We all know that bicycle tires not only carry the weight of the whole bike, but also play the role of shock absorption and cushioning, so it is one of the important parts of the bike and has a direct impact on the handling, comfort and safety of the bike.
If you want to have a deeper understanding of bike tires, you need to start with bicycle tire tread pattern.
Bicycles can go almost anywhere, covering almost any type or riding conditions you can think of, freshly paved smooth and flat tarmac, muddy mountain bike trails, slippery roads after rain, snowy world adventures and so on, while there are many tires to choose from depending on these road conditions.
Why is a tread pattern engraved on a tire?
Simply put, it is to increase the adhesion of the wheel to the ground, so that it can move forward better.
The so-called “increased adhesion to the ground” is slightly different from what we generally think of as “increased friction with the ground.”
From a scientific point of view, the adhesion here not only refers to the tire on the normal urban asphalt road on the impact of friction, but also refers to the effect of the tread pattern in special circumstances.
For example, if it has just rained and there is a layer of water on the road; if it has just frosted and there is a layer of dust or fine sand on the road, the nature of the road conditions has changed and a layer of “lubricant” – water, ice, or gravel – has been added.
In this case, when braking, the bicycle tire tread pattern on the ground is rub, water, sand, etc. scraped to the groove of the pattern, thrown to the side, maintaining good contact between the road and the wheels, so that the friction between the wheels and the ground is not affected, or in this case, to increase the friction between the tires and the ground.
This is why we have been reminding car enthusiasts that when stones and mud blocks are embedded in the tread of the tire, they must be cleaned up in time.
What is the role of bicycle tire tread pattern?
Bicycle tire tread pattern not only determines the usage characteristics of the tire, but also determines the grip, rolling speed and noise of the tire.
We used to divide them into three main categories: universal, high off-road and combined tread pattern. And their geometries are about 5 kinds of longitudinal straight line, transverse straight line, diagonal line, block shape and mixed type.
We can easily tell which role the tire favors by the shape of the tread or rubber block on the tire surface.
Bicycle tire tread pattern - universal tread pattern
The universal bicycle tire tread pattern, also known as the road tread pattern, is one of the earliest and most commonly used.
For example, longitudinal linear and serrated patterns commonly found on road bike tires are also called silent patterns because they eliminate noise.
Bicycle tire tread pattern - high-cross tread pattern
The high track bicycle tire tread pattern is designed for bikes that travel in the wilderness and on soft terrain. High trail patterns have large blocks with wide, deep mud-chewing grooves for excellent grip while driving.
For example, the bias pattern makes tires less likely to get mud, mud, gravel, etc., so they can travel well in mud.
Bicycle tire tread pattern - combined tread pattern
Combined tread pattern tires have both the jagged pattern of road bicycle tire tread pattern and deep block particles on the surface, and they can run on both hard and stone gravel surfaces, as well as loose, muddy and icy surfaces.
The tread pattern affects the tire in many ways, sometimes even contradicting each other.
Therefore, from the design point of view, for some design parameters, you can not do everything, the pursuit of the best, only according to the use of bicycle tires to highlight the focus, optimize the choice.
Front tire with flat (bald) outside tire+ rear tire with protruding outside tire = flat road and off-road.
What size bike tire do I need?
Tires come in a variety of diameters and widths, and finding a replacement tire starts by looking at the sidewall of the current tire. There are usually two numbers on the sidewall with an “x” in the middle (e.g. 700×23 or 29×2.3).
The first number represents the diameter of the bicycle tire and the second number is the width of the bicycle tire in millimeters or inches.
The effect of tire compound
The formula of the tire compound has always been the secret of the tire manufacturer, the compound formula will affect the characteristics of the tire, such as softness, wear resistance, resilience, internal resistance and other factors.
Because the softness and resilience will affect the deformation of the tire, and then produce hysteresis loss, increase rolling resistance and so on.
So in the tire will begin to add some special materials to improve these problems, such as the silicon dioxide material that we have all heard of, but the most used part is still on the tire of the engine, although some products will be used in the bicycle tire, but the proportion is small.
Now, will readers be able to learn what the tires on your bike do?
In fact, the design of road tires will change less, because of the weight of the relationship, so basically are the central flat, there are some bicycle tire tread pattern on both sides of the design, may be woven, may also be small particles, so almost every brand is similar, and off-road tire changes are more.
But in summary, the deeper the groove and the larger the particles, the better the control and drainage may be, and the shallower the pattern, the lower the weight and rolling resistance, and the difference in degree will be the strength of the design of various manufacturers.
What is the proper tire pressure for a bicycle?
Tire pressure has a great impact on the performance characteristics of a tire. You can find the recommended bicycle tire pressure marked with PSI (pounds per square inch) on the sidewall of the tire.
It can be listed as a range, maximum or minimum. Tire pressure depends heavily on the model and size, so unfortunately there is no universal bicycle tire pressure chart.
Mountain bike tires have a very different PSI than road bike tires. Mountain bike tires are much larger and therefore require much less total tire pressure, while road bike tires are much smaller and therefore require much more pressure.
Conclusion
Tires are an important part of bicycles, and bicycle tire tread patterns are varied.
After this article gives a certain guide, how to choose the most suitable bicycle tire tread pattern is based on different needs.
We SAMEBIKE can offer the perfect bike option for you.
