Rubber boots
Rubber boots
Tyres are your only point of contact with the road, and if that surface is wet, grip becomes still more important.
Wider tyres should offer more, and the latest thinking is that they won’t slow you down either. Consider shelving your 23c summer rubber for tyres in a broader 25c or 28c profile when the calendar ticks over.
It’s also worth moving over to a more robust winter tyre for additional puncture protection.
Reinforced belts are de rigueur on winter tyres, and combine with heavier compounds and carcasses (a lower threads-per-inch count will indicate the latter) to keep the stones washed on to the road from penetrating to the inner tube. Failing that, go tubeless – I have.
It is not just in winter where wider tyres are ruling the roost either – as more and more professionals go over to wider tyres, so too are amateurs.
We’ve taken a closer look at some upgrade options here.
Finally, consider lowering your tyre pressures by anything from 15 to 20psi from their summer maximum in the winter.
You’ll be a little slower, but speed is unlikely to top your agenda at that point in the season for a host of reasons, not least safety. Which brings us to…