Which Tyres?

72tpi>>>>>>

Also Planet X can fuck off with £50 minimum for free postage.

...sounds like rolling resistance.

Sounds like bullshit: even at 28mm they're not wide enough to aquaplane, even if you were going downhill, with a following wind and spinning out 54x11.

And grooves in your tyres mean less rubber on the road, so less traction.

Amen

And grooves in your tyres mean less rubber on the road, so less traction.

These guys disagree.

Channels (or voids as I think they're called by engineers) are to send water off the contact patch. No bicycle tyre is in danger of aquaplaning.

Those px tyres probably are crap though. I've always regretted bargain tyre buys.

I've only had a quick look, but I can't find where they say that: link plz.

I'm happy to be corrected, but I cannot understand how less rubber in contact with the road, can increase traction.

But as you say, bicycle tyres are neither wide enough nor do you travel fast enough to aquaplane, so channels/voids/grooves serve no purpose (on road tyres, off-road knobblies are a separate case).

Bearing in mind that those two, small contact patches are all that's keeping you and your bike from sliding down the road/under a car/off a cliff, tyres are the last place I'd look to skimp.

OK, I'm convinced. I'll buy some.

Group buy?

@Scilly.Suffolk

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/bicycle-tires-puncturing-the-myths-29245/

http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/05/bikes-and-tech/technical-faq/technical-faq-tire-grip-wet-conditions_328827

The modest tread patterns being referred to, are a world away from the "large rain channels" carved into those Guttersnipes. The idea being that a lightly "rippled" surface can better match the imperfections in even the smoothest tarmac.

I'm quite sure that the "Certain tread designs" referred to by Bike Radar (Wheel Energy), don't include anything so blatant as what PlanetX are punting.

What struck me was Wheel Energy's claim that "...medium-count casings (around 60tpi)... ...As compared to 120tpi casings, they can actually roll faster..."!

Either way, all the contributors that Leonard Zinn quote make plain that bicycles can't aquaplane and tyre pressures and a supple casing & tube are significant in keeping you upright in the wet.

All of which I take as an endorsement of my choice of Open Pave and latex tubes, run at 85/75psi.

But I would say that wouldn't I? :)

Wasn't it 30tpi gave more puncture protection, but harsher stiffer deformation resulting in lower rolling resistance than 60tpi (120->)

...but harsher stiffer deformation...

I guess that's their thinking (from the Bike Radar article linked to by Miro_o):
"Wider tires roll faster than narrower ones: ...According to Wheel Energy, the key to reducing rolling resistance is minimizing the energy lost to casing deformation...

Higher thread counts aren't always better: ...Wheel Energy claim medium-count casings (around 60tpi)... ...As compared to 120tpi casings, they can actually roll faster..."

They're not "coloured" goddammit, they're "branded"... ;)

Biased!

Yup! :)

Are Zaffiro's really that bad? Planet X have the folding versions in 28mm flavour for £7.99 (plus postage): http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TYVIZAFII/vittoria-zaffiro-ii-folding-tyre-700c

I'd be using them for commuting, and I'd rather have a suppler tyre than one with extreme p***ture resistance.

yes

They're not that bad imo.

They are good for the price

I'd go for the Rubino. It's £1.50 more.

The grip isn't amazing but I think they feel pretty good for such cheap tyres.

But as you say, bicycle tyres are neither wide enough nor do you travel fast enough to aquaplane, so channels/voids/grooves serve no purpose (on road tyres, off-road knobblies are a separate case).

They do serve a purpose on less than ideas road, gravel etc. and actually reduced the risk of puncture as the channel mean any object get caught will not get embedded further into the tyres.

I'd have thought they would be more likely to trap debris, which then has repeated opportunities to get get driven into the tyre as the wheel rotates.

Either way, "rain channels" is bollocks.

All these were trapped in the channels of a single tyre...

i've got rubino too. they are much slicker than they appear in seller's pictures. got these for sunny, rainless days. i am not sure if they would be great in heavy rain because they have very small amount of tread patches.

Rubino's may only be £1.50 more, but that's for the wired, rather than folding version. The question is whether the weight penalty of a wired tyre really makes that much difference.....