Dumped 3x In Slight Wet - Time to Change The Tires

[3Pio]

I found Conti sprinters, which I assume use a similar compound to GP4k to be very good in the wet. Those Michelin on the other hand are probably the worst wet weather tire I've ever been on. I had mine slip for several revolutions AFTER riding through light sprinkler runoff.

Im interested what pressure u use on Spinters? Im 73kg, and have GP4K on my clincher wheelset (Shamal Ultra), and find them very good grip for wet or any surface (with rolling resistance penalty). Have the same on my City bike (for 3 years now), same result (riding them in both cases 6.5 bars).

On my tubular wheelset i was using Corsa G+ and wonderfull results.. I like the grip, and also very predictive when loosing grip (riding them 7.6 bars in front, 7.9 in rear).

On second tubular wheelset i decided to try Sprinters (25mm), and was experimenting with tire pressure (going from 6.5 up to 7.0 bars). I found their grip much weaker vs my other tires. And also loosing grip non predictable.. And finally month ago (10th of May), after 500 km on them, i crashed crosssing the railway (which i crossed at least 500 times, and 3 times per week in some periods this winter). The crash happened on dry weather, no wet.. (Which ended with 4 weeks plaster cast on my arm, since i had Radius Fracture, and broken helmet..)

For now they are least secure tires i ever had on my bike in last few years.. So maybe i over pump them?

[Wookski]

(riding them 7.6 bars in front, 7.9 in rear).

Holy shit they’re some old school tyre pressures!

My experience is that tyre choice is not the issue- all top of the line road racing tyres will perform similarly. The biggest contributing factors are 1. The rider (technique, speed) and 2. The road conditions (oil/ moss/ algae etc.). Sometimes you’re just going to hit the deck, welcome to cycling.

[CrankAddictsRich]

As much I hate Conti GP4000sII tires and usually miss no oppurtunity to blast them, I can't fault them for wet weather grip. In my experience with them, they do grip well in the wet. I remember when I first put a set on, I was coming down this steep local descent. It is a stretch of road that I've hit 50 or 55 mph on. On this one particular morning, the road was dry, but just as I was hitting the final turn, there was a huge river of water run-off coming across the road from a few days of rain we had previously. I thought to myself, "Well, these trs are supposed to be good in the wet, hopefully I stay upright." I did.

I would agree with others in that if you went down on GP4000's that you'd most likely have gone down on any number of high performance tires. If you really want to try something new, I like the Vittoria Corsa G+ tires. I find them to be fast, supple and have good grip in all conditions. I'd also say that the S-Works Turbo Cottons are equally good, if not better, but I tend to view them as having a little less flat protection. The non-cotton S-Works Turbos are also nice, but not quite as fast the Cottons.

[NiFTY]

Your are looking for a tire to grip teflon. You won't find it. GP4000s have excellent wet weather grip. I had an identical crash to you, blame the conditions not the tyre.
As for the randomness of it. Riding in the same conditions for each crash. Doesn't sound random at all - that would be a known variable in a science experiment.
Last thing - having ridden a corner thousands of times is probably not protective - studies of car accidents show that most accidents happen on roads close to home that the driver has ridden thousands of times - familiarity breeds complacency.
If you slip in the fresh rain stop riding in the fresh rain. Solved.

[3Pio]

(riding them 7.6 bars in front, 7.9 in rear).

Holy shit they’re some old school tyre pressures!

My experience is that tyre choice is not the issue- all top of the line road racing tyres will perform similarly. The biggest contributing factors are 1. The rider (technique, speed) and 2. The road conditions (oil/ moss/ algae etc.). Sometimes you’re just going to hit the deck, welcome to cycling.

I was using Vitttoria recommended pressure for Wet weather and going one level lower then recomended. I found them very grippy, comfortable enough, and for now ok lasting....

[robertbb]

As much I hate Conti GP4000sII tires and usually miss no oppurtunity to blast them

Why the hate for these things?

[Wookski]

(riding them 7.6 bars in front, 7.9 in rear).

Holy shit they’re some old school tyre pressures!

My experience is that tyre choice is not the issue- all top of the line road racing tyres will perform similarly. The biggest contributing factors are 1. The rider (technique, speed) and 2. The road conditions (oil/ moss/ algae etc.). Sometimes you’re just going to hit the deck, welcome to cycling.

I was using Vitttoria recommended pressure for Wet weather and going one level lower then recomended. I found them very grippy, comfortable enough, and for now ok lasting....

Yeah- Vittoria’s recommended pressures have always been ridiculous. There are plenty of recent articles available on tyre pressures, have a read and start experimenting.

[TobinHatesYou]

As much I hate Conti GP4000sII tires and usually miss no oppurtunity to blast them

Why the hate for these things?

The threads in the casing fray unless you live somewhere with no debris on perfectly smooth roads and can pump the tires to decent sidewall pressure. Lower pressures = sidewall deformation and ripped/exposed threads.

[3Pio]

(riding them 7.6 bars in front, 7.9 in rear).

Holy shit they’re some old school tyre pressures!

My experience is that tyre choice is not the issue- all top of the line road racing tyres will perform similarly. The biggest contributing factors are 1. The rider (technique, speed) and 2. The road conditions (oil/ moss/ algae etc.). Sometimes you’re just going to hit the deck, welcome to cycling.

I was using Vitttoria recommended pressure for Wet weather and going one level lower then recomended. I found them very grippy, comfortable enough, and for now ok lasting....https://www.facebook.com/

Yeah- Vittoria’s recommended pressures have always been ridiculous. There are plenty of recent articles available on tyre pressures, have a read and start experimenting.

Yeah.. I read a lot of theory regarding lower tire pressure and done my own experimenting.. At the end settled on the pressure that work for me..

BTW, if someone using Conti Sprinter Tubulars in 25mm.. What pressure work for u and for what weight?

[CrankAddictsRich]

As much I hate Conti GP4000sII tires and usually miss no oppurtunity to blast them

Why the hate for these things?

Ove the course of 1 season, I had 3 sets go bad on me, not because I wore them out or because I was hitting debris in the road, but simply because the sidewalls were falling apart. I also saw it happen to 3 or 4 of my friends, 2 of whichsuffered major blowouts because I suspect they didn't realize the tires were crumbling and went for rides.

The threads in the casing fray unless you live somewhere with no debris on perfectly smooth roads and can pump the tires to decent sidewall pressure. Lower pressures = sidewall deformation and ripped/exposed threads.

Back when I was using Conti tires, I was pumping my tires up to 110 psi. I don't think it had anything to do with pressure in my case.

[RyanH]

@3Pio

For 25mm Veloflex tubulars I run the fronts at 4.4 Bar (64 psi), rears at 5.2 bar (75 psi) when wet or if I want to just chill, and up to 5.5 bar (80 psi) for front and 5.86 bar (85 psi) rear for fast days. I weigh 70kg. 22mm tires (Veloflex Extreme) get pumped to 100/110 psi (f/r) but back in the day when I was running 23mm Sprinters, I'd go as low as 80/95 psi when wet and usually like 95/105 psi normally.

[Wookski]

@RyanH
I weigh 65kg and run the following:
For 23mm Veloflex Tubs I’ll run 6R/5.5F
For 25mm Corsa Control Tubs 5.5R/5F
Sometimes slightly higher if it’s a long day out to account for air loss.