How do you know when your tires are warm?

[Tufbusa]

Tuf, how about going into a little detail with warmed up tires (as much as the day will allow) on a cold surface...such as early spring or late fall riding.

When the OAT (Outside Air Temp) decreases the longer it takes to heat the tires and the cooler the tire runs once it has reached the best temp you can get on a cool day which is usually less than optimum.

My rule of thumb is when the OAT drops below 50 degrees I end the knee dragging romp and become much more conservative. Actually I'll start backing off a little once it dips into the 50's.

When it's wet and or cold the tires performance drops accordingly and you should adjust your riding accordingly, especially for street activity. On chilly days you just can't get the heat up in the tire. The air whistling across the tire's surface at speed cools the tire as well as the cold pavement. When you stop the tire cools rapidly. All have a negative impact on the tire.

The best way to figure out how much heat you are builting in the tire is with an infrared heat themometer.

 

[skydivr]

The best way to figure out how much heat you are builting in the tire is with an infrared heat themometer.

I would assume, that regardless of what that thermometer on the tire surface says, once the road surface gets cold you still risk losing traction....

Even cold mornings at the Spring and Fall Bash, i try to be careful in the shady spots until the Sun has warmed the surface some..

 

[outlawbusa]

One curiosity clarification I'm looking for...let's assume you could get the tire up to temp on a colder day (tire warmer or other means hypothetically). If you take a warm tire out on a cool surface, even though it would cool down faster than normal would the cold surface actually have less bite on a warm tire than a warmer surface would?

PS: when it gets that cool I'm not pushing enough to find out, plus the tires do not get warm enough to actually determine the results the road surface is actually providing so it's simply a cat getting killed question

 

[Tufbusa]

I would assume, that regardless of what that thermometer on the tire surface says, once the road surface gets cold you still risk losing traction....

Even cold mornings at the Spring and Fall Bash, i try to be careful in the shady spots until the Sun has warmed the surface some..

Wise Man!

 

[red1100cc]

good point on the cold road comments.

i have ridden alot of tunnels lately and have noticed that the road inside the tunnels is always cold and slick.

 

[outlawbusa]

Thank you for a real life example where this might apply. I was having difficulty coming up with one. Obviously anyone who has ridden for any length of time has run into this but I was hoping to hear what Obi Wan has to say.

Too many of us take off year after year after year and keep some of this information in the back of our head or don't think about it at all until one the our shoes lose a little grip and put the shoulder of the road or the rock cliff into immediate perspective.

 

[skydivr]

Now, rocks - thats a different story entirely...

 

[outlawbusa]

I usually fill under the rear seat to make the front end a little lighter~!~