The advantage of track dealers is that they have the tyre to do the change on the spot so if your tyre is shot and you didn't realise it until part way through the day you can keep riding. The disadvantage is that they usually supply only one manufacturer which may not be the tyre of choice. There is also the option of supplying the tyres yourself and paying them a small fee to change the tyres. This also applies to the use of wets on one of those days when the weather changes.
Tyres do have a shelf life which is related to the storage of the tyre. The best storage is to seal the tyre in black plastic and store in a cool place. This prevents UV degradation and the chemicals in the rubber leaching out.
As to the choice of slicks verse road tyres. Road tyres will wear quicker than slicks due to the existence of the tread which scallops under hard use.
All tyres have an operating temperature which is a temperature/range at which the grip is the maximum. This temperature will vary depending on the intended use of the tyre. Touring tyres don't offer much chop on the track but are great on the road and similarly race tyres are may not get to their operating temperature on the road and therefore offer less grip than a sports raod tyre which does obtain it's operating temperature under road use conditions.
For any track day a good investment to prolong tyre wear is tyre warmers. Firstly they keep the tyre at a consistence temperature for the whole day. The continual rapid heating (track riding) and cooling (parked in the pits for an hour between sessions) can cause the tyres to go off with a resultant loss of grip. I even put the tyre warmers on but not plugged in at the end of the day to slow the cooling process down.
Secondly, you don't spend the first couple of laps of each session getting the tyres up to temperature. This means, once you have dialed the brain in, you can start to have fun on the first lap of the session. This can also be a confidence thing (there are riders who will do quicker lap times on cold tyres first time out than I could ever do under perfect conditions, period)
Tyres do have a shelf life which is related to the storage of the tyre. The best storage is to seal the tyre in black plastic and store in a cool place. This prevents UV degradation and the chemicals in the rubber leaching out.
As to the choice of slicks verse road tyres. Road tyres will wear quicker than slicks due to the existence of the tread which scallops under hard use.
All tyres have an operating temperature which is a temperature/range at which the grip is the maximum. This temperature will vary depending on the intended use of the tyre. Touring tyres don't offer much chop on the track but are great on the road and similarly race tyres are may not get to their operating temperature on the road and therefore offer less grip than a sports raod tyre which does obtain it's operating temperature under road use conditions.
For any track day a good investment to prolong tyre wear is tyre warmers. Firstly they keep the tyre at a consistence temperature for the whole day. The continual rapid heating (track riding) and cooling (parked in the pits for an hour between sessions) can cause the tyres to go off with a resultant loss of grip. I even put the tyre warmers on but not plugged in at the end of the day to slow the cooling process down.
Secondly, you don't spend the first couple of laps of each session getting the tyres up to temperature. This means, once you have dialed the brain in, you can start to have fun on the first lap of the session. This can also be a confidence thing (there are riders who will do quicker lap times on cold tyres first time out than I could ever do under perfect conditions, period)