[en] A method is proposed to perform comparative measurements of the coefficient of friction, either in cold water (25⁰C) or in hot pressurized water (240⁰C). For the purpose, a pin-on-disc tribometer, working with no force transducer, in which the coefficient of friction μ is measured through an angle 0, and given by μ=K sin 0 is used. The method is presently applied to the determination of the incipient friction along a distance of few millimetres. At low speed (1 mm/s) and with light contacts loads (from 50 to 150 g), two different friction mechanisms are observed for the following couples of materials; Zircalloy 2/304L stainless steel, Zirconium Niobium 2.5/304L stainless steel, 304L stainless steel/304L stainless steel. The first mechanism, which is observed essentially in cold conditions, is characterized by a regular sliding since friction starts, whereas the second appears mostly in hot conditions and shows peaks of friction with irregular and scattered values of μ. These two mechanisms seem to be related to intermetallic affinity of the mating materials, and also to the existence of preoxydized surface layers, and, to a large extent, to the change in the water viscosity. In such conditions, it appears that it is not possible to replace friction experiments in hot water by easier experiments in cold water