Baby Puke

Big men need tiny bars, too!

Baby Puke

Anybody using Phil Wood track cogs? They look pretty, was wondering how they roll.

carleton

I have one (a 15t) that came on a wheel I bought. It's nice. But, I wouldn't pay a lot for them.

mukman

It's surprisingly hard to find places that carry parts here in Amsterdam. I spoke with a shop on the phone today where they told me 144 BCD chainrings aren't used on bikes anymore. How is it that I live somewhere with 3 indoor velodromes within driving distance and I still can't find parts? Are any of you from the NL?

carleton

Hahahahaha! Every bike shop has an employee like that Just call again or find a different shop.

Impreza_aL

deda rhm02 38cm o-o

mukman

Specialized also makes a 38 as well: Specialized Bicycle Components

sbs z31

That's what I used on my Langster Pro.

Quinn8it

Still all sold as:
"womens"
"shallow"
or
"compact"

Giacomo 1 

OK, here is the quill stem I bought on e-bay for my Torelli frame and my Major Taylor bars that seemed to have caused such a stir here!

I love the look of a well crafted quill stem and this 3TTT stem looks beautiful to me. It's a 120mm reach, which is 10mm more than my road bikes have, in order to compensate for the short reach of the Major Taylor bars. Should be, a good fit for me! Thanks for all the help and info regarding the correct length that the stem should be...

mukman

Sure, but at least it's black and not pastel/floral.

carleton

Why, dude? You are just going to spend money frustrating yourself using stems like that.

They are hard to find and you can't swap them out easily to adjust your fit.

If you are serious about training/racing, just use modern parts. Seriously. There is a reason you don't see a lot of this vintage stuff in local racing...it's a pain in the ass to use.

Just get a threaded to threadless adapter then use a normal stem with a removable faceplate.

Example:
"Oh, I want to go further out with my reach...I need to go on Ebay and see if I can find a stem."

or

"Oh, I want to go further out with my reach, I'll just go to my local shop to buy a cheap stem this afternoon."

Also, 10mm isn't going to get you the reach you need using those bars.

Stop throwing good money after bad.

Giacomo 1 

I'm a 55 year old guy looking to ride at my local velodrome because the streets around my house are to busy when I get home from work to do much road riding. Stop and go riding on busy rush hour streets stinks, and it isn't much of a workout either. So I bought a proper steel track bike, vintage yes, that I can use for the velodrome, that's all. I'm not looking to be the next Chris Hoy, and I'm not even sure I'll ever race.

I'm a vintage guy. It's what I like and it's what I'm comfortable with. I find parts easy to use and find. I bought an older steel frame because that's what I normally ride and again, it's what I'm comfortable with. I also think that a proper steel track bike looks awesome with the right parts, and that's another important consideration. I hang out in the Classic and Vintage forum here, and here is a very proper looking vintage steel track bike that I want mine to look like - https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...ke-1975-a.html

Maybe I jumped into this forum before I should have. I know your trying to be helpful, but your frustration with guys that like vintage steel is a bit obvious, so really this is probably the wrong place for me. No problem though and thanks for the help! Race on!

Quinn8it

One thing to think about is-
there is no such thing as Recreational Track Riding.
The velodrome is for racing or training to race.

This forum is a little low frequency but it tends to be high quality-
responses are coming from coaches and racers- many of them highly competitive on the State and National level in elites and masters..
responses tend to be with achieving a high level in mind.

MarkWW

I'm going to disagree with that one. I'd say the majority of people I saw riding the open sessions at forest city have never raced and never will. They're just doing it for fitness when it's cold as balls outside.

That said, Kissena is an entirely different beast. It's a NYC park with zero control besides a sign that says what's not allowed at the track entrance. In training there, I've had to deal with RC cars, RC airplanes, people playing soccer in the infield, people weaving up and down the track on mountain bikes, guys cruising in the sprint lane on 10 speeds with bum bars, loose dogs running around the infield, people on scooters, people jogging in the sprinter's lane, people picking mushrooms and herbs at the top of the track(??), plenty of people smoking herb at the top of the track, people napping in the middle of turn 2, photo shoots on the track, fixie bros having skid contests on the homestraight, etc. Serious training and racing is about the last thing that happens there.

700wheel

I disagree; As long as riders are certified to use the track, and ride at times that do not conflict with training/coaching and race sessions let "recreational' riders ride the track. These riders may evolve into racers, officials, volunteers, and race spectators. Also "recreational" riders bring in much need revenue at many tracks.

Quinn8it

yes- I am aware that people who don't and never will race will end up riding the track.

but if you really have no interest in racing why would you ride the velodrome?
why drive your car, and pay session fees to ride around in circles?
You will quickly learn that you are a big nuisance/hazard to people who are really training
you've got no water bottles on your bike, so its unlikely you'll put in any real consistent time
and most recreational riders want to actually get somewhere on their bike... usually a coffee shop frequented by lots of other rec riders.

carleton

If Giacomo is looking for feedback, I'm giving feedback.

Hopefully he can learn from our mistakes. Hell, MY mistakes.

The first track bike that I bought for the track (not street) was an old frame that used quill stems. I spent WEEKS (maybe months) trying to gather the right parts and get the right bar/stem combo for the right fit.

"Hey, I have a 110mm quill stem and my wrapped bars on in it. Man, i feel cramped. Maybe I need 120." then I scour local shops, craigslist, ebay, etc... till I finally pay way too much for one. Then I get it and I realize that I have to unwrap one side of my bars to install it, etc...

It's just a pain. And it cost the same, if not more, than normal stems. Not to mention the cost of my time hunting down the parts.

The bike world went away from that standard decades ago for a reason. Several reasons.

It's not about whether Giacomo is gonna be the next Chris Hoy. It's about eliminating things (even the small things) that might discourage him along the way.

Giacomo, do whatever floats your boat

The track world went through a big "steel is real" phase about 10 years ago when hipsters came off the streets and brought their NJS-ish bikes to the track. Notice how those bikes aren't around much anymore. There are some. But, those folks either moved on to more modern bikes as they got more into training/racing. Or they stopped altogether.

Here's an anectodal example:

TwoTone (a dear friend) is/was a "steel is real" kinda guy. He is also very young and strong. He would race in the A's at DLV on a heavy custom bike-show bike complete with custom integrated bar/stem combo. This bike wasn't made for him. He just bought it after seeing it at the show. He refused to change anything on it and raced it as is. It was literally like 35lbs. I'm more than certain that he would have beaten me in this race (and been a lot more successful in general) if he had relaxed his "steel is real" rules

mukman

I know that guy! I ride with him here in Amsterdam.

carleton

He's probably still riding that steel Kazane road bike, too huh? When you see him, tell him Carleton say's what's up. He'll get a kick out of that

gtrob

Quinn you live in California. Today here was raining/snowing and 30-40deg, but dry and 60 inside the track. I would say 90% of our members will never race and are just looking for a safe and warm place to ride. There are a few 80 and 90 year olds that still ride our track and you cannot convince them what to ride if you paid them to ride it. These guys don't ride outside anymore because they dont want to deal with traffic, but ride the boards once a week.

Anyway, just saying all tracks are different. Our track is very strict about rides, some are rec rides that you are not allowed to go above 38kmh. There is a time and place for everything. I realize not all tracks are like this and some are serious business.

Minion1

(Not snark, but just saying) This track thread is in the Racer's subforum, so most of the people who post here are going to be into racing or training for racing.

taras0000

Careton, what kind of shoes are those in the above picture?

carleton

Secret.

Quinn8it

Yes- and if you are a Snow Skier in Dubai you can ski inside at a mall.. that doesn't mean that mall skiing is a sport anyone would do if they could choose between it or the real thing- its a Novelty..

Im not taking a stance against recreational track cycling. Im all for people riding bikes and paying session fees at my track. Thats what keeps tires and gas in that new motorcycle i train behind.. But the reality is- that if you are somewhere that is not Canada in the middle of the winter- and you are a recreational cyclist you won't consistently choose to ride the velodrome, once the novelty wears off... You'll just go on a Bike Ride!