Traction

Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Glossary · letter T
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The frictional force that keeps a tire from skidding. A tire with good traction will be less likely to skid.

The traction of a tire is affected by:

• The composition of the rubber of the tire
  Softer rubber gives better traction, but wears out sooner.
• The nature of the road or other surface
  Paved or unpaved, wet or dry, hard or soft, smooth or bumpy.
• The tire pressure
  • If the tire is too soft, it can "squirm" and deform itself so that it will not track properly when making turns.
  • If the tire is too hard, it will bounce excessively on rough surfaces, bounding from bump to bump, spending too much time airborne.
• The shape and depth of the tire tread
  This is mainly a concern in the case of tires for off-road use, where a knobby tire can get a bite of a soft or irregular surface.
  For pavement riding, smooth tires get as good traction as those with tread, sometimes better. Aggressive knobby-tread tires corner very poorly on pavement, because the tall knobs bend sideways under stress.

Copyright © 1996, 2008 Sheldon Brown

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