Avocet Touring Tires

"Trevor Jeffrey" wrote in
:


foldedpath wrote in message ...

And extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. You're the one
claiming you experienced hydroplaning on a bike.

Maybe it would help advance the discussion if you went into more
detail about that? You've mentioned what you think the water depth
was, and your speed. What happened to the bike? Did your rear wheel
suddenly start spinning faster? Did you brake and lock the front wheel
while still moving forward in a straight line? Did you slide out of
control? What led you to think you were hydroplaning?

I was freewheeling downhill, I locked the front wheel with only a
light
touch of the brake, I maintained balance through steering whilst the
front wheel was still locked up without loss of speed. If it was a
skid I'd have pitched over the handlebars. the bike drifted towards
the gutter, so I released brake. There was no snatch at the steering
it took maybe a second for the wheel to get up speed. There where no
leaves dirt or oil, and it was sleeting. If you dont think it's
aquaplaning because there was hail mixed with the rain well that's
your misunderstanding..

Okay, but here's what you wrote before, in describing the circumstances:

Aquaplaning is the term, and certainly has happened to me riding a
bicycle. Speed of about 40mph downhill, sheet of water over the road,
bucketing it down. Apply brakes to slow to negotiate parked car,
bike drifts towards gutter maintaining speed, look down, front wheel
locked so release brakes. Balance was retained with slow response to
steering efforts. Rare but possible.

So this event was initiated by you *braking to slow down* and not as a
result of gradually speeding up to the point where the tires started to
hydroplane.

As I wrote earlier, I've experienced true hydroplaning in a car, and it was
always a result of smooth acceleration to the point where further speed
started the tires planing. If it were possible on a bike (and as I
understand it, it's not), you might expect it to happen in a straight
downhill run where the bike continued to pick up speed. Not when braking.
When you brake, there is always a risk of skidding when the tire/pavement
contact can't support the deceleration force. This is not the same thing as
hydroplaning.

--
Mike Barrs

On Sat, 31 Jul 2004 08:41:49 -0700, Benjamin Lewis
wrote:

Chris B. wrote:

On Thu, 29 Jul 2004 18:46:54 -0400, Sheldon Brown
wrote:

snip
It is very counterintuitive to ride on smooth tires. Most people, when
they see slick tires, the first thing that goes through their head is
the thought that they must be very slippery in wet conditions.

People who comment on the slick tires I use usually seem to think that
the tires are worn to the point of total baldness.

I have a pair of completely slick "Specialized Fatboys" on one of my
bikes. The day after I bought them, someone remarked "wow, you must have
ridden a long way on those!" If he'd looked closer, he would have seen the
seam from the mold down the centre of the tire still visible.

That's a little spooky; those are the tires I use and I also had the
comment made to me soon after I bought them.

I can't help but wonder, are you also good looking? g

"Don DeMair" wrote in message
...
I'm looking for a good touring tire. One that will be puncture resistant,
especially in the rain. I've tried the Specialized Armadillo and was
pretty
happy with it, I may buy it again. The other tire I tried was the
Continental Top Touring. I found this tire to ride a bit harsh.

I would prefer a slick tire (without a tread pattern) because I think the
inverted tread actually catches debris and may lead to more flats. I also
don't believe that tread pattern does anything to improve wet or dry grip
on
the road. And I don't use my touring bike off-road.

Right now, I'm considering the Avocet FasGrip Duro Plus. Probably in a
700x32. Anyone have experience with this tire?

-Don


As the original poster, I thought I'd report that I just received the Avocet
FasGrip Duro Plus tires (from Harris Cyclery). They're exactly the tire I
was looking for. They feel pretty good just going around the block. If
this thread has any life left in it, I'll report back after getting a few
miles on them.

-Don

Don DeMair wrote:
Right now, I'm considering the Avocet FasGrip Duro Plus. Probably in a
700x32. Anyone have experience with this tire?

I have a set with about 150 miles on them. Since they went on a new bike
I can't comment about relative handling, comfort, or perceived rolling
resistance. I can say that they mounted easily on Sun CR-18s and are
providing a satisfactorily comfortable ride at 90psi (along with
everything else I changed, including saddle). They're also quite large
in diameter; it seems like the difference between 23mm and 28mm
(comparing Contis to Roly-Polys) isn't as great as the difference
between the Roly-Polys and the Avocet Duro Pluses.

Honestly the 32mm is probably overkill for an unloaded bike on paved
roads, assuming you're not on the far right tail of the body weight bell
curve. All other things being equal you might look at the 28s.

JLS
--
James "And 0 instances of aquahydroplaning so far" Scott
www.jls.cx

Honestly the 32mm is probably overkill for an unloaded bike on paved
roads, assuming you're not on the far right tail of the body weight bell

curve. All other things being equal you might look at the 28s.

I have 32s on my rendoneusse and it rides like a Cadillac limosine.
Phil Brown

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

In article ,
James Scott wrote:
Don DeMair wrote:
Right now, I'm considering the Avocet FasGrip Duro Plus. Probably in a
700x32. Anyone have experience with this tire?

I have a set with about 150 miles on them. Since they went on a new bike
I can't comment about relative handling, comfort, or perceived rolling
resistance. I can say that they mounted easily on Sun CR-18s and are
providing a satisfactorily comfortable ride at 90psi (along with
everything else I changed, including saddle). They're also quite large
in diameter; it seems like the difference between 23mm and 28mm
(comparing Contis to Roly-Polys) isn't as great as the difference
between the Roly-Polys and the Avocet Duro Pluses.

Honestly the 32mm is probably overkill for an unloaded bike on paved
roads, assuming you're not on the far right tail of the body weight bell
curve. All other things being equal you might look at the 28s.


_ Overkill maybe, but it sure is nice to finish a century without
your neck, back and arms screaming. I say if your bike can fit
32's and your not a slave to the cyclocomputer, you should try
a pair. Then you can through away all that useless gel stuff.

_ Booker C. Bense

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Right now, I'm considering the Avocet FasGrip Duro Plus. Probably in a
700x32. Anyone have experience with this tire?

Yeah. We went to Europe on our tandem last year with the K version of
this tire in the 700x32 size.
(http://www.geocities.com/piawandlisa/trip2003.html) The rear tire
wore out about 6 months after we came back, at around 3200 miles. I
moved the front to the rear and it's still going strong, after a 700
mile Colorado tour, about half of which was with a load.

Interestingly enough, for local rides we use the 700x28 size of the
same tire, and that wears out a lot faster (especially considering
that we don't usually carry a heavy load on our local rides) at around
1600 miles.

Team weight is 230 pounds, 270 pounds with bike. If you weigh less
than this and don't carry excessive load you should get more mileage
out of this tire. We've been very happy with the tires and will
proceed to buy more as we wear out our supply.