[proheli]

Looks like I will be in Los Angeles for the next 5 months, 20 mins from the Angeles Crest Highway. I've been reading about tire pressure and warm up time and it still seems a bit vague. So I wanted to ask a couple of questions and see what you guys had to say.

Curretly have Pirelli Rosso Corsa
32 front / 30 rear. Sound about right?
The rear tire has a sliver of strip and the front about 3/8's.

Does 15 minutes on the freeway warm the tires up? @ 60°, 85°?

How much stickier does the tire actually get once its hot. 30%?

How long for them to cool down if I take a break?

And when the reviews say the tires warm up very quickly, what does that mean? Instantaniously, lol? 1 minute in the twisties? 2, 5, 10 mins?

Any input is appreciated.

 

[point45]

going to depend alot on weather and how you ride. If you just putt around its going to take longer if ever to warm up the tires, depending on what youre running.

For me a mile or so up mountain road and the tires feel good to go. You can feel the tire grip more as the heat up, they start to slip less and less.

Depending on the tire it gets quite a bit stickier, as in almost like glue. Pebbles will stick to the tire and you can feel the heat coming off the tire. You also get the rubber to ball up on the edges and it will turn a bluish color if you are really railing it.

Unless you start measuring things with a thermometer and lap times, all of this is really just up to experience and feel.

They also cool down fairly quickly, if you stop for a sip of water you should treat it as youre on cold tires again. When i hear that tires warm up quickly im thinking only a couple minutes of canyon riding to get them going.

 

[Secret Squirrel]

There are to many factors involved to give an exact time a tire takes to warm up on the street. I don't know that I would ever trust a tire that simply states it warms up fast. That doesn't mean that it does in many different real life riding situations. I go by how the bike feels. You get to know by feel when the tires are ready. Some newer riders can't feel what the tires or the suspension is telling them so I don't recommend this for newer riders. You can do a simple experiment though. Before you leave your garage on a ride take your thumb nail and push it into the tire on the contact part of the tire. Not hard but just enough to feel how hard the rubber is. In warmer weather if you're on the bike for at least twenty minutes the tire should be warm unless you are riding slow. Then stop and press your thumb nail into the tire again. The tire should be softer and your nail should easily leave a mark. You will also notice the tire will feel sticky if you rub your hand on it. Tire pressure varies from rider to rider. The pressures you're currently using are a little low for my liking on the street. On a smooth track you might be fine but for the street I would use a few more pounds of pressure. Also remember that just because a tire is warm but the edges of the tire haven't been scuffed well you could still slide or fall. So early in the ride carefully work the edges of the tire to scuff them again and to bring them up to temp every time you hit the canyon roads or curvy roads.

 

[Desmo_Demon]

Interesting article that covers warming up tires - How To Properly Warm Up Your Tires - Sport Rider Magazine

 

[TallyRex]

I run 36 up front and 38 in the rear. If my front gets below 33 the slow speed steering suffers greatly.

I only worry about cold tires in the winter or on a track. Acceleration heats up the rear and mild to hard braking warms up the front.