Weight Weenies

Just got a pair of these tyres and I’ve now completely over thought the rolling direction and can’t decide which way to put them on, no sign of any directional arrows on the tyre and the instructions supplied are generic clincher mounting ones...

Help

Modern, asymmetric tread design for the best speed and grip in the riding direction

Tread on road bike tires is pretty much all marketing.. just make sure you get them both the same for the instagrams

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Haha, the bike will obviously be fully prepped for social media!

Normally I’d agree and just bang ‘em on but these have treads on one side, it’s difficult to tell from my photo but you can just about make it out. I don’t think it’ll make that much difference TBH but I’m not sure my fragile ego could cope with someone pointing out they’re on backwards once I’m on the boards

Ropey pic of it on the rim,

It's a bifunctional tire. A smooth tread is more popular (not necessarily better) on a wood track, while a textured thread is more popular (not necessarily better) on concrete. This tire is designed so you can choose which tread is used. The tread difference is only of value on the banking. On the straights, you'll be on the center smooth area and that's typically the most effective. They used to make two different tires, one with smooth tread and one with texture. For those who go OCD on such things, you pick just one tire and mount it accordingly. The greatest effect is often on the front wheel, so if you travel to different tracks you can just turn your front wheel around to pick the optimal tread if you want to be so detailed.

pista means track, so assuming you loop anticlockwise on a track, stick whichever side you want to grip on the inner part of the track... I'd say keep the pattern on the left side.

On the road it makes no difference

11.4 wrote:It's a bifunctional tire. A smooth tread is more popular (not necessarily better) on a wood track, while a textured thread is more popular (not necessarily better) on concrete. This tire is designed so you can choose which tread is used. The tread difference is only of value on the banking. On the straights, you'll be on the center smooth area and that's typically the most effective. They used to make two different tires, one with smooth tread and one with texture. For those who go OCD on such things, you pick just one tire and mount it accordingly. The greatest effect is often on the front wheel, so if you travel to different tracks you can just turn your front wheel around to pick the optimal tread if you want to be so detailed.

Thanks man! I’ll likely only be using it on one indoor track, some details from Vittoria would have been nice!

whosatthewheel wrote:pista means track, so assuming you loop anticlockwise on a track, stick whichever side you want to grip on the inner part of the track... I'd say keep the pattern on the left side.

On the road it makes no difference

Who doesn't ride counterclockwise?

And the part that needs to stick is on the outside, not the inside. Pick your tread and put that on the RIGHT.

This is a great opportunity for an experiment: If you have steep enough turns, see how slowly you can ride until the treaded side starts slipping down the track. Then reverse the tires and try it again. I'd love to know if there's a difference greater than the margin of error (~1-2 mph).

Manchester velodrome has tire recommendations obviously based on what sticks and what doesn't:

http://www.nationalcyclingcentre.com/tr ... ification/

It sounds like tread compound is more crucial than tread pattern, for wood anyway.

PJCM wrote:Manchester velodrome has tire recommendations obviously based on what sticks and what doesn't:

http://www.nationalcyclingcentre.com/tr ... ification/

It sounds like tread compound is more crucial than tread pattern, for wood anyway.

That's correct. We don't have too many of them any longer, but there used to be lots of tires with yellow or red tread, or tires with a very narrow black center tread and colored sidewalls that went almost to the centerline. Those rubbers tend to harden and don't grip as well even when fresh, so you're prone to slipping with them if riding slow on the bankings. Similarly, smaller tires (which used to be the norm) make you prone to slipping. And whatever tire you use, scuff the surface with sandpaper or by riding around the apron for a while, and always clean the tire off with vinegar or rubbing alcohol (I prefer the latter). If you've never ridden a wooden track, there's a lot of very fine wood fuzz that sticks to the rubber of your tires, making them slippery. There's generally a lot of dust on some tracks, which tends to do the same. It pays to clean your tires constantly -- the alcohol will evaporate and dry very quickly and if you spray some 90% Isopropyl alcohol (versus 70%, which is rubbing isopropyl alcohol) and then wipe the tire off with a towel, you'll have fewer problems with slipping or with punctures.

As I indicated above, the general view is to use a smooth tread on wood tracks and textured tread on concrete, but it's really questionable whether there's a difference between them. Track riding is as prone to voodoo and myths as any other kind of cycling.

Some of that comes from the bad old days of colored tires that completely lacked carbon black. Carbon black helped grip in dry weather but was absolutely critical for grip in the wet. Since tires have moved to silica instead of carbon black, it's possible to have colored tires that actually grip. Still, when in doubt, run black tires.

11.4 makes some good points about both good practice and voodoo. Some of the good practice he mentions as to do with the mold-release compound that comes embedded in new tires. Grip is low-ish until the mold-release is gone, and scuffing the surface and wiping with vinegar or alcohol is wise. Some of it may be unnecessary, but I have a higher tolerance for voodoo here: it's not just your safety you're trying to ensure; it's that of the riders around you.

11.4 wrote:
And the part that needs to stick is on the outside, not the inside. Pick your tread and put that on the RIGHT.

True!

youngs_modulus wrote:Some of that comes from the bad old days of colored tires that completely lacked carbon black. Carbon black helped grip in dry weather but was absolutely critical for grip in the wet. Since tires have moved to silica instead of carbon black, it's possible to have colored tires that actually grip. Still, when in doubt, run black tires.

11.4 makes some good points about both good practice and voodoo. Some of the good practice he mentions as to do with the mold-release compound that comes embedded in new tires. Grip is low-ish until the mold-release is gone, and scuffing the surface and wiping with vinegar or alcohol is wise. Some of it may be unnecessary, but I have a higher tolerance for voodoo here: it's not just your safety you're trying to ensure; it's that of the riders around you.

One factor on wooden tracks also has to do with the way certain tires pick up wood dust. Wooden tracks, pine tracks in particular, create a lot of very fine wood chaff that you pick up on your tires. When they get some of that stuck on, you get punctures but you also lose a lot of traction. The point of cleaning the tires is to remove anything that grabs wood dust, And the issue with some of the tire colors was that they were much more prone to picking up dust. With much dust on your tire, you could slow down just a bit and watch your front wheel begin to slide down the banking.

So, finally rode these today, didn’t die. Winning!

Felt plenty fast and didn’t slide down the track while riding slow.

The front inner tube did pop and blow the tyre off the rim during the car journey though which was bloody alarming on the motorway and made me quite paranoid! Not sure why it blew, it was a cheaper tube but had been inflated for about a week prior, nothing obvious on the rim etc, maybe I nipped it when installing the tyre?

Anyway, feel like good tyres...

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