Should new tyres really be that slippery!!

[ellipsis]

The last rear I put on was a new brand for me. My usual tentative ride through town and then the 75 k ride home on highway has always been enough to have it well scuffed up enough but a hundred k's later it was still letting go a bit. It was still bloody near shiny. I sanded fuck out of it and it was cool. My girl had the same tyre put on hers and it was scrubbed in almost immediately. No rhyme nor reason to that. Funny and amazing things tyres. All that technology and weight and expectation riding on them comes down to a 50mm patch of one sticking to the road, constantly. A big ask if they have slippery shit still on them from off the shelf.

[pritch]

when I arrived to pickup the bike he told me that they were unable to get the Road Attack tyres and so upgraded me for free to a much better and more expensive tyre - which he called a Z8 ??

You are not the first to have this experience. I saw a guy dump a Blackbird having just left the shop - and he was being very careful. Thing is that the tyres are sprayed with silicone to make it easier to get them out of the mould. Silicone is about as slippery as it gets. Having seen what happened to the guy on the Blackbird I ride paranoid until I can see wear across the tyre. I even resorted to sandpaper once.

Sometimes I wonder if the bike shops shouldn't do more than just warn people, like f'rinstance clean the tyre? Then again new tyres bring in extra business.

And yes, the Metzeler Z8 is a serious upgrade over a Continental.

[Frodo]

And yes, the Metzeler Z8 is a serious upgrade over a Continental.

Others have commented on the release compound being slippery.
I'd respond to Pritch's comment about the Z8. I normally ride Continentals, but damaged my rear tyre on a trip around the South island and had to buy a Z8 as the only 180 tyre in the shop. It has a very rigid carcass and quite a hard compound, and is not great in the wet. Getting about 50% more miles, but I'll replace it before the tread is gone. Probably better on heavier bikes than mine

[EJK]

Why are these dangerous slippery tyres even allowed? The NZ gubermint should band them! Ban all tyres I say!

[Honest Andy]

Huh? Metzlers wear more on the right because of road camber? But only on the front?!? Is this with your feet up or down...?
Sorry casinna but I think you're making shit up again...

[Crasherfromwayback]

I wonder if the axel nut was done up properly as acceleration could cause the axel to shift causing the slide out. Did grease come off on the hands of poster 1 when he examined the tire? If not it would likely be grease on the road he did not see.

Crawl back under your rock.

[Grumph]

I'm with bob, brake clean will not damage the tyres. Racers have one lap to scrub tyres, and in the bad old days much brake clean was expended with no damage to the tyres.

Holden saw us doing the pre race clean off and immediately stopped us doing it for him....

His warmup laps had to be seen to be believed.

[Mike.Gayner]

I'm not sure what OP wants to hear - new tyres are slippery. The shop warned you they're slippery. You still slipped over on them. There's only so much one can do.

[Zedder]

Dog bowler - trolling in disguise!

[M.H]

I'm not sure what OP wants to hear - new tyres are slippery. The shop warned you they're slippery. You still slipped over on them. There's only so much one can do.

I dont think they were expecting them to be that slippy, maybe someone else has sprayed something on them. Ive only ridden on brand new tyres twice and cant say I noticed them being that slippy

[YellowDog]

I'm not sure what OP wants to hear - new tyres are slippery. The shop warned you they're slippery. You still slipped over on them. There's only so much one can do.

I agree it was definitely pilot error

Another lesson for said pilot: Even partially warn tyres can slip in such situations. After 20m, the tyres will be stone cold and it is not until they have warmed up significantly that you should expect some degree of reasonable grip around bends and when moving off

[Maha]

''The back wheel suddenly lost traction and slid out to the left. As I instinctively turned into the slide to try to correct it the bike jerked back to the left, flipping me off over the front and onto the road with my bike crunching down next to me on it's left side''

Sorry, don't mean to laugh but the video image in my head is screamingly funny.

When a bike does shit like that, instinctively you should let it do it's own thing, there is very good chance it will right itself.

[Rizzo]

I agree it was definitely pilot error

Another lesson for said pilot: Even partially warn tyres can slip in such situations. After 20m, the tyres will be stone cold and it is not until they have warmed up significantly that you should expect some degree of reasonable grip around bends and when moving off

Thanks YellowDog. When you get the time can you please explain to me how a rider is meant to be able to 'warm up the tyres' when the bike slides out from underneath him after 25m? Short of taking off my clothes and spooning them on the roadside that is! Still crying in another beer

[Zedder]

The last time I bought tyres at Cycletreads Akld, 3 months ago, Dave made a point of telling me to "ride around the carpark a couple of times" before heading off.

I'd never been told that before although the sales receipt has the caution about tyres needing to be scrubbed in.

[YellowDog]

Thanks YellowDog. When you get the time can you please explain to me how a rider is meant to be able to 'warm up the tyres' when the bike slides out from underneath him after 25m? Short of taking off my clothes and spooning them on the roadside that is! Still crying in another beer

You're welcome

Put it down to inexpensive experience. Cold tyres don't grip. Cold new tyres, with the oil like residue coating, grip even less. The next time you buy tyres, you will be more careful. Your description of the incident indicates that you should have moved off more gently than you did.

I got caught in a similar way myself a few years back. My usual ride home was clogged up with traffic, so instead of the tyres being warm, they were still cold. This was after around 300 metres. I pulled out into the roundabout and quickly found myself giving a fairly reasonable rendition of ' Lord of the Dance', before hitting the deck.

I bet you won't repeat the same mistake next time you get new tyres

Good luck and I hope the repair bill is not too severe