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Getting solid snow of tyres?
morcus - 19/12/10 at 07:50 AM

On my drive too work last night there was alot of loose snow which sort of stuck to the tyres. I kicked some of before work, but when I finished this morning what was left had turned into fairly solid Ice. I Got what I could off by kicking it and with a broom but there was still alot. The stuff on the front pretty much just fell off when I started driving but the stuff on the back (non powered) wheels just stuck giving me an essentially flat slippery surface over the tyre.

Any suggestions for getting this stuff off for future reference?

zilspeed - 19/12/10 at 07:56 AM

It's not something which has ever occured to me as a problem to be honest.

We get a reasonable amount of snow up here too. I dug the reamining snow at over 2ft deep out of my drive yesterday.

I woudn't worry about it.
You'll be driving at much reduced speed and treating the controls as if they are made of glass anyway, so a bit less grip on the back isn't really a problem.

nice and steady

cliftyhanger - 19/12/10 at 10:11 AM

soften the tyres up, that will allow more flex and break the solid layer up.
Just remember to re-inflate when the snow has gone.

( softer tyres seem to give better traction in cruddy conditions, when doing PCT events they give a minimum tyre pressure, sometimes as low as 10psi )

blakep82 - 19/12/10 at 10:38 AM

once you get moving, won't the wheels turning flick the ice out anyway? surely the ice only packs in when you slow down to stop?

PSpirine - 19/12/10 at 11:30 AM

It'll all fall off.. don't forget how much your tyre flexes every time you go over any imperfection in the road (Ice doesn't do that!). If you're worried just drive (slowly) onto a kerb or over a speed bump the ice will crack and fall off.

The least of your worries when it comes to this weather I think!

mcerd1 - 19/12/10 at 12:15 PM

as above it'll soon fall off once you get moving

quote:
Originally posted by PSpirine
It'll all fall off.. don't forget how much your tyre flexes every time you go over any imperfection in the road (Ice doesn't do that!). If you're worried just drive (slowly) onto a kerb or over a speed bump the ice will crack and fall off.


never mind imperfection's in the road, you should see how much they flex when they are just running normally

think about the little flat/squashed contact patch on the bottom of the tyre - now imagine you could sit at a fixed point on the tyre as it rolls round - what you'd see is the bit of the tyre your on squash as it gets to the ground (as the weight comes on if you like), then spring back as it lifts off the fround again - its actually this flexing that causes most of the heat in the tyres

Paul TigerB6 - 19/12/10 at 03:14 PM

quote:
Originally posted by PSpirine
It'll all fall off.. don't forget how much your tyre flexes every time you go over any imperfection in the road (Ice doesn't do that!). If you're worried just drive (slowly) onto a kerb or over a speed bump the ice will crack and fall off.


Just drive down most roads in the UK - the potholes will do the same job!!