Tires, Brakes, or Driver?

[whodatpat]

I ride my bike rain or shine. I try to be careful rain or shine. My back tire scares the hell out of me. The front is a Dunlop something or another with a lot of tread and good grip. The rear tire is a Chengshang Barracuda something or another. They are both almost new. The rear tire has this squiggly S down the middle that seems to want to throw the back of the bike from left to right when I drive on ground asphalt. (Like when they are getting ready to redo it.) It also does that on those tar/road snakes, but they are probably a nuisance for any tire.
Anyhow the big problem is that when wet, it seems like the rear tire just loves to lock up. It is scary as hell. Any light pressure on the rear break and it locks right up. Only taping the break repeatedly and very lightly give me any rear break. Rear breaks seam to work fine on dry pavement.
Any thoughts?
Patrick

[SqDancerLynn1]

GET a decient tire. Cheng Shin are the bottom of the barrel

[Anonymous]

Rear breaks seam to work fine on dry pavement.

If the rear brake does not lock up prematurely or very easily on dry pavement, but it is really bad in the wet it has to be your tire. Some tires do not like rain, or cold, or whatever. And this one may not like the rain much. Next time it's wet out, try spinning the tire under acceleration in 1st gear. If it lights up easily and is hard to get hooked up again, then that is the problem.

Mark

[Anonymous]

Avons or Continentals.Inexpensive,good grip and good mileage! 8)

[bwringer]

I currently use Cheng Shin HiMax tires, and they have great grip wet or dry -- ask anyone who followed me on the Southern Indiana SCUBA ride!

The front looks like a Metzeler Laser (distinctive chevron pattern), and the back has an angular pattern of large tread blocks.

Here they are on CRCII's site:

http://www.crc2onlinecatalog.com/tires.htm

CS used to be the bottom of the barrel, true, but their current HiMax tires are pretty dang good tires and an excellent value. They have great grip and last pretty well, too. It sounds like you have an old CS tire, or at least an older model.

In fact, I often replace my tires sooner than I could otherwise because the CS HiMaxes are so inexpensive and because CRC2 always keeps them in stock (CRC2 is only about 20 minutes away from my office). I hate riding around on square tires!

Dunlops are nice but horribly overpriced. I've had balance problems with expensive Metzelers, but they seem to have good grip. Contis and Avons are a little bit more reasonably priced, but I haven't tried them. Bridgestone Spitfires have pretty good grip, but they wear out very quickly.

[Anonymous]

Used to use Avons,really rate them,but Contis are cheaper over here and are mucho underrated!I've been using them for years now,no complaints!

[redliner1973]

I use Dunlops both front and rear, which, by the way, is a good practice to use the same brand on both wheels.

[Anonymous]

I put on Dunlop GT501s on this summer and like them a lot. For both front and rear, I paid about $250. That was through my dealer and covered everything: tires, mounting, balancing. That seemed pretty reasonable to me.

[whodatpat]

Thanks everyone. Since I have a Dunlop on the front with less than 1,000 miles on it, I will look up the matching Dunlop rear and buy it. Still gotta be cheaper than replacing both in Avon or others recomended. The bike came to me with a nearly bald front and this New CS Baracuda on the back. Little did I know that they about of equal value at that time. I replaced the Front tire with the best tire I could aford on the shelf at my local cycle shop which is how I got the Dunlop.
Glad top hear it is not likely my braking ability or worse than that a trait of the GS.
Patrick

[Anonymous]

I had the same tire on the back of my last bike and it's manners in the wet definatlely left something to be desired.

[jonr]

I've got Dunlop 491s on the front and back and I like them quite a bit in the rain. I got my back tire + mounting for about $120. I've seen them around on the web starting at about $70 (depends on size and if front or back).

I've had three different shops tell me to run matched tires!

-Jon

[KGB]

Which model?
You should consider getting the same model Dunlop.
Personally I run the GT501's on my S model.
Love them, greta in rain, handling is great, god wear.

The E has some IRC brand, matched set. They're "ok', but not as good as the Dunlops.

Thanks everyone. Since I have a Dunlop on the front with less than 1,000 miles on it, I will look up the matching Dunlop rear and buy it. Still gotta be cheaper than replacing both in Avon or others recomended. The bike came to me with a nearly bald front and this New CS Baracuda on the back. Little did I know that they about of equal value at that time. I replaced the Front tire with the best tire I could aford on the shelf at my local cycle shop which is how I got the Dunlop.
Glad top hear it is not likely my braking ability or worse than that a trait of the GS.
Patrick

[Anonymous]

All the above are right on track, but there is one other possibility you might consider. Try lowering your rear air pressure. Sometimes an overinflated tire will have the handling characteristics you mention - and it doesn't matter what the sidewall recomendations are.

Just a thought.
Trail Rider

[Anonymous]

It is possible that there is a problem with the brakes. Wet brakes can grab. One thing to try is to ride the brake to warm it up and dry it off. If the wheel still locks up, it's probably the tire. But if the lock up problem gets better, it may be time to think about new brake pads. I think modern brake materials are much better than that which came with the bikes way back when.