Car tyres are much wider than even Fatties, and there are 4 of them. The tread on those as far as I can see is probably far more useful (though I’m not a car expert or even a tyre expert).
Tread on bike tyres will chuck the water off better, but that doesn’t really do anything to help or hinder traction when your tyre is only 25mm wide and doesn’t have another three to help distribute the weight.
Snow is probably a different story, though we get about half an inch of snow a decade, so I’ve not bothered to look into it
Are you clipless in that picture? , nevertheless i am ever impressed by the traction and control of a 36er, and of course, the skills you guys possess on that slippery road.Wow, Kudos!
I haven’t had a problem with a flat Todd. 29er tube has held fine since the beginning. I did have blowout problems with a Gazzaloddi on a 24 a bit back. Most definitely not a good time. So I tried another Gazzaloddi. Same problem.
A flat seems to be a problem when the flat spot is on the bottom. If you can move it elsewhere, performance may improve.
Back on topic: The Nightrider is a fine tire in many conditions. I had a flat one once and it didn’t ride well either. It also hurt my ears in the process of going flat.
I might suggest you be cautious to avoid hard turns while crossing the torchdown stop lines and crosswalk strips when there is lots of water on them. I’ve never went down on one yet. But I just don’t trust them to hold during an aggressive turn.
I commute all year, be it shine, rain, wind, snow, ice, or a combination of adverse weather.
A fender helps keep the tire spray off your back it that bothers you. But the spray will still fill your shoes. I haven’t bothered to mount one on the 36 since I broke the mounting bracket during a crash on black ice a few winters back. The tire got caught in a near parallel crack/groove in the pavement and wouldn’t climb out before I went down.
One of the reasons I went to riding clipless was to deal with keeping my feet on the pedals in heavy rain. When climbing an incline with water all over your feet and pedals from heavy rain, tire, and car spray the feet tend to slide off of the pedals just after the top of the pedal stroke. I don’t like the pedal bites that pin pedals leave. A couple of weeks after changing to clipless I found flat pedals to be a little more intimidating than clipless. I liked the feeling of being attached. But you should know that during that couple of weeks I put on several hundred miles of riding. And no, I’ve never ridden a bicycle with clipless pedals. Since May of 2006 almost all of my riding is clipless (98%).
I think in most, if not all, of the pictures or videos of me riding you might come across I’m clipless.
You will not find many other unicyclist riding clipless. It works for me. I do not recommend it for others.
Now go get wet. Once you get out of the your own door and get wet it is really not that bad to ride in the rain. If its warm leave off all the rain gear. Knee pads, gloves, shoes, and shorts is all you need to wear when it is above freezing. You will keep warm and the rest just holds more water to drip on the floor when you get home.
Just wanted to reply to a couple of things you said -
Yeah I tried the fender thing for a while. They keep the crap off your back, but you still get your frame, the back of your legs, and your shoes wet/dirty. Not really worth the bother I don’t think, I’ve broken like 5 of them just from putting the uni down too hard (I don’t buy expensive ones, I figure what’s the point). Now I just ride without and wash my clothes when I get home. Maybe if I were to ride to work in a suit I’d consider something, but I’d rather find something that’ll shield my calves.
Clipless - I considered it once a while ago, for the same reasons as you. I ride in the rain a lot, and things get slippy. I also found I was jumping out of the pedals if I got my cadence up. I’ve pretty much sorted this problem by #1 using shorter cranks and #2 learning to pedal properly Now I just use beartrap pedals and workboots, I rarely slip off. Clipless is in the back of my mind still, and I imagine the advantages are far greater on a uni than a bike (I’ve used them on a bike and didn’t think much of it…) but for now I’m too scared. One day, if they make me a pair of steel toe-capped clipless shoes…
On the wet-weather gear. No matter how cold and wet it is here, I rarely feel cold after I’ve ridden for 10 minutes. I usually just wear whatever pants I have on at the time, a t-shirt and either a fleece or a hoodie, and sometimes wooly gloves. Yeah, I’m not waterproof, but I’m also not sweating buckets from wearing plasticky material that claims to be breathable and never is. Get home and have a shower, job done! Winter gear is definately not needed unless you’re in one of those places where it routinely gets below 0c
Good to know others have the same observations as me, I was starting to feel like the weirdo seeing all the cyclists round here dress like arctic explorers at the sight of a bit of rain.
The pound shop sells front-and-rear fender sets for, you guessed it, £1, so price isn’t an issue. The issue is that most of the wetness/mud goes all over my thighs, and a fender on the top of the wheel only protects my bum/back
Someone needs to invent a fender that essentially shrouds your tyre from both the top and the sides… I’d jump on that!
Like those skirt-guards they have on dutch bikes!