Yup, changing bars all the time, especially without a torque wrench, might be a reason a carbon steerer is not ideal. Being worried about being big and strong, well ... I'd worry about other things first.

frame set wise, what would be the best quality:price set - felt tk2, dolan pre cursa or giant omnium...

New random question.
Guestimate how many seconds or fraction of a second will you reduce your time, lets say over the kilo and/or 4km pursuit, by shaving your legs? :P

Wow. Just wow.

World Record-RPM -Cadence for a Track Racing bicyclist=300RPM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVbwngNoHm0 Cheers, Marty.

Impresive! That's an average of 7 seconds over the 4km pursuit!
Thanks for the link Jods!

I'll be building a road bike soon and was wondering if I should go with crank arms similar to my two bikes. My TT bike use 165mm and my track bike use 167.5mm cranks. The purpose of the road bike is for offseason training and maybe pick up on crits next year.

Are you asking if you should do 165 or 167.5? I know some people claim otherwise, but I doubt you can feel a difference.

A crit bike would make good use of shorter cranks IMO. More ability to pedal through turns. Why not look into a fixed gear crit bike ;)

I am asking if I should get shorter cranks, either 165 or 167.5, or should I go with 170mm which comes standard on bikes in my size 52cm. I would love to do fixed gear crits but there's nothing like that around here.

I can feel the difference between cranks 2.5mm apart.

What to put on your road bike comes down to a few of factors:

- Do you mash or spin?
- Do you intend to climb hills?
- Do you consider your road bike a "track bike with gears" whose primary function is to train for track racing?

One year I installed 165mm cranks on my road bike the winter before I rode 165mm on my track bike. It was nice having the same crank length on both bikes. Hills sucked, but I could average 110RPM for nearly 2 hours (not averaging zeros). This really taxes the nervous system, though.

The result was that my "spin" game went up. I could ride smaller gears and hang longer than usual in long races. That year I could finish points races on the lead lap (not common for me...at all...rolling refrigerator). I could also touch 160rpm in low-geared match sprints.

Carleton, I'm a spinner and the purpose of the road bike is for offseason training and possibly start crits next season. I would like to start doing more hill climbs as well.

I'd give it a try. You can get 165mm cranks cheap. I used FSA Gossamer.

What's more important: frame or components?
 

I'm looking at picking up a track bike to ride at the local velodrome (novice rider)- how should I budget my funds? Get a cheap frame and spend more on wheels/cranks/cogs/bars? Or get a nicer frame and cheap wheels/cranks/cogs/bars?

If I were adivising a novice road rider I know what my answer would be (components) - not sure if it's the same for track though.

So you'd advise a novice road racer to buy parts a-la-carte? An off-the-rack Tarmac is a good road bike for a novice road racer, right?

The best option is to buy a complete bike that is close to what you want and tweak the last bit or two (i.e.: saddle).

There are lots of good complete bikes available.

In track racing, smart money is spent to buy reliability and to solve particular problems. A 160lb racer doesn't need a tank similar to a BT Stealth, but a 225lb sprinter might flex a lesser frame.

I'd imagine that this Hoy Fiorenzuola (and similar bikes) would meet the needs of just about any beginner or intermediate racer and most advanced racers, too: http://www.hoybikes.com/track/94-hoy...ola-track-bike

When you start losing races by less than a second, then buy race wheels. Until then, your money could be better spent in other ways. Track races are so short that the benefits from aero wheels won't buy beginners much. Beginner and intermediate races are won and lost by much larger margins.

is bodyweight a factor in any form of track cycling or do the cyclists kindve let their bodyweight sit where it wants to as long as their results are improving?

What kind of events are you looking at?

The lack of hills is nice, so there isnt the same concern as road cycling :) But weight is still a concern if you plan to compete, extra weight still has to be moved around. I think Ive read that 10lbs is .5 seconds off a kilo. Probably more significant in a pursuit.

Bigger is usually less aero too, although Im not sure if 5-10lbs would make change that much.

Force=(mass)(acceleration)
so
acceleration=Force/mass

So with the same force you will accelerate more if you have less mass

...But muscle mass is good heheh just make sure your weight doesn't increase more than your strength, this way your acceleration will keep improving

im looking at sprinting and currently weigh 76-77kg at 5ft6 and around 12% BF. I understand that more BW is more to move on the bike, but if BW increases with Strength then is that acceptable? Im not too bothered either way, im just curious as to whether its an issue :) cheers

I wouldn't advise a novice to do a custom build, but I would say reliability is more important than frame weight/stiffness (missing shifts and having mechanicals is no fun and could turn a novice off of the sport).

Funny you mention the Hoy as I was considering it (ok frame/good components?) as well as the Planet-X Pro Carbon Track (nice frame/questionable components?): Pro Carbon Track Bike

Thanks for the tip on race wheels!

Does any one have links re how much kilo training can help pursuit training (if it can?)

My times in both are way off, but I seem to have improved my kilo more than my pursuit (while training specifically for pursuit/team pursuit) and am wondering if I can target both next year.

The Hoy is a good frame. The aluminum is the same 6061 that my custom Tiemeyer is made of.

An aero frame is kinda low on the cost/benefit scale and buying one is more of a fine-tuning thing. Also, carbon doesn't get you as much as you think it might. I have an anecdotal story where I had a Tiemeyer (6061 aluminum) and a Felt TK1 (carbon) at the same time. The Tiemeyer was slightly stiffer and 3lbs lighter than the TK1. My Tiemyer is *definitely* stiffer than the Dolan DF3 I had. So, it's really up to the build whether carbon will be better than aluminum.

Your drivetrain is one area where I'd buy quality known brands:
- Cranks: Dura Ace, SRAM Omnium, Sugino 75, or Campagnolo with the appropriate bottom bracket
- Chainrings: FSA Pro, Sugina 75 or Zen, Campagnolo, Dura Ace, Blackspire
- Cogs: Dura Ace, Euro Asia Imports, Campagnolo,
- Chain: KMC K710, D.I.D., Izumi ECO or V
- Pedals: Shimano, LOOK, Speedplay Zero

Those things will create a solid build that will last for years. I just gave away some FSA Pro chainrings that I'd been using since 2009 to a new racer. I only gave them away because I splurged on a complete set of Sugino Zen rings.

I have heard that CF isn't always lighter than aluminum (I thought it was generally stiffer though). Is it wrong that I prefer the Planet-X based solely on its looks? :)
The Hoy is definitely better spec'd and very good value, but the shipping ($210) eats into that value a bit. Thanks for your help Carleton!

Carbon fiber is made of a fabric infused with a resin. Some are more densely woven than others, which costs and weighs more.

The planetX is an exciting looking frame. There is nothing wrong with buying a bike that you get excited to ride ...especially if it gets you out riding :D

From what I've read of Hoy, he seems like a very practical guy that is looking to create a solid bike for masses...something that he'd ride. He spec'd it out with decent parts, especially in the drivetrain. The KMC K710 on his bikes is a quality chain that I know costs more than a cheapo chain that he could have put on the bikes to make him more profit.

His bikes (both road and track) seem to be more "Go" and less "Show" as opposed to the other way around. For example, his very top-end road bike is priced under $2000USD and is equipped with Ultegra. You coming from the roadie side of things, if a new racer asked you "Do I need a Dura Ace group?", I'm sure your answer would be "No. Of course not.".

I wouldn't be surprised if his bikes became very popular and the go-to bikes for new and intermediate racers in the UK and elsewhere.

The Felt TK2 is a similar bike, aside from the 3T Sphinx bars. (It's still a head-scratcher to me as to why they use those bars. They were popular (or at least interesting) for about 6 months till everyone got to try them and only a few really stuck with them. Then the UCI all but banned them.)

The TK2 is a great bike. Just swap the stem and bars out for some narrow road bars of your choice or sprint bars if you plan to sprint. Or buy a TK3 and upgrade the cranks to SRAM Omnium, Sugino 75, Dura Ace, or Campy and some other minor tweaks and you are good to go.

I'm sure that there are other bikes out there that are similar.