brawlo

They're pretty approachable via email, and yes about $AU7k which makes it a good time to buy for you US guys. Interestingly though I have a very strong mate riding a 59cm version and he says his old Felt TK1 that he 'upgraded' from was actually stiffer.

carleton

That's not too crazy being that the TK FRD (Felt has redone their lineup) is $4000USD.

That's interesting.

Do you know if they may them to order or have pre-made stock sizes?

brawlo

I would guess that they would have some sort of stock level. Perhaps it's quite low, like maybe 1 or 2 frames in each size. But there's enough demand for them to warrant not waiting until each individual order to manufacture

pierrej

There's enough used by the state and aus teams that they should have a reasonable (relative) amount of stock. I think they've also started doing a 61cm frame recently too.

Best way would be email as mentioned and I've heard pricing is in the 7-8k aud region, and the sprint bars look cool.

Josiah Ng has a new one and is one of few who has ridden a couple high level frames, reckoned that it was way stiffer than his Look but didn't quite ride as nicely.

carleton

Speaking of LOOK and larger frame sizes...

It seems that the riding bigger frames is becoming popular now and Felt now offers a 60 in all of their frames and pierrej says BT offers a 61. What's up with LOOK? They still only offer the R96 in a Medium 56cm TT as the largest size. At least 2 of their ambassador riders Bauge and Sireau are over 6ft tall.



Why are they stuck making 56cm top tubes?

Does their design not hold up in larger sizes? That's my only guess. Otherwise, they are simply leaving money on the table as taller sprinters simply choose something else.

queerpunk

i think the bigger question is, how can they sleep at night with sizing nomenclature of XXS, XS, S, and Medium?

HOW CAN SOMETHING BE MEDIUM IF IT'S THE BIGGEST

southernfox

Fave bike case for flying with your track bike (bonus if it has room for more wheels)?

pierrej

As ridiculous as it may sound, I'd guess that it could be that the French are pretty traditional people and are maybe stuck in the 'smaller than your road bike' era

queerpunk

I love my Orucase Airport Ninja. It's a semi-soft case, super well protected with thick vinyl, dense padding, and super tough canvas. Everything straps down super snugly. I've even traveled with a disc wheel in it several times. It's small enough to be checked without a fee, and it will fit a helmet, track sack, shoes, and kit bag in the corners of it with no problem. Wheels, fork, seatpost, pedals, and handlebars come off and get stowed in there. I keep a few pieces of pipe padding, bubble wrap, and extra bags in my bag for extra protection... but it takes about ten minutes to break down or build up the bike, packing and unpacking it.

I fly with either my track or road bike a solid handful of times each year, and this case has been terrific for four years. My partner has one too.

It only fits 2 wheels though. If I wanted to bring more I'd just also check a padded doublewheelbag and keep my fingers crossed.

southernfox

Was looking at that one

carleton

Pika Packworks. Especially if you need one custom made. My Tiemeyer had a built-in seat mast, and at 58cm TT, the bike simply wouldn't fit in a standard bike box. I sent him the geo chart of my frame and he made a custom bag to fit it in a few weeks. Worked fine on several cross-country air trips and via FedEx.

sarals 

I drag around so much STUFF it would never fit in one case. I am going to Nats next year, and getting an early start on how to get my gear there is not a bad idea!
@southernfox, thanks for asking that question!

carleton

There's this weird progression of "amount of crap" we carry around during our careers as trackies:

Intro Class Participant: 0 Units of Crap
Newbie: 1 unit of Crap
Beginner: 2 units of Crap
Intermediate: 4 units of Crap
Local Regular: 6 units of Crap
Masters Traveling Racer: 10 units of Crap (15 if married and has spouse-sherpa)
P/1/2: 2 units of Crap
Old Salty Dog: 1 unit of Crap

sarals 

Godsight

Well P/1/2 probably have coach, team assistant,team mechanic, etc carrying their other units of crap

queerpunk

ha.

i wish.

i got it dialed this year. shoe bag, helmet bag, track sack, clothes bag, and food bag all fit in my backpack; rollers in one hand, bike on a shoulder, and extra wheels in the other hand. one trip from the car to the infield.

sarals 

I've got a little red fold up wagon. Trust me, I can fill it up!

queerpunk

i've really considered those wagons. but if i get too used to that for nearby racing, what am i gonna do when i fly to a race and all i can bring is what i can check and carry?

topflightpro

I have the wagon too. I bring it sometimes - mostly on long race days when I am also bringing a larger cooler of food and water for more than just a few hours. It's convenient and a hassle at the same time.

Basically, I can carry my gear bag, track bag, small cooler, race wheels and bike down to the track. If I want to add anything to that - folding chair, larger cooler, or rollers, I need the wagon. At nationals, it was incredibly convenient to only have to make one trip and to keep all my stuff in one place. At the same time, it's kind of a hassle to maneuver through a crowded infield.

The challenge I face is that I drive a rather small car with a small trunk, and the wagon takes up about 30 percent of my trunk.

sarals 

LOL!

Mine stays in my car, all the time, along with some other "bike stuff". My car isn't big, either, but I manage to somehow fit stuff around it. You're right about traveling. Going to a race that I'd have to fly to (T-Town), I'd be lost without the wagon! I've got to buy a compactor or something.

southernfox

This might sound weird. I do a lot of my training on my road bike, including 'standing starts.' But I'm starting to worry about unclipping and would like toe straps...but then there's the issue of any emergency need to unclip. Obviously I wouldn't use them when just riding around (and I do most of my training on quiet residential roads).

Anyone explored these sorts of solutions?

sarals 

I don't use toe straps at all. I'm told I make a lot of power "for a woman", but I've never had an issue with popping out of a pedal, or even close to popping out. Of the masters women I saw at Worlds, very few used straps. I'm no expert, but it seems to me if you have good cleats and your pedals are adjusted properly and in good shape, you'd be fine without them. That said, it's a personal choice.

I do standing start practice on the road, too. I go out on to closed roads near where I live and practice. I either use my TT bike or my Venge. Both are close in fit and configuration my track bike, depending of course upon the kind of race I'm going to do. My coach showed me a trick where I can lean the back wheel of the bike against a post, or a bumper or something, and then countdown and go. I have a timer app on my phone that does all of the countdown tones. I start it at 50 seconds, set it on the ground, and then go through the drill! I also do very slow rolling starts, the idea there is to work on form.

But no, I don't use straps. I do see your concern with being able to clip out with them on, and that is very real!

Once again, I'm no expert, I just do what I've discovered works for me.

gl98115

I've done my share of standing starts on my road bike, and as long as the tension is set high in the pedals, the cleats were not worn and you're clipped in correctly, then you shouldn't be pulling out. Also the consequences of pulling out on a freewheel bike are low since you are most likely to pull out the rear foot rising on the first couple pedal strokes while going slow so your reaction will be just to stand on the forward clipped in foot as it reached the bottom of the pedal stroke and coast.

I started off on the old Look style pedals (Shimano PD-7401 were my favs) and converted both road and track to Speedplays 2 yrs ago. I'm more worried about pretzeling chain rings than pulling a foot on my road bike.

Although there are a number of riders who have a need for straps, I believe many use them for fashion. When the Intl Omnium included the kilo, few onmium riders used straps while pretty much all rider in the stand alone kilo did. And their times weren't that far apart. I've seen video of riders pulling their foot at the start of World Cup time trials even with straps. I think that the straps distracted the rider from making sure their foot was securely engaged in their clipless system but didn't prevent their foot from pulling out.

I know this won't be a popular opinion on this forum, but it is something worth thinking about.

queerpunk

i'm with you.

but i also think some people like the feel of the strap on their shoe (rather than being about strapping the foot to the pedal).

carleton

Bingo. This is why (I imagine) pursuiters use straps as well. They aren't laying down huge standing starts at the beginning of their efforts, but maybe they enjoy the more direct connection.

I really think that all styles of riders should try straps.

As I've mentioned before, it's very common for shoes to allow the foot to rise a few millimeters every upstroke. If our cranks or pedals flexed a few millimeters every stroke, we'd ditch them in a heartbeat. Yet we are accustomed to this in our shoes. Straps eliminate that.

This also helps any shoes feel like more expensive (rigid) shoes.

One last thing. Pedal exit tension is relative to the rider. A moderate setting for a big rider may render a smaller rider unable to escape! So, comparing pedal exit tension can't be done by looking at the pedals. One must also consider the rider's size and strength. So, we can't just say, "Set your pedals to min/medium/max tension..." as it is a relative setting.

I can exit vertically out of Shimano pedals set on max setting during a standing start but a 150lb rider couldn't even twist out of them on the middle setting.