Originally Posted by
robbyville
I don’t know much about this, but given how many tires I’ve had that with slicks does it even make a difference? I was always told that the tread on a bike tire made little difference... but have no idea if that’s true
Sorry, let me clarify. I don't mean the tread pattern - that's not nearly as serious of an issue (though many companies such as Vittoria, Specialized, Rene Herse, Pirelli and Continental believe that it helps feel by meshing with the road). By "tread" I mean the part of the tire that's intended to bear weight and roll against the road. I am concerned because if the sidewall (the part below the line) isn't designed to grip the road, this could lead to a sudden loss of grip. For example, if you have a cotton tire, you can bet that rolling onto the sidewall will a) cause damage and b) give you almost no grip. The pirelli has rubber on the sidewalls too so it's unclear whether this is intended behavior.
I asked Hexsense what he thought about the Pirellis (he runs 25f 28r on these wheels):
It is fine as far as i'm using it.
But Pirelli didn't stay on that wheel set for long. My commuter needed new tires so i moved them over and got GP5000 to replace it on my LB.
I push hard on corners. I think Pirelli's grip is as good or better than GP5000. I managed to rear slip on GP5000 a few times. I think, despite whatever Conti claims, GP5000 have less grip than 4000sII. Good thing is, all of the skid are very brief and recoverable.
I'm testing the new Vittoria Corsa G2. For whatever reason, i feel like this could be the grippiest tire i've ever use so far. Still need to validate on some harder rides.
I ran an old 28 p zero front at 38psi today and it felt worlds better than a 25 front at 55psi or so. I sent it way harder today. I still used about 3-4mm of sidewall on the front but the bike never felt "chattery". But I am fairly confident that Hexsense pushes harder than I do so if he thinks a 25mm p zero is good on these wheels, then I'm inclined to believe him. I might have to drop pressures a bit and just take the rim dings but we'll see where this goes. I have only about 2-2.5mm of clearance with a 28mm tire on these rims so this is only a last resort.