tubeless in the velodrome

ugo.santalucia

Are tubeless tyres welcome in a Velodrome or they're worried about sealant leaks on the expensive boards?

bigcgilmour

Dont know about London but tubeless is fine at Glasgow and Im sure at Manchester

taon24

Presumably the big worry of the velodromes is not leaks, but punctures and flat tyres? The rim flanges on a clincher/tubeless causing damage to the wooden boards seems much more likely than on a tubular rim.

Chinley Churner

You're allowed clinchers at Manchester so I don't see why tubeless would be a problem... that said why? If you flat on a tub on the boards you've half a chance of staying up, on a clincher you're going down and maybe a few other riders with you. Personally, I'd prefer it if everyone was on tubs.

fnegroni

Well, tubeless clinchers are likely to stay on the rim. Part of their design feature. So safer than standard clinchers. As for sealant, I would advice against using sealant at the track, since any spill of water/oil or else might cause a crash.
Given how likely it is to puncture at a velodrome, I wouldn't bother.

Baby Trek

They are fine at Manchester.

pinarellokid

Why is it more likely to puncture at a velodrome ??

paddlemyowncanoe

As above, if you have the choice go tubular so you have a 50% chance of avoiding something painful for you and your track mates.

FransJacques

Frankly, how would they know?

You could declare it, but not sure why. Just don't run 65 psi in them and have them burp.

The only bug-bear at the London track is Michelin tyres which I think must discolour the boards.

tubs are more problematic - if you have tubs the track attendant will give them a flex to see if they are on well. And IIRC they do not want tape, they must be glued. Does anyone remember the rules?

Paul 8v

Out of interest, is the current thinking with track the same as road in terms of a 25mm tyre is better than 23 to give a lower rolling resistance?

I'm building my track wheels up with H Plus Son Archetypes as I need something wider to take a 32mm cross tyre for grass track but I would also like to use them on the indoor and outdoor track. I'm not sure how well a 23mm tyre would sit on a 23mm rim and I wondered if a 25mm would be better for rolling resistance anyway?

johnmiosh

The issue with Michelin is the dual compound nature. Less grip on the centre is not such a good thing on the banking. I thought coloured tyres were banned due to less grip rather than discolouration of the track surface, but I don't know of any evidence for this.

FransJacques

Paul 8v wrote:

Out of interest, is the current thinking with track the same as road in terms of a 25mm tyre is better than 23 to give a lower rolling resistance?

I'm building my track wheels up with H Plus Son Archetypes as I need something wider to take a 32mm cross tyre for grass track but I would also like to use them on the indoor and outdoor track. I'm not sure how well a 23mm tyre would sit on a 23mm rim and I wondered if a 25mm would be better for rolling resistance anyway?

No no, you really want to stick with the narrowest tyres you can get for aero purposes. In an indoor velodrome all the "wider is better" arguments go straight out the window: there are no bumps to absorb (if you don't count turn 3 of the London velodrome), there is no cornering, there's no puncturing (unless you're at HH). Your only concern is knifing through still air. There is nothing better for this than a 20c Veloflex Master @ 110psi - on your Archetypes it will not be too fat.

Paul 8v

Cool, thanks for the reply. It's going to be a bit of a do it all bike I think so it looks like it will be 32mm for grass track 20mm for the track and 23/25mm for winter training/hill climbs. Looks like I will have a hefty tyre bill but it's nice to have a versatile bit of kit

FransJacques

Is there still grass-track track cycling? It's quite a niche (like speedway) that doesn't exist much outside of this island. Is it all ages? or predominantly kids?

Paul 8v

From what I've seen it's all ages, Mildenhall (Pendleton's old club) have a big meet every year. I was going to ride a local one on a borrowed bike which had the national 400m championships but not enough people entered which was a bit of a bummer. Our club does a fair bit of it. It's reasonably popular in Scotland too.

Dolan actually sell a dedicated grass track bike so there must be a reasonable demand. Absolutely sod all information on the internet mind you!

Paul 8v

It's good though as any school/sports field running track is an instant velodrome and we don't have loads of them in this country which is a shame (There are rumours about one opening in Colchester soon though which would be great)

FransJacques

In the summer I can see it, but in the spring or autumn the line above the cote d'azur would be a muddy black slippery lane and people would start to lose their front wheels. Unless you had dedicated lanes like a 100 or 200 meter.

You'd have to take the wide Sven-line on the grippy grass to pass people in turn 4 before the line.

Actually it sounds like a ball. I'd defo run my Limuses and for that extra bite.

Paul 8v

I've never done it myself but I'm really up for it. It rains every year at Mildenhall and it does get rather interesting in the wet!

We raced a cyclocross Madison race that took in part of the track prior to the racing on Monday and it was slippy on standard Griffos, most of the grass track guys use a Vittoria XN pro or similar diamond tread. You need balls of steel (Or to be insane!)

Omar Little

Grass track is one of the events at some highland games shows. There is a captive audience there for the other events - pipe bands, highland dancing, caber tossing, running (etc) so the crowd is amongst the biggest - and most drunk - you'll get watching amateur cycling in the UK. My track bike doesnt have the clearances to fit the appropriate tyres to be able to race, but i might cobble together something for next year.