From what I have read, lower is better 99% on the road in terms of psi. I currently run 72psi on my road bike and love it. But what about on an outdoor velodrome? I know on most indoor velodromes the psi is still way up around 180-220psi and if I recall wiggins ran around 300psi for his hour record attempt.

On a outdoor velodrome with asphalt should I set my psi closer to regular road pressures because of the imperfections in the ground. Or closer to that of a indoor velodrome because it is smoother than the public roads and the g-forces experienced on the track necessitate higher pressure?

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Trackie

The problem is that things are always evolving. What you are really asking for is a wiki of sort. Just take for instance the more recent data about tire wear actually increasing rolling resistance instead of decreasing it. Prior knowledge showed just the opposite.

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Yeah, was hoping for a kind of wiki, or maybe just one thread that could be consulted instead of playing ST search bingo. But, yeah, I take your point about things changing. Maybe I could just keep editing the first post.

Short answer: probably use road pressures on asphalt tracks.

Josh Poertner And Anhalt have the best public domain data I've seen. (source)

Here are the relevant graphs. You can see that the difference between pristine and old asphalt isn't that much. And you see that you're unlikely to want to go far over 100PSI (25mm, 190lb bike-rider weight).

Some asphalt tracks have special sealants that make them smooth-ish. I still suspect they're far, far closer to raw asphalt than polished wood.

Short answer: probably use road pressures on asphalt tracks. /Quote

That was my thought. My only concern is rolling the tire in the turns. I have yet to experience it, but I would prefer not too. I'll have to experiment with some lower pressures. I have been currently running 120 front and back simply because that my coach recommended. It is off season now time to pursue some marginal gains!

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Trackie

I think that's unlikely. I've ridden 90PSI (180lbs) on 43 degree banking doing madison. Never the slightest hint of a problem.

The banking does increase the effective weight of the bike/rider in the turns, though. You get accelerated down into the track. So that might adjust the pressure upwards a bit vs. road. 120 may not be far off optimal.