With the threat of rain hanging over the triathlon that I did over the weekend, I was thinking about this. My question is what it the best way to set up a bike for rainy weather? Is it to not air up the tires as much as usual to increase traction, or to air up tires more to reduce the chance of hydroplanning? I was just wondering.
Rain or shine, I prepare my bike the same way. Race with what you train with. If it rains, clean the bike really good after
I generally go about 10 psi less in the rain. And remember to slow down for corners and brake earlier. Also ride more defensively and be more aware of the riders around you. I’ve seen more than one trigeek crash on a wet course.
See, that was what I was thinking and what I did over the weekend, but a discusion with a co-worker this afternoon made me question the posibilitiy of hydroplanning. Maybe the width of tires is so small that hydroplanning is not too big of a possibility. I’m not sure. Either that or maybe I am over thinking things.
I agree. you’re used to a setup and then you go an change it for a race? If you are careful in the rain, you’ll be fine. Decreasing pressure or doing this or that is going to affect you more than the rain.
Bob
My earlier suggestion of reducing tire pressures goes back to my days of racing go-carts and automobiles. The theory was if you had dedicated rain race tires you were supposed to increase the pressure. If you ran in the rain on regular tires then you were supposed to derease the pressure. Something to do with the difference in construction of the two types of tires.
If this applies to bicycles I have no idea, other than to mention that we don’t have seperate rain/dry tires.
I remember hearing during a rainy tour TTT that the Discovery team reduced the air pressure in their tires so I do the same… I’m still very nervous about going fast in the rain though… come to think of it same in my car… I guess I just have rain anxiety!