What happened to the dual compound tires?

[Veloo]

Just realized the other day that I don't see them anymore. They were popular for bit - Michelins, Fortezza Tricomps.

Were they found to not really have the extra cornering grip that they claimed?

[wallymann]

i found that the rubber carcass would sometimes split where the compounds interfaced.

[GregL]

i found that the rubber carcass would sometimes split where the compounds interfaced.
I had this experience too. My team was sponsored by Maxxis in 2006. Not only were their top end road tires fragile in general, but the seams between the compounds inevitably split before the tires were worn down.

Greg

[Mark McM]

Just realized the other day that I don't see them anymore. They were popular for bit - Michelins, Fortezza Tricomps.

Were they found to not really have the extra cornering grip that they claimed?


Like the others said, dual compound tires often had problems with the treads splitting (or separating from the tire), and are more difficult to manufacture.

As far as the "cornering grip" claims, I doubt that they were any more than marketting angles. The reason I say that is because there is scant objective data on cornering grip on any bicycle tires. In addition to there being so many variables that affect cornering grip (road surface, pressure, temperature, etc.), cornering grip on bicycles is very hard to measure. High pressure road tires have very little slip angle, and there is very little region between gripping and slipping, and slipping easily results in crashing. Which means that testing cornering grip would mean a lot of crashing. So very, very few ever actually do any real testing of bicycle tire cornering grip.

Plus, I'm not sure of the validity that bicycle tires only need maximum traction when cornering. Traction is also required when braking, particularly on the rear wheel, where traction is usually the limit of rear braking.

Finally, many of the more recent tire tread compounds, such as Continental's Black Chili compound, appears to improve both rolling resistance and traction (in one of the few published tire traction tests, Tour Magazine found the tires with the best traction were Continental tires with Black Chili compound).

[Jaybee]

I know this discussion is primarily centered around road tires, but dual compound tires are still common for MTB. I can definitely feel when a Minion has worn past the sticky compound into the hard compound. You start to slip on rocks and roots that you never had issues with before.

[fmradio516]

I know this discussion is primarily centered around road tires, but dual compound tires are still common for MTB. I can definitely feel when a Minion has worn past the sticky compound into the hard compound. You start to slip on rocks and roots that you never had issues with before.

Experiencing this now with my minions. glad its not just me. time to replace, i guess.

And yes in MTB theres 3 and i sometimes 4 compounds