Deathoftheparty

First post here, but been reading for a while.

I work for a Specialized retailer and can get a Pro for less than what most people pay for street fixies, so it will be very hard to sway me from that. With that being said...

I'm a long time road rider that's over the crazy distances and wants to make the transition to track riding. So much so, that I'm selling my road bike to fund this. I've been reading that the fork rake on the Langster Pros are too slack and will resemble more a road geo? Is that going to be an issue on the track? I am accustomed to my road bike, but don't want it to hurt my chances on the track with a more lax front end. Would replacing the fork make this ride a bit more traditional? Or should I just leave it alone?

Another option for me, was to pick up a cheap Bike Direct bike for the purpose of indoor training only. My track is closed until April, so I have no way of really riding other than my CycleOps rollers for now. Would picking up one of the KHS Flite/Fuji Track Classic copies be a mistake? This bike will probably rarely touch the road, as I live in a high traffic area that will make training impossible really. The bike would likely be sold before track season, and can give me an opportunity to save up a bit more to get something more worthwhile if I should be staying away from the Langster.

Thanks for the responses. I've been in the bike world for a while now. I know most of my stuff, but the track is still foreign to me.

misterwaterfall

I ride an unpro Langster with the stock fork and have had no issues. I also came over from the road(which I still race) so maybe that made riding the Langster geo a bit easier for me.

queerpunk

I ride this:



on this:



Initially I wondered about the geometry, too. and I considered looking around for a 40mm fork to replace the 45 that's stock. And then I rode it, and everything was fine. and now I get into internet arguments about how sprint geometry isn't necessary to race track bikes at a high level.

wens

Half of the Cleveland rental fleet is langsters on a 166 track. They work, people race them. You may want something else down the road, but you won't know until you ride track a bit. I'd buy a langster if that was the best priced for me.

Jared.

I rode a Dolan Pre Cursa with the road fork (45mm rake) for my intro season. I didn't die.

carleton

1) Welcome to the forum and the sport!

2) Don't sell your only road bike. It's a great year-round training tool.

3) Using a track bike for winter/indoor training won't make you any better on the track. Buying a dedicated track bike that will only be used indoors is a waste of money. If you already have a track bike, then hook that up to a trainer or rollers.

4) Training on rollers isn't a necessity for track racing. It's just an alternative.

Here's what you can do:

- Keep your road bike. Just change how you ride it.
- Use your road bike indoors on a trainer as well.
- Use a track bike for training on the track (not on the road) and for racing on the track.

Deathoftheparty

I'm selling the road bike because I'm honestly sick of looking at it. I got into some legal trouble, and lost my license so I'm on the bike every day now. I have 2 jobs and work every day equal distances from my apartment, so I'm putting 34 miles a day on it now. And riding a bike because I have to, makes it not as much fun when you want to. It's my race bike, so it's set up too aggressive to ride the city streets with comfortably. I'll probably pick up an endurance bike later down the line, but for now this one can go.

Plus I have a single speed steel bike running an 18t freewheel with a 46 chain ring. Let's me work on my pedal stroke and heart rate, and living in Houston makes my commute almost as flat as the track is.

I usually do our shop rides on the SS anyways, just to make all the bike snobs mad that my $200 commuter can hold it's own with their S-Works models.

carleton

Ah. I wrongly assumed that it was your only bike.

Just keep in mind that many track-specific training programs make heavy use of road bikes with variable gearing. You could be on a program that has you on the road bike most of the time and only riding the track bike on race days. That's common.

I'd hate for you to sell it, then get serious about training/racing for track then need a road bike again.

But, if you are set on selling it, sell it.

Baby Puke

Road bikes are good for recovery rides.

sickz

i can relate. my license was revoked for 7 years for basically being a hooligan on a motorcycle (habitual traffic offender), among other unmentionables. had to downgrade to a motorcycle sans motor.

"riding the city streets comfortably" is one of those paradoxes.... there's nothing comfy bout riding with dense traffic in teh city. nothing! doesn't mean it's not fun, but not comfortable. imo, an 'aggressive' bike is suited for the city. it's like riding the track w/ a bunch of first timers.

sbs z31

I actually just started track this year and using a Langster Pro as my track bike. I have very limited racing experience on the track but I don't think there's anything wrong with the bike or fork rake at all. Plenty of guys at the track including queerpunk race with a Langster Pro and do very well at it too. If you can get a really good deal on it then why not?

natzoo

I think there is a common misconception floating around about track bikes and fork rake. I'm hoping someone can confirm or deny this.

I am pretty sure reducing the rake will slow down the handling of a bike.

This article goes into depth about track geometry, "twichyness", rake and trail, etc: Urban Velo #3 - Bicycle Culture on the Skids

On my track bike, I found my 43mm rake road fork too twitchy at high speeds. When I swapped it to an alpina track fork with 30mm rake and the bike feels much more stable during the bell lap sprints.

I really think people have it backwards... all else equal, less rake is slower steering!

queerpunk

Some people have it backwards, yeah.

Rake and headtube angle work against each other to keep the trail measurement in a good zone. Reducing rake increases trail. Reducing headtube angle reduces trail.

Velocirapture

Its important to take into account where the bike is being ridden, IMO.
If you consider the whole head-angle/ rake/ trail discussion in the very-simplified context of holding the upright bike by the saddle, and tipping it to the side: the front end will 'flop' to the side you tip the bike. Clearly .

On a flat surface, this 'castor effect' will be very different from the effect on a curved and angled surface, as the forces acting on the bike are different. So comparing a steep head-angle with a slacker one will give you one bike that is 'twitchier'/ the steering is lighter when you are riding it on a flat surface. You'll need to put more effort into steering a bike with a slacker head angle, as it doesn't flop so easily on lean as happens when you turn.

On a track where you are riding at an angle to the surface, (unless you are going particular fast), the forces are different and the handling will then be different. Tracks are designed especially so that you don't really turn the bike as much. And generally (bike dependent, track dependent, rider dependent..) a bike with a shorter trail handles better on the track.

McRussellPants

Worth noting that headtube angle alone is your caster measurement. Two bikes with the same total trail, the combination of included trail(fork rake) and caster could handle differently to different front camber numbers while turning.

probably not important on the track at speed since your steering angle will be so low. But on cross bikes it's a huge deal.