Tomorrow will be my final track day of the Yr. I borrowed a set of tire warmers (Tyre socks, no controls) Temperature is going to be about + 50 F in the morn, high of 65 -70.
Is there anything that I can do to get maximum bite out of these tires ? Michelin, Power Race, medium soft.
Tire pressures, heating time. Any input appreciated.
Thanx
JDS
not really.. psi, talk to the local michelin guy. heating, with no controls just heat them as long as you can before the first session and then be consistent about getting them back on the warmers throughout the day. the goal is to try and keep them consistently warm... heat cycles, bad.
Right,, ok. Yes I heard that heat cycles are bad. I doubt if Michelin Man out tomorrow. I will keep the heat to them. Thanx gm2
if you can do that all the time, regardless of weather, your tires will be much happier. and no prob. :)
Talk to the michelin guy about PSI, but as a general rule, set them 1 PSI lower for each 10 degrees lower it is than ususual. What you want is for your tires to be at a certain PSI when hot. If it starts off colder, then they'll have a longer range of temps til they get up to hot temp. So, set a lower
PSI to allow for the larger range between cold temps and hot temps.
As gm2 said, keep the warmers on (but don't cook them too much). Even if you're not going to keep the warmers cooking throughout lunch because it's too long, make sure to put the warmers on the tires after you get on the track. Don't plug 'em in. Just keep them on the tires. That will allow the tires to cool down more slowly and will help against heat cycling.
Good advice guys. I did exactly that. I will be buying a set of these this winter. My tire's were happier (the wear looks more consistant), my bike was happier, & my body was happier.
There were 2 guys that Hi-sided today. Both were on the 2nd lap, neither of the riders had warmers.
Not once today did I slide my tires on acceleration. On breaking my ass end kicks out as I am entering a corner. My times were down a couple tenths as well.
Tire warmers are a very good investment. Who would have thought ! ! !. They should have had these things 25 Yrs ago :)