Originally Posted by
ScubaGearhead85
Those Donnellys look like good tires. They look like they would work well on wet pavement.The Specialized Pathfinder (PF) tire looks similar except it just has one solid strip down the center. They look great for gravel and dry pavement. But they look like an accident waiting to happen on wet pavement.
I am a car guy so when I look at tires, a road-style tire with deep treads and center sipes give me more of a warm-fuzzy feeling than tires that look almost bald brand new. The Marathon Supremes are a good example of this. I see a lot of people on here say that they are good in the rain, but I am not really convinced.
I agree with you about going to see tires in person before deciding.
Originally Posted by
Crankycrank
Wet grip for bike tires has more to do with the rubber compound than tread sipes as the round tire shape is much less likely to hydroplane than a flat car tire tread. Deeper tread on bike tires is there more for grip on dirt surfaces. Just sayin'.
Right. Unlike cars, which have a rectangular tire patch, bikes have an oval tire patch which moves water to the side to avoid hydroplaning. In addition, the larger unadulterated the tire patch, the better the grip on non-muddy or non-snowy surfaces - aka smooth tread race car tires. Car tires need tread to shed water and deal with mud and snow. I don't think any bike tire tread is intended to improve wet traction, although some people might like to see it, but they do have treads to improve traction in mud, dirt, gravel, etc.