On 15 Jan, 07:01, "
wrote:
On Jan 14, 9:54*pm, DougC wrote:

On 12/30/2009 11:44 AM, Jobst Brandt wrote:

......
That carbon black in tires aids in wear resistance and wet traction is
well known and the reason why you don't see high performance auto
tires in any other color than black. *White knobby tires on children's
bicycles don't wear long or corner well anywhere, but they are a
standard of fashion for the little tykes.
......

No offense, but where does it say that carbon black aids in wet
traction? I haven't seen that mentioned anywhere so far.

Dear Doug,

The combination of carbon black and natural rubber was known to have
poorer wet grip than more modern compounds at least as far back as
1985:

*http://tinyurl.com/ydunnws


and those compounds which are successful in improving wet grip also
result in greater rolling resistance, so the tread has to be made
thinner to compensate.