Old 12-17-13, 12:52 AM
  #141  
ETN612
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Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Minneapolis, MN, USA
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Bikes: Unknown PSX, Diamondback Trace Comp

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Originally Posted by carleton
Bicycle racing (of any style: MTB, Road, Track, Time Trials, BMX) is not cheap. I'm not saying that to discourage you. I want you to prepare for it and make good equipment choices that will last a long time. Once you get a solid kit of tools, you will not have to buy them again. The same goes for equipment. I know guys who have been racing the same equipment for years...decades sometimes. But, you have to buy quality (notice that I didn't say "most expensive").

Working on a bike with inferior or "travel" tools is friggin' frustrating. There is no need to use such tools when you are never more than a few yards from your backpack/tool bag.

Park is good. So are Hozan, Pedro, Craftsman, and quite a few others. Here is an excellent thread on the subject.http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ew-track-racer That is a GREAT thread about tools.

You have a few months to gather your tools before the summer. Don't be the guy always borrowing stuff at the track. As a good friend (and professional furniture maker) once told me, "If you need to borrow something once, that's OK. If you need to borrow it twice, you need to buy your own."

Track racing has FAR fewer crashes (minor or major) per event than road, mtb, bmx, cx, etc... I think that road time trials is the only discipline that has less. You want to see drama, go watch a CAT5 crit. I recall one year at DLV where I raced at least twice every week, I can't recall 1 crash the entire 6 month season.
Thanks for that thread link, very helpful! And yeah, I definitely don't plan on being that guy. I am glad that it's a few months off so I have time to get all my equipment in order.
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