Slick Front Tire On LWB
 

In an effort to reduce vibration from the pavement passing through to my hands and driving the nerves nuts, I've been experimenting with folding tires. This has really cut the problem down. So, wanting to try a 20/406/1.35 folding tire on the front, I ordered a Schwalbe Kojak slick tire. I've never run a slick tire on my LWB (Easy Sport) and wonder how well they grip. I don't ride in the rain, but often do the next day, when there are still puddles and wet pavement about. Is this going to be a problem? Will it aggravate front end washout? What are your experiences with slicks? bk

Not to worry. On pavement tread on a bicycle tire really doesn't do much. It's mostly just there just for looks because a lot of people are afraid to buy smooth tires. Even off road, except for the most extreme conditions, tread doesn't do much either.

Wondering why a folding bead tire should behave any differently - once you get it mounted - than a wire bead tire. Assuming the rest of the tire is the same.
I would think that a fatter tire at lower pressure would be helpful. Say 20x1.5 which could be run at slightly lower pressure than a 1.35.

Same question here. I've never been able to feel any difference in handling, comfort, etc. between a Kevlar-bead (i.e. folding) tire and the same tire with a steel wire bead other than due to the small difference in weight. On pavement you get slightly better traction with slick tires than those with siping or knobs - so that shouldn't be a concern at all. And I agree with JanMM that if you want to reduce the feel of vibration from the road the way to do that would be to use a wider tire at correspondingly lower pressure and use a tire with the most compliant sidewall.

The 1.5's are a little wide for the rim I have, and I have run a wire bead 1.35 which is a great fit. With the Schwalbes, the folders have a way more pliant sidewall, so I thought I'd try a 1.35 to see how it runs. bk

Thanks for the input, guys.

Here's my novice 2 cents worth of observations:

Most LWB bents are rather lightly loaded out front so a washout can happen if you hit a little
sand,,but hey any two wheeler will do that.
I often ride very fast into a sweeping corner,,my Tour Easy shines when doing this...
I lean forward a little to help load the front tire and I trail off the brakes as I enter the turn and lean
Just like a motorcycle.

Biggest thing to remember on a LWB bent is use more rear brake in a pinch,,still,,always use both tho....

There Is a misconception about treads on rounded bike and motorcycle tires,,
This is a general thing and I am NOT saying all tire sipes do ONLY this,,,just contemplate it..

First thing is a narrow rounded bike or motor cycle tire Is very UNLIKELY to hydroplane,,

Tire sipes (Treads) on rounded tires do little to disperse water or sand and If you notice many have the
sipes more and deeper on the sides..

Tire sipes allow the rubber to 'Flex' and this aids in traction.
A tire surface that can flex a little better can bend around a tiny rock or road crack.
This flexibility keeps MORE rubber on the road giving you a more predictable more regular sized contact patch..

Hope this helps,,,,

On smooth pavement, hydroplaning is a function of contact area, tire pressure and velocity. Relatively large areas at relatively low pressures (like car tires) will hydroplane at high speed unless there's siping to direct water away from between the road and the tire. Even with siping, excessive speed can overcome the tire design's ability to get the water out of the way. A tiny contact patch and relatively high pressures (like a bicycle tire) are virtually immune to hydroplaning regardless of tread or siping, particularly at typical bicycling speeds.

I know that tread causes squirm, which increases rolling resistance by creating waste heat. I'm not sure how much effect on traction the squirm has for pavement use; but probably minimal. I always understood that traction was primarily a function of the rubber compound. It seems to me that it would take a lot of tread to make a hard rubber compound act more resilient, whereas a softer compound would be resilient on its own.

The only times that tread has much effect on traction for me is in grass, snow, or soft dirt/sand. Most of my tires are either slicks or have minimal herringbone or sipes.

Traction factors:
compound,
Tire pressure,
Contact patch size/shape,
wheel/tire diameter/width/weight,
total bike rider weight, I would think Us big boys would stick better LOL
roadsurface,
load and forward/rear weight shift.

I would also think IMO that tire sipes IF of a reasonable size and riding a properly chosen tire for
that bike/rider/roadsurface,,I would think Sipes were a minimal factor compaired to the others,,

what did I miss ?

I took it for a ride today with the Kojak out front. Fairly smooth ride, and a few less psi is going to make the difference. I liked it so much, I ordered one for the rear wheel. The ultra thin sidewalls of a folding tire definitely give the bike some shock absorption ability. bk

Be warey of pinch flats,,

I live in the Seattle area, run Kojaks front and rear. I have a Bacchetta Giro 20 that I ride the whole rainy winter. They do fine in the rain, better than you would think. Soft sand and gravel on a corner can be a bit of a problem but no worse than most slick or lightly treaded road tires, nothing I would worry about. But rain is absolutely not a problem for them.

As a bonus they're one of the fastest tires I ridden.

Me and my bike together weigh 270lbs ready to ride. I have a 60/40 f/r weight split and run them 80psi rear and 60psi front.

Oddball, I ordered a Kojak for the rear and installed it. After the rain clears, I'll get a chance for a ride. I'm looking forward to this. bk

Thin, compliant sidewalls improve the ride comfort and generally reduce rolling resistance. But it's not because the tire is one that folds (i.e. has a Kevlar bead). When the same tire is available with both wire and Kevlar beads there's no difference in the ride quality. However, relatively expensive tires are frequently only made with the lighter Kevlar bead since that's what sells better. OTOH, some folding tires have a stiff sidewall and correspondingly harsh ride.

I hear lots of good things about those Kojak's

When I burn up my Kenda 100psi I may try one.

On my Stratus, I have the Comets that came on it. They only have the tinyest bit of tread, a crosshatch actually. I have never had a problem with traction. However I do not ride in the rain, the only wet I ride on is bike paths that have lawn run off on them. My trike has Swalbe tires that has some groves on them but are mainly smooth.

IMHO a tread that is deeper would not make much difference if you hit a patch of sand or gravel while turning. The only thing is to watch where you are riding. Smooth tires are just fine for bents since you probably wont be riding single tracks with mud and loose dirt.

My very first recumbent, in 1990, was a long wheelbase and I ran a smooth tire on the front and found it to work very well. Now, after all those years, I have gone back to a long wheelbase recumbent and have been running a Kenda Qwest 100psi on the front and find that it works well in the conditions found on my commute. Pavement in all conditions, some sand on the road, some water, etc. The rear, by the way, is a Gatorskin, and I really love that tire for it's ability to run without a puncture month in and month out...

Tractor Tom in Okeechobee, FL

I'd like to second rydabent's comment about sand or gravel. IME if the tread is deep enough to deal with sand or gravel in a turn it will be horrible on pavement.

Some semi-slick cyclocross tires do the best job of dealing with this but they do it by putting raised, widely spaced knobs on the sides which makes them squirrelly when there is only clean pavement on the turn.

So you'll have to pick which is the greater concern, clean or dirty corners. Even the tread on a Schwalbe Marathon is going to require slowing down on dirty corners. If you have to make a corner where dirt or gravel is present, slow down and square it off so you ride straight through the mess.

Front tires of LWB's not gripping well is caused by overinflated tires.

Many LWB's put 33% or less of the total weight on the front wheel, and a lot of people blindly inflate both their tires to the max PSI. This means that the front tire ends up being inflated to 2X or more what it really should be.

THe simple explanation is that when you are sitting on the bike, both tires should have the proper amount of wheel drop, no matter what width of tires you're using.

My V3 weighs in at 30/70 F/R; I keep no more than 50psi in the 32mm front tire. The 15% tire drop calculators suggest less but that '50-85 psi' instruction on the tire sidewall make me think I shouldn't go below that. Even though I know that number is based on typical upright bikes with a lot more than 30% front weight bias.

I would also submit that on smooth dry surfaces, drag racers run totally slick tires for maximum traction.

Yeop I can back this up.
My LWB Tour easy I ride for fun,,no bags, I don't tour and I'm 190Lbs..
I can feel no difference in rolling resistance when I run the Front tire at 35% less than max psi, max is 100 btw..

I settled on 75 psi simply because I wanted a little more rim impact protection, Kenda quest 100psi's, I ride choppy sidewalks now and then.

The back 700x28 Bontrager T-2 Road has a max of 115 psi,,,here I settled on 100, because it just feels right...

Right now I'm riding with 62 psi in front and 73 in the rear. Both have a max of 85 psi. I'm getting a real nice ride out of it too. bk