#traction

vasracer

But thats just generalizing in a broad topic. I've had customers come in that have both road bikes and cross bikes and in rain or snow would ride their cross because a cross tire grips better than a slick. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that a surface that is made with a texture will grip better than a surface that is smooth.

BearSquirrel

You should seriously consider Nokian or Schwalbe studded tires with carbide tipped studs. If you encounter ice, you'll need them. If you use regular steel studs, you'll wear them out on pavement. Yes, they are more expensive. But ask yourself how expensive a broken arm is.

born2bahick

That's not always true. Drag racers don't use knobbies. Knobbies in a corner on hard surface may only have one knob or part of a knob on the surface at any one time, which can lead to unpredictabe cornering. Motorcycle tires for the road only use enough tread pattern to channel water away. If the cross tires are working better on hard surface it may be because they are generally wider creating a bigger contact patch.

Chris_F

Tire tread on a loose surface will improve traction. Tire tread on a hard surface only reduces the contact patch and results in less traction. On a wet surface the tire needs to "cut through" the water to make contact with the underlying surface. A flat car tire (or the bottom of your shoe) has a lot of water to push out of the way therefore needs tread to penetrate through the water and reach the underlying layer. A bicycle does not need this as it has a narrow profiled tire which will naturally cut through the water. It's only at excessively high speeds that a bike tire loses the ability to cut through the water and hydroplanes.

Traction on pavement occurs when rubber actually bonds (hydrogen bonding I believe) with the pavement and the larger the area that this occurs over the more traction is available. Traction on wet pavement relies on getting the water out of the way. Traction on loose surfaces is as much about moving the surface and digging in as it is about this bonding. That's what the tire is really trying to do.

Race cars that don't have to deal with water of loose surfaces use flat tires to improve traction. Race cars that do drive on loose or wet surfaces use treaded tires. Cyclocross riders encounter loose surfaces periodically therefore use treaded tires. Mountain bikers often ride on loose surfaces therefore most use treaded tires. Road riders ride on hard surfaces only therefore use smooth tires, even in rain. (I'd bet the entire Tour De France field uses smooth tires even on wet stages). There will be exceptions to all of these as there are road riders who ride on loose surfaces with smooth tires, treaded tires, etc. There are mountain bike riders who ride on hard surfaces.

There's no need for tread on wet pavement. It'll increase hydroplane resistance, but hydroplane speeds are already ludicrously high for bike tires. All tread will do is reduce contact area and thus traction.

1fluffhead

I actually prefer riding slick tires in snowy/slushy weather over knobbies because I find I cut through the muck alot easier with slicks. Knobbies just seem to pick it up, add extra weight to the wheel and throw more of it on me and the bike.

ghettocruiser

Cross tires are quite a bit wider and lower pressure than road tires, producing a larger contact area which more than offsets the traction loss from the treads on pavement.

And snow is a different can of worms.

Chris_F

You're just looking for ways to prove me wrong, aren't you? Why?

I'd suppose though that your counter merely proves my point that slick tires are better for hard surfaces.

Chris_F

I've edited to your liking.

andymac

No experience with the tires you have purchased but I have commuted the last three winters in Vancouver, Canada, while we don't usually get that much snow we had quite a few dumps the past few years.

During my winter commuting last year I tried leaving on the 1.5 semi-slicks (Panaracer Urban Max) on an old Marin that is my winter beater, they were fine until it snowed heavily. In the deep snow or slush they spun quite easily and would almost support me on top of packed snow or heavy slush, but not quite, so I would end up sort of climbing up onto the packed snow and then breaking through, very tiring. So I tried my Kona Dew Deluxe with some 700 * 35 Continental County ride tires with a moderate tread, this ensured that I broke through the packed snow, but this was also very tiring as I was pushing through the snow the whole way. So I tried my Norco hardtail with some 2.35 Kenda Kinetics with the pressure at about 45 psi, this proved to be enough tire to keep me on top of most of the packed snow and the heavier slush so I used that bike for the worst snow/slush days.