The search for the perfect indoor track racing tyre

[Tasventouras]

I’ve been getting a lot of questions on IG after sharing videos of testing a couple of different tyres at our last indoor track session so i figured it would make for a good group discussion on the forum. It would be great to hear from any others who are trying out different tyres specifically on an indoor track with a polished concrete surface.

I want to preface this post by saying I have no affiliations with any of the brands that I’ve been testing, and the results are subjective to my raceboard setup and my riding style. Just because they’re working/not working for me, doesn’t mean they will/won’t for you. It’s also worth mentioning that these tyres will perform significantly different on a regular asphalt/road setting, and these are only results from my indoor sessions

At the most recent session, both @JeffyJ and myself tested the Linnpower Next racing slicks and the MBoards Nova 6inch.

Linnpower NEXT
Linnpower wide quick release hub
Custom gear adapter for stooge 67T gear
PSI: 26, dropped to 20 for last few laps

My hopes were high for this tyre as they look so damn good on the raceboard! I had heard from other racers that they really need to get to temperature to perform, but unfortunately no matter how hot I got the tyres, they just couldn’t hang corners at speed without sliding out. Admittedly I cut my testing short and only got a few OK laps on them, but it was difficult to try and push my riding to the limits when I couldn’t turn at high speed.

There were also moments I had my wheels spinning under my feet on a straight, as you can see toward the end of this video

New video by Electric Racing League

I’ve already seen instances of these tyres performing very well on a regular ashpalt road setting and I’m looking forward to trying them out on a T-race session outdoors.

MBoards Nova 6 inch
MBS rockstar Nylon hub
PSI 26

I had already seen these perform well on the slippery esk8con track so I suspected they would do alright on our indoor track, but was pretty surprised to see just how well they actually did.

There was grip from the get go, with very minimal tyre warming required. Corners felt normal and the lap times were decent. I was able to push pretty hard on them and managed to get about .6 seconds off my personal best. Personally i still prefer a slightly wider contact patch for this track but in saying that, they warmed quite quickly due to a smaller surface area. They also worked well for @JeffyJ who bested my time by around 0.3 sec

imo these would make for a good racing tyre on the indoor track for those who prefer the narrower contact patch.

Video (yes i know i mounted them backwards ):

New video by Electric Racing League

Meepo Cyclone (pneumatic)
Trampa Deep Dish Hubs
PSI: 20-26

The long standing favourite. Jeff put me on to these a while back and they have not dissapointed. Very grippy from the get-go with minimal to no pre-heating required. We tend to match or beat our track records each time we get on these tyres as they’ve given us the confidence to push hard on such a slippery surface. The times speak for themselves.

Video (may/may not have forced jeff into the barrier😅: https://photos.app.goo.gl/7dWtHqpAUVuEzf5fA

Landsurf RS
Trampa deep dish hub
PSI: 25

The new challenger? I got to test these briefly at our January 26th session which was unfortunately cut short due to ESC issues. In the very few laps I had i managed to pull a 26.8 which is very close to my personal best and not too far from the track record. They look very promising and will be able to put them to the test properly at the nexr session. Will report back

[JeffyJ]

Interesting to note that I run much higher pressures. I’m around 35PSI usually and I think that’s why i got the Linnpowers to work better for me as it rounded them more and created a smaller contact patch. I did 29s on the Linpowers but also did a bunch more laps.

I really liked the M Board Novas on indoor track. Was only 0.5sec off my track record after only 20mins. I’m predicting a new track record next session

[Tasventouras]

Yeah the pressures for the cyclones have varied across all the sessions. To be honest I havent noticed a huge difference once theyre above about the 25 psi mark. I always just try to keep it a touch under the recommended pressure. Maybe ill play closer attention to psi next session

[fessyfoo]

interesting, and damn i went down psi at esk8con.

[fessyfoo]

Very happy for this thread. !

[JeffyJ]

Yeah i find higher pressures help on this indoor surface. I suspect on esk8con track it may have helped increase pressure too.

[fessyfoo]

it makes some sense. the narrower contact patch.

[Dinnye]

@Tasventouras

I always just try to keep it a touch under the recommended pressure.

Playing with pressure can make a huge difference. I usually prefer to race on lower pressures outdoor, indoor is more of a mixed bag.

My experience usually is that if you slide out it’s easier to control at higher pressures, but you have slightly more grip at lower pressures. I have yet to find a single case where my overall grip level was better at high pressures.

At the last Onsra race I was drifting all over the place but it was all controllable. Jan Bohac on Instagram: "#esk8 Onsra race October 2023 sneak peak. #electric #skateboard #longboard #eboard #emountainboard #race" That was pretty fun! This video shows me drifting through corners multiple times but it’s in the second half of the end of the video.

On those 8" clevers I found 30psi pretty good. At 25psi they had a tiny bit more absolute grip on the slick indoor surface, but going up to 30psi made them more predictable at the grip limit which made me able to master drifting through the corners. That actually ended up being a viable strategy on that super tight track. And the surface was of course very predictable to drift on.

The 8" clevers definitely punched above their weight indoors, I was fairly close to the top. I qualified at 5th and in the first direction I think I had the 4th best lap. I couldn’t finish the race though because someone cut me off during practise for the second direction and I ended up crashing into a barrier and spraining my ankle quite badly.

Don’t get me wrong they are far from the ideal tire, but I was genuinely surprised by how usable they still were indoors. Probably the smaller contact patch isn’t a bad thing indoors.

[Dinnye]

@Tasventouras

My hopes were high for this tyre as they look so damn good on the raceboard! I had heard from other racers that they really need to get to temperature to perform, but unfortunately no matter how hot I got the tyres, they just couldn’t hang corners at speed without sliding out.

Interesting findings for the linnpower! I kinda wanted to try my CST 9x3.5"s on a track like this to see how slippery they would be. But if the linnpowers don’t work I don’t expect the CSTs to work either. I’m gonna have to get a set of meepos for the next race in Waldshut

[Tasventouras]

Could be worth still giving them a go… Its always worth trying something once! -dont quote me on that

[JeffyJ]

@CARVECRAFT you were happy with your tyres too yeah. I forgot what they were. Care to enlighten us?

[sugandese]

My money is on a track record on the landsurfs. The meepos obviously work well on that surface but I didn’t find them to ever get tacky at all when warmed up unlike the landsurfs.

[JeffyJ]

@sugandese

My money is on a track record on the landsurfs

Considering i dont have Landsurfs I’ll be doing everything in my power to stop this happening lol

[Tasventouras]

And ill be doing my best to make sure Chris is on the money. Anyone placing bets?

[JeffyJ]

Lets do it! Pint for fastest lap next session

[ShutterShock]

@Tasventouras

: 26, dropped to 20 for last few laps

Been running mine at 19psi for the front tires and 20 on the rear, works well!

They tend to round at higher pressure but it sounds like that may help for indoor? Strange

[davidbonde]

This is great! There is nothing like polished concrete that can ruin a good track and a otherwise fun day. I have come to a point where I dont go if I see its polished concrete. So If we can find a decent tire for the concrete, It would be nice.

As I recall Mr. @davidpilny swear to the landsurfs.

@fessyfoo

interesting, and damn i went down psi at esk8con.

I kept dropping the pressure over and over again, to a point it was near stupid. Overall I didnt like the linpower. Cant put any meaningful words on it. Just didnt like them.

I will sit back and watch this thread and testing, and jump some tires when you all agree on the perfect one

[JeffyJ]

@davidbonde

I have come to a point where I dont go if I see its polished concrete

There’s definitely a different riding style required. Tas and I usually crash out on first few bends on our first indoor session after riding BRPs outdoors haha. (Me the first bend on several occasions haha)

The indoor track we’re at appears to be painted polished concrete so may behave differently to a regular polished concrete. We have found a few tyres that grip well and it certainly increases the confidence in the board. Tas knows immediately if he doesn’t like certain tyres and moves on quick. I’ll generally try give tyres a chance to heat up and also get a feel for how they slide. Having said this, the tyres that grip well, when they lose grip, they really lose grip and you’re gone. So it’s then a balancing act to keep the traction. To be honest, I didn’t lose the M Board Novas at all last session as never pushed them to their sliding point I don’t think. Or if I did then they didn’t just slip out like the Meepo Cyclones when I lose grip on those. I’m excited to give the Novas a solid run next session.

[Tasventouras]

@JeffyJ

Tas and I usually crash out on first few bends on our first indoor session after riding BRPs outdoors haha

Literally my second turn

[davidpilny]

LandSurf for indoor definitely not. I am using Jetsurf tyres which has similar setup to Linnpower (although I did not test it yet) or Meepo (not tested either but others like @TZDKB were reporting good grip)

Its basically still a controlled slide, but that happens for the karts aswell anyway. I guess you just dont want to loose the grip instantly without warning.