Do tires make a difference in ride feel?

9000 miles ago I bought my first road bike with Continental GP 3000 tires.
I've changed them out with Conti's everytime they've worn out and never had
a flat, so, given my experience, I really don't have a reason to consider
going to a different tire because of reliability issues. I am curious
though, as to whether different tires provide a different ride feel on a
bike or whether it would all be in air pressure...a Conti would feel like
everything else. I consider reliability a premium issue, so I don't want to
risk a bunch of flats just to scratch my curiosity itch. I figured I would
ask the collective wisdom of the group. Thoughts?

On Sat, 25 Mar 2006 08:31:57 -0500, prometheus7 wrote:

9000 miles ago I bought my first road bike with Continental GP 3000 tires.
I've changed them out with Conti's everytime they've worn out and never had
a flat, so, given my experience, I really don't have a reason to consider
going to a different tire because of reliability issues. I am curious
though, as to whether different tires provide a different ride feel on a
bike or whether it would all be in air pressure...a Conti would feel like
everything else. I consider reliability a premium issue, so I don't want to
risk a bunch of flats just to scratch my curiosity itch. I figured I would
ask the collective wisdom of the group. Thoughts?

Certainly tires make a difference in ride feel. The stiffness of the
sidewalls is a good measure of how much drag you'll feel from the tire. I
had a set of cheapo Vittorias and it felt like I was dragging an anchor.
A good, supple sidewall (with the proper pressure) and the whole bike will
feel more lively.

I've never used Conti's, though, since I've had to rescue too many riders
using them, who have sidewall blowouts.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | When you are up to your ass in alligators, it's hard to remember
_`\(,_ | that your initial objective was to drain the swamp. -- LBJ
(_)/ (_) |

David L. Johnson writes:

9000 miles ago I bought my first road bike with Continental GP 3000
tires. I've changed them out with Conti's every time they've worn
out and never had a flat, so, given my experience, I really don't
have a reason to consider going to a different tire because of
reliability issues. I am curious though, as to whether different
tires provide a different ride feel on a bike or whether it would
all be in air pressure...a Conti would feel like everything else.
I consider reliability a premium issue, so I don't want to risk a
bunch of flats just to scratch my curiosity itch. I figured I
would ask the collective wisdom of the group. Thoughts?

Certainly tires make a difference in ride feel. The stiffness of
the sidewalls is a good measure of how much drag you'll feel from
the tire. I had a set of cheapo Vittorias and it felt like I was
dragging an anchor. A good, supple sidewall (with the proper
pressure) and the whole bike will feel more lively.

You mean RR is higher with thicker sidewalls (lower TPI) but the ride
comfort is not perceptibly different, these damping losses being so
small it takes careful measurement to characterize the difference in
RR. You can most likely hear the difference because acoustic damping
is significant for sound but that's literally in the noise for ride
comfort.

I've never used Conti's though, since I've had to rescue too many
riders using them, who have sidewall blowouts.

They are famous for that and their "kite string" low TPI casings
should make that obvious.

Jobst Brandt

So Jobst, what do you ride on? The cheapest tires you can find, or is
there some factor in the tires that is not all marketing? I am
serious.

Ted.

Ted who? writes:

So Jobst, what do you ride on? The cheapest tires you can find, or
is there some factor in the tires that is not all marketing? I am
serious.

I have a stash of light colored bare-wall Avocet ROAD 20 tires that
meet my expectation although not as good as the original ones made by
IRC. I have been riding Campionato del Mundo Clement tubulars, then
Specialized Touring II tires that had to be rotated on 3000km trips in
the Alps, and then Avocet tires that were made to my preferences.
That is why there is a picture of "Tire testing" on Sheldon's web
site.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/

Jobst Brandt

wrote:

I have a stash of light colored bare-wall Avocet ROAD 20 tires that
meet my expectation although not as good as the original ones made by
IRC.

You've mentioned this before but do you mean blackwall? I thought all
tan sidewall production was Japan, and Korea was black. More
importantly, could you explain what the difference is between whichever
two it is that bothers you, whether in construction, perfomance, or
durability?

IRC out of bicycle tire business: I imagine you mean they
sub-contracted the production to a Korean entity, to whom they also
sold the equipment. A while back, when IRC changed their own Road
Winners and others to black wall, a friend with similar concerns wrote
them to ask a "say it isn't so" question. This was the reply from IRC
he forwarded:

==========================================
Thanks you for your comments.

The reason the IRC website shows only the all-black Roadwinner is in
response to current fashion. 85% of the Roadwinner sales for 2004 were
with the all-black configuration.

However, the Roadwinner is still available in a skin-wall from several
US distributors. I believe that it would not be difficult for your local
shop to track down and order the size, color and sans-Kevlar belt
options you prefer. I know for a fact that J&B importers distributes
these tires in many sizes and colors.

Here's are a few comments to chew on, however:
* There might be a bit of a misconception regarding the sidewall
colors, however. The black skin-wall tires are the same, exact material
and construction as the skin-wall tires. Only the rubber compound color
is different. There are some cheaper tires that employ a thicker
sidewall material (or gumwall) available in both black and the yellowish
color, but this is mostly reserved for low-end product construction.

* Also, I believe it is actually easier to detect a worn out
sidewall casing with the black skin-wall. The tire cords are light in
color (almost the same as the skin-wall rubber compound color). When the
sidewalls are worn, heavy creasing will occur on the black sidewalls,
thus revealing the light-colored casing threads. The contrast of these
two colors provides a good visual warning, although I must say that
tread itself usually cracks far before the sidewalls blowout with IRC
tires.

* One final point, the all-black versions actually hold up better
to ultra-violet exposure. The yellow-color rubber compound contains no
carbon and is there for less stable.

Thank you again for taking the time to write IRC.

Regards,

[representative@] | IRC North America
2900 3rd Avenue North Seattle, WA 98109-1733 USA
www.IRCTire.com

================================================== ============

In article ,
wrote:

Certainly tires make a difference in ride feel. The stiffness of
the sidewalls is a good measure of how much drag you'll feel from
the tire. I had a set of cheapo Vittorias and it felt like I was
dragging an anchor. A good, supple sidewall (with the proper
pressure) and the whole bike will feel more lively.

You mean RR is higher with thicker sidewalls (lower TPI) but the ride
comfort is not perceptibly different, these damping losses being so
small it takes careful measurement to characterize the difference in
RR. You can most likely hear the difference because acoustic damping
is significant for sound but that's literally in the noise for ride
comfort.

A few years ago, I recall riding a tire (on the front wheel), IIRC it
was a Panaracer with a raised tread pattern, that would emit a
distinctively different tone when cornering. Strictly psychological, as
the tire displayed no aberrant cornering traits, yet I found it
unsettling enough to swap it out.

Luke

vredestein fortezza tricomps are puncture resistant and have a lively
feel even at 140psi

someone writes:

vredestein fortezza tricomps are puncture resistant and have a lively
feel even at 140psi

Ooh! "Lively", that's better than "supple", and at 140psi yet. How is
that characterized in measurable terms?

Jobst Brandt

aramco aramco!!