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My Hanks are 2.2, but look more like 2.35 wide. There's also a 1.50 and a 2.50 version (the latter being called "Big Hank")
Street tyres.
- Thread starter cyfa2809
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My Continental Avenue Slicks ahve lasted for about 6 years, and only now do I need to replace them after a big lock-up the other day (big kids with big skids 
)
Gong to replace them with some Contact Sports on reading a good review of them on here
G
)Gong to replace them with some Contact Sports on reading a good review of them on here
G
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Yeah, they're full slicks. No thread whatsoever.
The Hanks are dual compound, which means they wear more evenly and roll with surprisingly little resistance whilst providing extreme amounts of grip when cornering.
I've taken them to (and over) the limit quite a few times, and they really let you know when you're nearing the limit. It's hard to explain really, but you feel a sort of vibration in the handlebar and frame, as if they are skidding a few millimeters and then regaining grip.
If you're a complete lunatic and keep pushing, that feedback becomes stronger until they gradually lose grip. So you (usually) have time to detect the slide beginning to happen, and time to catch it when it does let go. Of course a sudden loss of friction (oil or sand on the road) will catch you out, but that's the same with any other tyre really.
The Schwalbes that preceded my Hanks gripped one moment, and then suddenly they lost all grip completely without any indication. That's not the kind of behaviour you want on a bike you ride often.
In the wet the Hanks slide as easily as any threaded road tyre, but there's no need to fear for aquaplaning like in a car.
A bike and rider may weigh a tenth of a car, but the contact patch is less than a 25th of what a car has and it's oval instead of square. So even at 25MPH or more your weight is still pushing the tyre through the water film and onto the road.
Threads on a bicycle tyre may fill up with water and push it to the side, but they don't make the road on the contact patch dry, so they don't really provide extra grip.
Maybe there would be a difference in grip level at higher speeds, but at the speeds a bicycle achieves it's not really measurable.
As an added bonus, I find that a slick doesn't pick up as much water as a threaded tyre's grooves, which means you get less spray on your back if you ride it in the rain without fenders.
On snow and ice (yes, I use them in the winter too) the grip is very limited indeed. However they provide enough feedback to let you know where the limit is and how far from that limit you are. I had a few slides on snow, but always had time to react and as a result I haven't had an off so far. (2 winters so far, third coming up. Around 500 miles done in winter conditions)
I'm pretty sure that knobbed or spiked tyres would make me faster in the snow, but because I don't know their feedback it would be harder to judge where the limit is. I'd be more likely to fall with proper winter tyres than with these slicks.
The Hanks are dual compound, which means they wear more evenly and roll with surprisingly little resistance whilst providing extreme amounts of grip when cornering.
I've taken them to (and over) the limit quite a few times, and they really let you know when you're nearing the limit. It's hard to explain really, but you feel a sort of vibration in the handlebar and frame, as if they are skidding a few millimeters and then regaining grip.
If you're a complete lunatic and keep pushing, that feedback becomes stronger until they gradually lose grip. So you (usually) have time to detect the slide beginning to happen, and time to catch it when it does let go. Of course a sudden loss of friction (oil or sand on the road) will catch you out, but that's the same with any other tyre really.
The Schwalbes that preceded my Hanks gripped one moment, and then suddenly they lost all grip completely without any indication. That's not the kind of behaviour you want on a bike you ride often.
In the wet the Hanks slide as easily as any threaded road tyre, but there's no need to fear for aquaplaning like in a car.
A bike and rider may weigh a tenth of a car, but the contact patch is less than a 25th of what a car has and it's oval instead of square. So even at 25MPH or more your weight is still pushing the tyre through the water film and onto the road.
Threads on a bicycle tyre may fill up with water and push it to the side, but they don't make the road on the contact patch dry, so they don't really provide extra grip.
Maybe there would be a difference in grip level at higher speeds, but at the speeds a bicycle achieves it's not really measurable.
As an added bonus, I find that a slick doesn't pick up as much water as a threaded tyre's grooves, which means you get less spray on your back if you ride it in the rain without fenders.
On snow and ice (yes, I use them in the winter too) the grip is very limited indeed. However they provide enough feedback to let you know where the limit is and how far from that limit you are. I had a few slides on snow, but always had time to react and as a result I haven't had an off so far. (2 winters so far, third coming up. Around 500 miles done in winter conditions)
I'm pretty sure that knobbed or spiked tyres would make me faster in the snow, but because I don't know their feedback it would be harder to judge where the limit is. I'd be more likely to fall with proper winter tyres than with these slicks.
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Do you drop the pressure in the winter Woz? That could be the problem. I keep them at 50psi (3.5 bar) at the front and 58 (4 bar) at the rear all year long.
With knobbly tyres you'll want to lower the pressure to get as many knobs as possible in the snow, but with any sort of slick you'll want to push through it as much as possible.
No lunacy involved in winter riding on slicks. You need to know what you're doing though.
Observe your surroundings (mostly the other road users and how they're dealing with the conditions, what they'll do next, etc) plan every possible move and refrain yourself from doing anything sudden.
IMO the biggest problem with winter riding is all these other people on the road, who don't have a clue what they're doing and think they have grip because they have spiked tyres or a 4x4.
If I don't plan for everything they can do wrong, I might end up having to do evasive manoeuvres, which would be a problem on slicks indeed.
With knobbly tyres you'll want to lower the pressure to get as many knobs as possible in the snow, but with any sort of slick you'll want to push through it as much as possible.
No lunacy involved in winter riding on slicks. You need to know what you're doing though.
Observe your surroundings (mostly the other road users and how they're dealing with the conditions, what they'll do next, etc) plan every possible move and refrain yourself from doing anything sudden.
IMO the biggest problem with winter riding is all these other people on the road, who don't have a clue what they're doing and think they have grip because they have spiked tyres or a 4x4.
If I don't plan for everything they can do wrong, I might end up having to do evasive manoeuvres, which would be a problem on slicks indeed.
OK, slightly off-topic but to respond:
I admire if you can do it and have the confidence, but I'm petrified. At the weekend I was going through ice patches with baldish conti-twisters 1.9" at 40 PSI. Never again I said.
Nokian Hakkapeliitta Extreme 296 are my normal heavy winter tyres. You say you haven't tried them; they are like riding on *ucking rails (to put it mildly) on camber, off camber, corners, ruts, black ice, skating rings, out of saddle climbs and out of saddle descents. You can concentrate on riding, rather than being concerned with staying vertical. So, I'm firmly in the 600 tungsten carbide steel tiped Finnish school thank you very much :!:
In terms of feedback, you get enough at the right time to adjust. A normal tyre would have already slipped with little warning and you are down. I pushed these to see how far they go, they are jaw droppingly good. With some practice and confidence if they loose grip you can hold your line and actually do nothing and let the studs find there own grip again. Rather similar to Panaracer Trailrackers on mud if you know what I mean.
I admire if you can do it and have the confidence, but I'm petrified. At the weekend I was going through ice patches with baldish conti-twisters 1.9" at 40 PSI. Never again I said.
Nokian Hakkapeliitta Extreme 296 are my normal heavy winter tyres. You say you haven't tried them; they are like riding on *ucking rails (to put it mildly) on camber, off camber, corners, ruts, black ice, skating rings, out of saddle climbs and out of saddle descents. You can concentrate on riding, rather than being concerned with staying vertical. So, I'm firmly in the 600 tungsten carbide steel tiped Finnish school thank you very much :!:
In terms of feedback, you get enough at the right time to adjust. A normal tyre would have already slipped with little warning and you are down. I pushed these to see how far they go, they are jaw droppingly good. With some practice and confidence if they loose grip you can hold your line and actually do nothing and let the studs find there own grip again. Rather similar to Panaracer Trailrackers on mud if you know what I mean.
cyfa2809":1aoycs16 said:
The Avenue is pretty slick, despite being labelled "Semi Slick".... however at several years old, the centre patch is totally bald, and they'll be replaced soon
I run a hookworm on the back of my dirt/park/cruiser/bmx thing, and if it werent for the sheer size of the bloody thing (and cost), i'd use them on the Kona. I like skinny slicks
G
