So worried... should I be worried?

[KSH]

OK... I am in Dallas, TX and it is suppose to pour down rain all weekend.

My boyfriend is signed up for a duathlon and he is going to compete no matter what. Rain or not, he will be out there doing it, because he has been training for it for about 3 months.

So, his bike has slicks on it. The tires have no tread to speak of (came that way). I am so scared and worried that he is going to have a wreck.

Now, if I thought he would be OK with wrecking, I might feel better about it (sounds silly?). But he doesn't handle pain well, and he has already demolished another bike in a wreck (and he said if he wrecks another bike, he is done).

What is the likely hood that he will wreck on roads that are covered with water? Am I just being too worrisome here? I don't want to see him wreck... the thought of it kills me.

[Veronica]

If it's raining for my first double next weekend, my winter tires are going back on my bike, even though I average at least a mile faster with the skinnier ones.

Does he have more rain appropriate tires that he could put on the bike?

V.

[KSH]

If it's raining for my first double next weekend, my winter tires are going back on my bike, even though I average at least a mile faster with the skinnier ones.

Does he have more rain appropriate tires that he could put on the bike?

V.

No, he doesn't. The only tires he has are the ones that came with the bike.

I tossed around the idea of offering to buy him more appropriate tires, so I don't have to worry my head off. I can't really afford to do that though.

[Veronica]

Has he riden in the rain on these tires before?

I switch mine because I notice the skinny ones slipping more on corners. I've never crashed or even come close on the skinny ones, I just have more confidence in the Speedblends when it's wet.

V.

[KSH]

Has he riden in the rain on these tires before?

I switch mine because I notice the skinny ones slipping more on corners. I've never crashed or even come close on the skinny ones, I just have more confidence in the Speedblends when it's wet.

V.

I think he has briefly, but that is because he got caught in the rain, and he pulled over to wait it out.

He doesn't ride that many miles a week (maybe 30), and he has little experience riding in the rain.

But, maybe he will be OK?

[maillotpois]

I have road training/racing tires on my bike that are slick - no tread. I use them rain or shine - and we have some nasty rain here. If you take some general precautions riding in the rain, you should be fine with normal tires.

- Watch out for paint (i.e., center and side lines on roads) - paint gets very slick when wet and you don't want to brake or corner fast on it.

- Same goes for wood or tracks - they get very slick when wet.

- Remember braking distances are increased when wet.

- Careful in puddles that are so deep you don't know what may be concealed under them (potholes, gravel, etc.)

- Don't follow too close to other riders. I know tri's have a no drafting policy but don't know anything about duathlons. Anyway, with braking and reaction distance increased, you don't want to be too close to the person in front.

It's not ideal to get this experience in a race - he should be practicing riding in these conditions on non-race days. But if he is careful about it, he should be okay.

[Veronica]

Gee Sarah, you almost have me convinced to leave the 23s on, even if it's raining next weekend.

V.

[Grog]

I rode about 1000 km through the rain this winter in Vancouver on my skinny 23c, no threads. And no problems. Including on group rides with very tight pack riding. Our ride leader is very experienced and very concerned about security, and her comments were always about fenders, not tires.

Nonetheless, when I bought my new tires it was end of October so I asked the staff around the bike shop what they thought were good winter tires and they had some preferences.

So as maillotpois says: watch out for the breaking distance, and anything that's not strictly pavement. There may be more debris on the road if it's raining (from nearby trees or carried by the wind). Cornering will obviously have to be more careful. I don't see any other problem.

I don't mean to be overly optimistic, but... don't worry too much.

Enjoy the spectator role (for once!)...

[salsabike]

Hope the below will make you feel a little safer. Sheldon Brown seems to think that "slick" doesn't affect traction at all.

http://sheldonbrown.com/tires.html

Tread for on-road use

Bicycle tires for on-road use have no need of any sort of tread features; in fact, the best road tires are perfectly smooth, with no tread at all!

Unfortunately, most people assume that a smooth tire will be slippery, so this type of tire is difficult to sell to unsophisticated cyclists. Most tire makers cater to this by putting a very fine pattern on their tires, mainly for cosmetic and marketing reasons. If you examine a section of asphault or concrete, you'll see that the texture of the road itself is much "knobbier" than the tread features of a good quality road tire. Since the tire is flexible, even a slick tire deforms as it comes into contact with the pavement, acquiring the shape of the pavement texture, only while incontact with the road.

People ask, "But don't slick tires get slippery on wet roads, or worse yet, wet metal features such as expansion joints, paint stripes, or railroad tracks?" The answer is, yes, they do. So do tires with tread. All tires are slippery in these conditions. Tread features make no improvement in this.

[Dianyla]

Hope the below will make you feel a little safer. Sheldon Brown seems to think that "slick" doesn't affect traction at all.

Thanks for posting this, salsabike! I am new to the skinny tires and have been pondering whether to swap out my 700x23 slicks for some "winter tires" for the rainy Pacific NW. I think I'll just leave them on, now.

[maillotpois]

Gee Sarah, you almost have me convinced to leave the 23s on, even if it's raining next weekend.

V.

There are plenty of issues I'll be facing if its raining next weekend - do I really want to ride 200 miles in this? Will I be cold? What do I wear? Should I just check myself into some rehab clinic or something? But worrying about my tires isn't one of my rain issues!

[Eden]

And if the worst happens and you do crash in the rain the slickness of a wet road seems to impart less road rash than a dry one. But seriously my only concern riding all winter up here in the rainy NW was having tires tough enough to resist punctures as wet roads seem to allow you to pick up a lot more glass and junk than dry ones - so I was actually riding in effect slicker tires than my summer ones all winter long with no problems. None of my tires have any tread pattens, but the winter ones are made of harder rubber so don't "stick" to the corners as well.
The biggest things are to be careful of any metal - like sewer caps, and painted lines on the road both of which become very slick when wet and slow more than normal for corners. Since its probably a TT crashing seems pretty unlikely on the straight sections.

[KSH]

WOW! You ladies out did all the triathletes on my other message board! Your reponses were great!

Thanks so much! I am going to enjoy being the spectator with my umbrell!

[SadieKate]

Maillotpois lays it out very clearly and succinctly. My very first race was in the rain on the first truly slick road tires. They were made by Avocet and all the bike shops folks asked me before the race for a post race report because no-tread road tires were a new thing. Gave me lots of confidence in them, of course.

Not only was it raining but it was the annual tomato harvest and I had never ridden in the rain. Think racing through tomato sauce. I did fine by doing exactly what MP describes. I fished tailed in one corner but didn't panic and kept pedalling. You weigh so much more than the bike that it will follow the momentum of your body so if you can keep it going straight, the bike will straighten up.

I even survived the jerks who threw broken glass out on the road right in front of me. Never had that happen before or since. Amazing the effort people will put into being obnoxious.