Best Bicycle tires

The bicycle tyre generally consists of three different components and these are the tread, bead core and carcass. The bead core is made of steel wire and as a stiffening element it ensures that the tyre fits securely on the rim. The bead core is only made of resilient, flexible materials such as Kevlar for folding tyres. The carcass is made of nylon and with up to 120 threads per inch it contributes fundamentally to the smooth running characteristics and puncture safety. The TPI or EPI value plays a decisive role because it indicates how many steel threads were used per inch of fabric. 120 as the value corresponds to the best running properties of a bicycle tyre. However, the many thin nylon threads also increase the susceptibility to breakdowns. 67 or 50 TPI are optimal. The tread is applied to the carcass, which consists of rubber and textile. It maintains its profile during vulcanization inside the oven. In order to reduce the risk of a puncture, various manufacturers offer puncture inserts for tyres. Special nylon or rubber layers have thus been incorporated into the tyres and the piercing of splinters and nails can be prevented inside the tyre. Due to the additional layer, however, the weight of the tires is also higher and so the racing bikes usually do without the puncture pad.

The exact rubber compound is also crucial and important, as it has a significant influence on tread wear, adhesion to the surface, durability and running resistance. With different compounds, the manufacturers try to produce the optimum bicycle tyre for every requirement. There are many components in rubber compounds and these are antioxidants, dyes, vulcanizers, fats and oils as plasticizers, fillers such as chalk or carbon black and rubber. Rubber is often synthetically produced or natural. Rubber accounts for about 40 to 60 percent, fillers for 15 to 30 percent and the remaining 20 to 35 percent. With mountain bikes there is rather the solid rubber compound, which still offers sufficient grip even on rough terrain. Often the racing bikes have two sets of tires, one of which is soft and used for rainy weather. This allows the best possible adhesion to be achieved. In the case of the manufacturers’ much-tested and ingenious rubber compounds, it is important that they can be quite expensive. However, this also promises better driving comfort and considerably longer mileage.

The weight of a wheel tyre is determined by its type of construction. The clincher tyres are the standard and offer a good compromise between weight, puncture resistance and stability. The tubular tyres, however, do not have wire reinforcement and they are therefore glued directly to a rim. Although they are significantly lighter, there is a loss in overall tyre stability and puncture safety. Tubeless tyres are tubeless tyres and by far the lightest. The tyre and rim are sealed against each other. The disadvantage of this story is that there are special tires and rims for these bicycle tires. The right tread pattern is important, which is chosen for each requirement and this depends on the surface on which the bicycle tyres are used. Mostly the racing bikes have tires with little profile, because they are mostly ridden on rather slippery roads and therefore should be caused accordingly little rolling resistance. Due to the low tread depth, no aquaplaning can occur on the bicycles, unlike with motorised vehicles. Converted, the contact pressure is finally higher. The grip of the almost treadless tyre is therefore unbeatable even on wet roads. On a mountain bike, however, the tires are heavily profiled so that the largest possible toothing and surface is brought onto the often impassable ground. This is important in order to transmit braking and steering forces and thus make the bicycle controllable. Before the purchase, it is therefore always determined what demands are made on the surfaces of the bicycle tyres. The advantages of treadless tyres are cancelled out by already dirty roads and tread tyres can perform much better here. This is also the case for dirt roads. However, if the mixture of off-road and road driving is desired, it may be worth choosing a suitable all-round tyre. Both tyre types are combined to the good compromise and so there is the treaded outside and the treadless centre.

As with car tyres, there are also significant differences in bicycle tyres in terms of mileage. This is primarily dependent on different environmental influences. What is important is what the underground is like. Compared to stony terrain, bicycle tyres last longer on a slippery road. It is also important what kind of weather the tyres are exposed to. Cold, snow and rain, but also heat and sun can have a strong influence on how long the tyres remain healthy. Also important is how fast the driving style is. After all, the tyre is exposed to high loads during hard braking manoeuvres and fast cornering. Another question is always the tyre pressure. If the air pressure is too low, the side walls in particular are subjected to above-average demands and then tear open easily. With normal bicycle tyres, the mileage is around 2000 to 5000 kilometres. Some tyres, however, are designed for a particularly long service life and can even cover 5000 to 16000 kilometres without damage. However, if there is any doubt as to whether the ripeness is still intact, it is best to replace it. At the latest when the carcass threads or the puncture protection ply at the tread are visible, then the tyres should be better replaced. In addition, the sidewalls of the tyres should be checked at regular intervals. Due to the high lateral load, these can often tear off unnoticed. This is also possible due to low tyre pressure.