Tyre Tread

Tyre Tread

Whether you are a mountain biker, commuter or road cyclist, tyre tread plays an important role in the enjoyment and efficiency of your ride. There are a number of general styles of tread, and they all have a specific purpose and rider in mind.

Designed for road riders, commuters and cycle tourers, road slicks are essential devoid of a tread pattern. Any pattern they do have is for cutting through water on rain soaked roads. This slick pattern gives the tyre minimum rolling resistance, and maximum efficiency, while still giving excellent grip on sealed surfaces, even in the wet.

These are tyres that are in between slicks and knobbly tyres, and generally have a slick centre section of tread, with knobbly edges or have a very low, large section tread pattern. These tyres are great for people who ride on a mixture of sealed and unsealed roads and grass and are also well suited to commuters and cycle tourists, especially when considering the variation of road surfaces in New Zealand. They also come in a good range of widths, from as narrow as 32mm (700C size) or 1.35" (26" MTB size) up to 45mm or 1.95", so riders can balance between efficiency and comfort.Inverted Tread: A form of semi slick, these tyres are designed with an inverted tread and have less rolling resistance than those with any type of regular tread, but offer more grip—and rolling resistance—than slicks. Again, a good tyre for sealed and unsealed surfaces, these tyres tend to only come in wider widths, giving them a comfortable ride.

There are many different knobbly tread patterns; all designed for specific trail situations. More tread, and bigger knobs, typically means more grip—but also more rolling resistance. So you'll need to balance your need for speed with your desire for grip. As a general guide:

• Smaller and more numerous knobs are faster and suitable for smooth hard packed trails.
• Taller knobs offer more grip in technical terrain like roots and rocks.
• Wider sturdy paddle-like knobs are best for soft and loose trail conditions, like sand and loose dirt.
• Tyres designed for mud have larger, widely-spaced knobs so that mud sheds from the tire. Otherwise you'll essentially be running slicks when mud gets packed between the knobs!

When you're shopping for knobbly tyres, remember that you don’t have to use the same tyre on the front and rear wheels. Using different tread pattern tyres is a great way to fine tune the feel and ride of your bike in different conditions. One possible combination would be to use a tyre with larger knobs on the front to give you more cornering grip; and a tyre with smaller, lower knobs on the rear to give you maximum acceleration. Also, some tyres have front and rear specific tread on the same tyre. Simply by changing the direction in which the tyre is mounted, the rolling resistance and grip characteristics of the tyre can be changed. Remember to mount these tyres with the tread facing the proper direction for front or rear. This can be checked by looking at the sidewall of the tyre for an arrow that points in the correct rotational direction.

Written by: Lewis Thorogood
Hedgehog Bikes Onehunga