Message #15523

[Svend]

Slippery when wet 

Nice looking trail, though.  Very lush and green.  Must be a nice tonic after a stressful day as Gandalf   

Seriously, you should look at using lower tire pressures.  If you hit a root like that, wet, on an angle, with rock-hard tires, I could see why the tire would just deflect right off and not grab.  That, and as you said, slow it down a bit, hit the root more square, yank up on the bars just as you hit, and you're good.  Even a Buick can't absorb all impacts     (duck!!!)

That's tricky stuff, though, if it's wet.  A web of roots like that is like riding on ice, it can be so slippery.  We used to have Panaracer Smoke and Dart tires on our old bikes, which had aggressive tread blocks and were pretty good at going over stuff like that in the wet.  Not sure if the present tires would be that good -- the tread patterns don't give me much confidence for those conditions....great when it's dry, but we haven't really tested them fully in the wet.  Somehow, I don't think they would measure up.....