Tire pressure in the rain

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10 replies [Last post]
Anonymous's picture
Anonymous

Should I adjust my tire pressure when I ride in the rain or should I keep it the same? And what should the adjustment be?

Anonymous's picture
Chris T. (not verified)
Don't change it

But Ride more defensively.

Lower tire pressure ==> more flats.

Do you want to change a tire in the rain? I don't

Anonymous's picture
"Chainwheel" (not verified)
Lower it.

"""Should I adjust my tire pressure when I ride in the rain or should I keep it the same? And what should the adjustment be?""

Lower the pressure a bit for better traction. Overall, 5-10 psi less would be about right, depending on the tire size and how hard you normally run them.

""Chainwheel""



"

Anonymous's picture
Banana Guy (not verified)
Wet Tire Pressures

Soft tires pick up more road debris; Wet tires pick up more road debris. What does this say about soft wet tires?

A smaller contact patch exerts more pounds per square inch of force on the road surface.

Rain tires (automotive) generally have less contact atra than dry tires. It is most important to displace the surface water as efficiently as possoble.

I would keep the pressures high, but you do the math.

Anonymous's picture
Evan Marks (not verified)
Sorry, no.

"Any similarity between auto (or even moto) tires and bicycle tires begins and ends with the fact that they are made of rubber. Bike tires do not displace water, they have no use for tread or siping (on the road; MTB tires used on dirt are another story), they do not corner at ""slip angles,"" and they do not warm up to optimum cornering/braking temperature unless it's 150 degrees in the shade.

You want more traction in the wet? Lower the pressures. Yes, you'll get more flats.

"

Anonymous's picture
"Chainwheel" (not verified)
Flats in the rain

"""You want more traction in the wet? Lower the pressures. Yes, you'll get more flats.""

You'll get more flats in the rain even without lowering pressure because the rain water acts as a lubricant allowing slivers of glass to cut the tire more easily.

Low pressure in skinny tires may increase the chance of getting a pinch flat. Wider tires will give better traction in rain, and will be less likely to pinch flat.

""Chainwheel"""

Anonymous's picture
Banana Guy (not verified)
Your mileage may vary. (nm)
Anonymous's picture
Banana Guy (not verified)

Sorry, Bicycle tires do, indeed, displace water. Were the water not to be displaced, your tire would have no contact with the road surface.
You certainly do not want any 'float' in the wet.
The higher friction coefficient, i'm sure even you would agree, comes from contact between the tire and the asphalt/concrete/whatever road surface.

You do the physics.

Anonymous's picture
Christian Edstrom (not verified)

What Evan was likely referring to is that bicycle tires do not need any tread whatsoever to displace water. A perfectly smooth bicycle tire will displace water extremely effectively due to its canoe-shaped contact patch. This is entirely different from an automotive rain tire, which has a rectangular contact patch, and relies on the tread pattern to channel water from the contact patch.

Oh, and for the original poster, assuming you are running wire-ons and are of normal cycling weight, there is no reason to ever run higher pressures than 105 front/110 rear. And at those pressures, no need to drop them in the rain.

- Christian

Anonymous's picture
Ken (not verified)
Alternative

Why don't you just take the bus?

Anonymous's picture
alan resnick (not verified)
tire pressure

lower tire pressure. ie-high pressure clinchers that go up to 9bars recommended 130psi)Vittoria Corsa CX-use their lower recommended 7Bars=110PSI. Michelin recommends 110PSI-drop to 90-100 . More of a drop if you were to own high end top of the line Continental Tubulars-PSI recommended up to 170PSI !!! In the rain I would drop down to 115 on them!!! Be careful in rain on all turns-break before-not in a turn in the rain and always try to land on a friend!

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