I have slipped off my bike 3x in the last 2 months - will changing tyres help?

Question

Recently picked up a used Boardman Hybrid Team and it's my first bike after several years on boris bikes in London.

I was doing great in the summer but recently have slipped/skidded 3 times in last 6 weeks or so and fallen - cutting my knees, once my palm as well. The first was defs my fault (cornering too fast), but the other two I was behaving what I thought to be sensibly and the falls came out of nowhere - though it was wet both times and manhole covers were involved and after searching I'm learning they could be the culprit.

If I want to avoid falling so much I realise I need to change my riding style (keeping an eye out for those manholes to start with, and being more careful with the disc brakes in the wet as they lock up fast).

But beyond changing how I ride, could the tyres the bike has (Schwalbe Stelvio 28mm) also be a contributor? They're pumped up pretty full so I could let some air out, or I could just buy some new (fatter? grippier?) tyres. Would that help with the skidding and falling everywhere? If it would - I'd appreciate any recommendations for tyres to buy as well :) Thank you.

Answer 1

Wet metal plates on the road have an astonishingly low grip, on par with a sheet of ice.

There's very little you can practically change on your bike to improve this - changing to wider tyres at low pressure would help, but the rest of your commute will be like slogging through treacle, and highly unpleasant.

What you can do - change your technique. Never turn or brake while crossing a metal plate. Keep the bars and therefore front wheel straight and roll over it.
If the plate is on a corner (and many are) then try to avoid going over them at all. Take a left or right position and bypass the plate completely. Naturally this requires local knowledge and for you to anticipate what's coming up.

It may be possible to participate in activism - write to the local council or similar roading authority, and request the plate be replaced with a textured one, or surfaced with bitumen. This is a slow process but is not impossible.

Your very last resort is to react quickly should the bike start to slide, and take whatever action helps to restore your balance. That may be a shift in body weight, which could potentially put you into the path of traffic.
The counter here is that when your bike is sliding, it happens really quickly and its hard to react in time.

Or find a route that avoids this corner/plate completely.

Answer 2

Those tyres are probably quite old, and rubber perishes over time. They do not appear on the Schwalbe website.

They were racing tyres. https://roadcyclinguk.com/news/event-news/schwalbe-stelvio-evolution.html

They are lightweight racing tyres, and very different from those on a Boris Bike.

I have cycled on tyres between 2"+ and 23mm, and there is an enormous difference in feeling of stability on the former compared to the latter.

Certainly it's often a good idea to change the tyres on a new bike, as they are a relatively cheap purchase and have the biggest effect on performance, much more so than £500 groupset upgrades or whatever. In your case probably yours are very good for certain purposes, i.e. racing (or at least they were in 2002, or whenever), but they are not really what you are looking for by the sounds of it?

You'd have to check the rims you have (the size will be written on), and the type of brake and fork for clearance before fitting a larger tyre. It might well be that you cannot fit anything larger than 28mm, even though probably you'd be happier with 37mm or something like that.

One thing you could try with your current tyres is less pressure. This will help with grip. Go as low as possible within the manufacturers specs. Lower still is often possible but puncture risk is high.

However it might be best to just replace them. Perhaps you could inspect your frame for clearance for larger tyres.

Answer 3

Braking technique

You seem to have hydraulic brakes and do mention that they tend to lock-up easily. This should not be the case. Hydraulic brakes are known to be more progressive (there are some slight variations due to designs and pads). If you lock up the wheels, it may be because you are braking too hard in the first place. Try to be more gentle in your braking by using less fingers. I only use one finger on my disc road bike and can still lock up the wheel fairly easily.

Anticipation

It is advised to increase spacing with other cars by two when driving in the wet. I would argue that cycling should be more (2 wheels, thin tyres). Anticipating slowdowns and obstacles will be the major reason why you won't crash. Riding in the wet requires focus and attention.

Equipment

Better tyres do help...to some extent. As said, riding over a metal plate with a little angle will make you fall no matter what in the wet, but winter tyres will definitely help while riding on other wet surfaces.

I run slicks on my Brompton and have my front wheel often skidding in these conditions.

Answer 4

Possibly a wild guess, but based on experience:

Adjust your brakes so that rear brake bites hard and fast, while front brake is slow and not as strong.

Esp. when you need to brake suddenly, I suppose you'd much rather prefer the rear wheel to slip (sideways if you're in a turn), from which you can recover by putting your foot out, as opposed to front wheel slip, which is almost impossible to recover from.

Of course, make sure your brakes are OK too; it may sound silly, but worn pads or loose/stretched cables are often ignored. IMO, you should be able to lock your rear wheel on dry pavement (whether you choose to is up to you), and should not be able to lock your front in mixed conditions (wet, sand on the road). Really strong front brakes, IMO, are only for serious racers, who want to shave every fraction of a second before going into a turn; they also train to modulate braking. There are also brake force limiter devices both for cabled and hydraulic systems.

Answer 5

I ride motorcycles, therefore this may not be all that relevant. However, if you want my opinion, in addition to other useful suggestions here, note this: if you can't brake using rear brakes alone, you are going too fast. There is a reason why motorcycles costing €20k and more still have separate brakes, which are not automated. The more unfavourable the conditions, the more you have to resort to your rear brakes. This includes all types of obstacles: metal plates, water and ice, holes, dirt etc. You certainly need to change your tires if they are old. But braking technique is certainly the #1 issue in all braking failures!