Track Cycling: Velodrome Racing and Training Area - Tires for LAVRA

Doing some TT's in LA next month. Anyone have tire recommendations for that track?

Tubulars or clinchers?

For tubulars, the EVO pistas work well, as do Tufo S3 pro, and conti stehers. I've ridden all 3 there a lot. For clinchers, Conti Supersonics. I've ridden them in madisons there and they stick well.

Stay away from fancy colors and two-tone, they tend to be slippery. Red tufos are famous for sideways slides-- I know two people who slide *on the straights* with them. Conti Tempos also aren't that great there-- the rubber is kind of hard and slippery. If you have new tires, do a few laps on concrete on them (I sometimes take them to encino first...), or wipe them with alcohol wipes or a scotch-brite sponge to get the mold release compound off.

Clincher up front, tubular in the rear. That was helpful. Thanks, I'll probably get stehers for the rear and supersonic on the front.

I've used Conti Sprinters (tubular) there with no problems in race situations. I also used some cheap Bontrager clinchers for a training session with no problems. I'd concur that red Tufos are trouble. I saw a guy get shoo'ed away when he showed up with those.

Stay well away from the Tufos, even the black/black can be dicey if they have some time or miles on them.

Not a big fan of clinchers on the track, I've heard too many go "BANG" on 250m tracks and that never ends well.

The Vittoria Pista, EVO CX, Bontrager X-Lite all have worked well for me. The Conti Sprinters were just OK.

Wipe down whatever tires you use, if they are already clean avoid rolling the bike in.

Just got a track bike that I'm planning to ride at Home Depot Center. The bike I got currently has Conti 4000 clinchers. Will those be fine?

Just got a track bike that I'm planning to ride at Home Depot Center. The bike I got currently has Conti 4000 clinchers. Will those be fine?

Never tried them-- they have a funny tread for track. You probably won't die, but you might find that the difference in the tread in the center vs. the sides makes things weird and a little unpredictable in the corners and at low speed. Since they're intended as road tires they may also be harder (and thus slipperier) than you want on the boards. You want a tire with a round cross section and the same surface all the way around.

Also-- don't go pumping them to crazy high pressures. Sometimes people think they should pump their clinchers to the high pressures people use in expensive tubulars. Clinchers aren't made for that, and will blow the bead off at speed, leading to the bang and crash that Racer Ex mentions. Even the Mavic Ellipse rims, which are made for track, say not to go above ~140 psi. Clinchers for the most part already have lower RR than most tubulars, and you won't get much, if any improvement in return for the increased chance of a blowout if you pump them past 120 or so. Most clincher rims and tire beads aren't made to hold at really high pressures. You can also get a big increase in the load on the tire when you go through a corner at speed-- unlike on the road where you tilt sideways until the sliding limit, the track tilts with you so the force increases. I've seen a few people blow clinchers at speed in the corner.

Biting Duck- thanks for that. I've got a million questions about the track now that I have a bike. So as not to get off topic, here's a few more tire-centric questions.

Sounds like the Contis aren't ideal for the track? Hopefully they'll do the trick for the time being until I can get something else??? I wasn't planning to use more than 120psi.

Can I use the same tires for an outdoor velodrome (Encino) as i would for the Home Depot Center? I would imagine I may need to wipe them down with alcohol before riding indoors again. My bike has clincher wheels, so for now I'm going to have to settle for those. The Vittoria website claims their Diamante Pro Pista's are good for indoor and outdoor tracks, any thoughts about those?

Also, now that I think about it, I've never seen a track bike on a roof rack. Is there any issue with driving the bike on the roof before riding on the track? Do I need to clean the tires after that? Maybe I'm over thinking this a bit now...

Thanks

Also, now that I think about it, I've never seen a track bike on a roof rack. Is there any issue with driving the bike on the roof before riding on the track? Do I need to clean the tires after that? Maybe I'm over thinking this a bit now...

I had two track bikes on top of my car 4 hours each way to race at Rock Hill yesterday. Track bikes are fine on top of cars. No need to do anything special.

I have a roof rack and my track bike is transported 50% of the time on top and 50% of the time inside of my car.

Many people simply put their track bikes inside of their cars because the wheels come off easily and it's not an issue when I stop somewhere between the track and home. Bike is locked away inside.

Sounds like the Contis aren't ideal for the track? Hopefully they'll do the trick for the time being until I can get something else??? I wasn't planning to use more than 120psi.


They're probably fine for starting out, but you'll want something better pretty quick. As far as clinchers go, Conti Supersonics are pretty good there. I've used them for madison practice and they stick well at low speed.



Can I use the same tires for an outdoor velodrome (Encino) as i would for the Home Depot Center? I would imagine I may need to wipe them down with alcohol before riding indoors again. My bike has clincher wheels, so for now I'm going to have to settle for those. The Vittoria website claims their Diamante Pro Pista's are good for indoor and outdoor tracks, any thoughts about those?


I've always used the same tires for HDC and Encino. Encino will wear out tires faster than HDC will, but with most clinchers it shouldn't be an issue. When I was riding EVO Pistas I'd go through 3 sets/season. I never wiped them with alcohol between Encino and HDC, just brushed them off with a palm. Generally I only do alcohol wipes on tires that I haven't been on for a while (~4 weeks). If I'm on them all the time and going back and forth between tracks I just brush them off.



Also, now that I think about it, I've never seen a track bike on a roof rack. Is there any issue with driving the bike on the roof before riding on the track? Do I need to clean the tires after that? Maybe I'm over thinking this a bit now...


You're overthinking it. I've put track bikes on my roof rack a lot. I think once I had three looks (including a 596) plus my giant TCR Advanced (I have the track version) on top of my 98 saturn.... I used to carpool with a guy who had a Porsche Carrera 4 with a roof rack and we'd head down with two high end track bikes on top.