building those winter slicks

[Reuben]

so i have myself some "winter slicks" to test,

total of 2 sets,

one set of medium foam insert
one set of hard foam insert

2 sets of disks - one normal the other "inch-up" style. the inch up ones apparently slightly stretch the rubber, dunno which way.

so if im looking to put them together with one set slightly softer for the extra cold days.....

medium - normal disks = soft.
hard - inch up disks = slightly harder.

orrrr do i put the softer foam in the inch up wheels for a more evening effect??

any ideas?
which would be the best combos?

[Martin S]

Nov 5, 2008 21:17:42 GMT Reuben said:

orrrr do i put the softer foam in the inch up wheels for a more evening effect??

But we don't race in the evening. Sorry Reuben, couldn't resist it

Martin

[Reuben]

lol! yeh I was typing that in a rush with the girlfriend wanting me to hurry up so we could go.....

what i meant (as im sure u realised) was:

orrrr do i put the softer foam in the inch up wheels to make 2 sets wheels with a similar softness

[Robin Howett]

The inch up wheels aren't going to help you make good winter wheel build.
What you'r after is a soft/ medium insert with abit of air gap between the tyre and insert (this baggy'ness helps give forward traction).
The inch ups strech the tyre reducing the gap between the tyre and the insert and to be honest i'v never made a good wheel build using them so test build without gluing and see how they look and feel.

what tyres have you got?

[Simon Crabb]

So does softer inserts and/or a bigger air gap mean more heat gets generated in the tyre?

[Robin Howett]

yes, but you have to watch how soft and how big an air gap because you start to affect how the tyre is affected in the corners, you don't want the tyre to roll too far off the wheel, this is very dependant on grip.

As an example for wet racing i've a wheel build set with super soft foam inserts which only just hold the tyre profile but they let the tyre move about and stay incontact with the black stuff.

[TryHard]

Nov 6, 2008 14:04:13 GMT Simon Crabb said:

So does softer inserts and/or a bigger air gap mean more heat gets generated in the tyre?

From a blue website

Air gap is what controls the amount of forward bite you have. Bigger air gap means more forward bite, smaller air gap means less forward bite, but better support for the tire, and generally less tire wear. The air gap lets the tire squirm around more and conforms to the road much better. I like a large air gap on tracks with lots of slow corners and when the track is a touch bumpy, and I like less airgap on smoother, bigger, and faster tracks to decrease rolling resistance, and so the tire just doesnt fold over on it self in the high speed corners.

An air gap also lets tires heat up quicker, and they dont get to as high of a temp (because there is air fowing around inside the tire and stuff assuming you have big enough hols in your rims) Less air gap will generally take a bit longer to heat up, but they will get to a higher final temperature. I will usually think about it when I'm racing outdoors in really hot weather to keep the tires from overheating.

To change your airgap you get different inserts. Thinner inserts like the Yokomo 039 series and the Sorex type C inserts have a large airgap because they are thin inserts. The HPI, Sorex type A, and yokomo 037 inserts are thicker, and have thicker profiles, so they will fill the inside of the tire up more giving you less airgap. Sorex type B inserts fall right in the middle in my opinion