Hi Garth,
Take a look at some photos or films of velodrome racers in action. When they're up on the banking at speed they're perpendicular to the track surface. And they're riding on the center of the tires. That's why the track is banked. When you're up there there's no sensation of
being tipped in the way it looks from the infield or the rim. You are
tipped relative to the ground but you feel "vertical." The infield looks tipped\u2014once you get up the nerve to look left. It's a centrifugal-force thing. And there's no sensation of turning, unless you're maneuvering to avoid other riders. When you're going slow at the velodrome, you're down on the apron, the flat inner part of track. (You won't be doing sprinter's slow riding and track stands at
the top of the banking for a while.) My point is you're only wearing the center part of the tire. When I was racing on velodromes in the 1940s and 1950s, some of my very light pista tubulars had only a narrow\u2014maybe 3/8 to 1/2 inch\u2014strip of smooth "tread" in the center of the tire. The sidewalls were "open" silk or cotton. Now to answer your question, if you're using clinchers I don't think you can do any
better than Michelin Pro3 Race tires. The narrowest ones. For tubulars, I'd go with Vitoria. But any mid-weight name brand tubular is fine when you're starting out.
Mark Fulton
Redwood City
California
USA