Tell me about grooved pavement

[perniculous]

Where I live in the nordlichlanden there are many miles of grooved pavement. Going over that stuff always feels squirrely and weird. Tire pressure, check. Good tread, check. Any thoughts on warding off the weirdness?

[MANICMECHANIC]

In my humble experience, similar to riding on grating, don't hang onto the bars so tightly. I describe it as not steering the bike, but guiding it, suggesting the desired direction. Gripping the bar firmly feels unnerving in that situation.

[bikerfish1100]

tires with lateral rain grooves (more of a front-to-back pattern, like the old Conti RB-2) tend to track the grooves more... and that feels more weird.
mostly just relax on the bars, and realize that it's only feels weird... but not very likely to actually upset your traction.

[JAMESDUNN]

In my humble experience, similar to riding on grating, don't hang onto the bars so tightly. I describe it as not steering the bike, but guiding it, suggesting the desired direction. Gripping the bar firmly feels unnerving in that situation.

Agree with above. Also, the tires you're using make a difference. Tires with more "linear" designs will tend to chase rain grooves as oppossed to the newer types that feature more asymetrical tread patterns.

[LRider]

Just relax and guide, as said above. You still have lots of traction. If it helps, imagine you are on a gravel road.......

[35634]

Tires can make a HUGE difference. Once you know it's just the rain grooves and not
a flat, loose wheel, oil, cracked frame, steering head bearings, or rider acid flashbacks,
it's not so bad.

[perniculous]

Thanks ya'll!

[Weasel]

Slight acceleration has always tamed them for me.

[perniculous]

Tires can make a HUGE difference. Once you know it's just the rain grooves and not
a flat, loose wheel, oil, cracked frame, steering head bearings, or rider acid flashbacks,
it's not so bad.

I have a set of Dunlop Sportmax on my bike.

[mika]

Where you ride in your lane can make a difference.

In the past I had stretches of grooved pavement as part of my daily commute. I conjunction with the good advice previously given I found myself moving my lane position slightly as I rode these stretches. Over time car and truck traffic takes some of the edge off rain grooves as the road wears in but not uniformly over the width of a lane. Moving my lane position a bit to the left or right put me in the worn part of the road. I still had to apply Manicmechanic's riding technique but found it easier to do so if I watched where I was in my grooved lane.

[jforgo]

Avoid tires with continuous center grooves. This will not obviate, but will help, with the problem. The grooves are cut by different machines, with different groove spacings. So it is not possible to design a tire that works for all rain grooves. If I change tire brands, or bikes, different sections of hiway become more problematic.

Do not death grip - ride looseley.

Maintain your steering head bearings, shocks, forks, swing arm bearings, etc. Keep everything lubed and tight. Sloppy steering head bearings, marginal tires, plus rain grooves could be, um, exciting.

I grew up on the rain grooves.....

[R1100rtP]

Where you ride in your lane can make a difference.

In the past I had stretches of grooved pavement as part of my daily commute. I conjunction with the good advice previously given I found myself moving my lane position slightly as I rode these stretches. Over time car and truck traffic takes some of the edge off rain grooves as the road wears in but not uniformly over the width of a lane. Moving my lane position a bit to the left or right put me in the worn part of the road. I still had to apply Manicmechanic's riding technique but found it easier to do so if I watched where I was in my grooved lane.

I just rode the RT over Trail Ridge Road....couldn't figure out why they had a warning sign at the bottom.....Caution Grooved pavement MM440) Actually it was road repair, and happened to be on a right hand 15 mph switchback. Interesting, but survivable. Metzler Z-6s (I think)

[rottenbiker]

Hey Karol where are you now? need a place to stay? We are down in Loveland