misterwaterfall

Complete noob to track riding, but I might go check this out if the seller gets back to me. Anything that I should look for?

Fuji Track Comp 58cm Track Bike

jmikami

misterwaterfall, I wish I had any sense for bike purchases, but I don't.

However my brag for the day ... I have a set of 3T scatto 37cm track bars on the way. My track bike is one step closer to being ready for nationals. Just need to wear down my old tires so that I can glue on my vittoria cronos and purchase a new long stem when my bars arrive and I should have my ideal setup.

Are people still shying away from fast tack glue? I am thinking of switching to mastik, but I have always used fast tack in the past and know that it holds well.

Hida Yanra

I won't use it personally- but if you trust it.... your call?
I mean, I'm pretty fussy- no Conti glue, Vittoria Mastik only, put on *just* so, but if you've done it and it worked well it's your business, right?

Hida Yanra

Make sure the dropout plates don't have any badly depressed/dented spots, check the carbon seatpost for cracks, see if it's been crashed (scraped paint, etc), check threads on rear wheel to see if anything has been cross-threaded on, check chainring to see if has been bent or run into stuff (more of a fixie/street issue, but who knows), check top tube around mid-point to see if bars have dinged/dented it....
those are the high points- there's not THAT much to check on these things.

misterwaterfall

Thanks

Hida Yanra

have you been out to the track yet this year? I'm headed out there in a few minutes for the afternoon.

jmikami

Thanks, all my friends seem to have switched to mastik since the days when I glued tires 10 to 20 years ago. Seems like mastik is the glue of choice now a days. I think I will lean on one of them and make the switch as well. I did my first glue job in a long time last year and while the hold was great with fasttack, and it seems good 10-12 months later, it doesn't look the same as it use to after a year. So while I have not had an issue all the comments I have heard about fasttack have made me worry about it.

sbs z31

Is this wheel worth the asking price?
Nisi disk rear wheel for track racing, price reduced

misterwaterfall

Damn just saw this, thank you for the invite. I haven't, but should be there for the intro class in June, then I plan to start racing the Thursday nighters here and there to get my feet wet. Apparently there's a chance to get bumped to cat 3 on the track sense I'm a 2 on the road which I might try to do once I feel comfortable in the beginner races.

Hida Yanra

Ah, okay. Well I'll probably see you out there for the class in June then, if not sooner!

sbs z31

I just picked up an old carbon disc wheel to play around with for road time trial and the hub does not have threading for a lock ring. Should I assume it's ok to run it like that since I have a front bake equip on the bike? If it is then I might consider using it on the velodrome as well.

Hida Yanra

in general, many people use cogs without freewheels in velodromes- at the speeds and inertia of normal track racing lock rings aren't as crucial as they are riding on the roads.
You mention a front brake- are you aware that no velodromes allow bikes with brakes to be ridden while track bikes are on the track?
Street/Fixie bikes are quite different than "Velodrome" bikes in every way but marketing.
If you are running a fixed gear bike without a lockring in around-town use, please don't try skid-stopping, even a little bit- it'll go badly.

So.... if you are riding a fixed gear on the street, sure- ride with a front brake, no lock ring, don't exert backward pressure on the pedals though.
if you are riding on a velodrome, probably no need for a locking (unless you are doing match sprints and such things), but your front brake will have to go.

sbs z31

I have 2 bikes, one is for the velodrome and the other for road time trial with a front brake. I just wanted to know if it was safe to run on the track without a lock ring.

slindell

Cat 1 and 2 get some upgrade points but no auto upgrades, you still need to go through Thursdays to get to cat 4 on Mondays then get upgraded from there which can be fairly quick. You will be after the current set of cat 1/2 roadies who are going through now so it might be a bit easier.
I will be renting bikes and ringing the bell most Thursdays so say Hi when you get there.

Dalai

Is it a track disk so good chain line or is it an old road disk that used screw on clusters?

As to lockrings when no reverse thread, you can use an old british bottom bracket lock ring threaded the same direction.

sbs z31

It's a old track disc and I've heard of using a bottom bracket lock ring but I don't think I can really get one on there good enough as there's only a couple of threads showing.

Jaytron

I need to get my ass on some 165 cranks.

Campagnolo Record Pista track crankset | Retrogression seems WAY cheaper than Ben's cycle has them for. Should I go campy record over Dura Ace? https://www.benscycle.com/p-896-shim...k-cranks.aspx?

Brian Ratliff

I've heard that Campy track cranks were not for sprinters. Too flexy or something. I would go DA or Sugino 75. You'll like 165s. Nice and zippy.

Hermes

I use Sugino 75. I am with Brian.

Hermes

What does Povey use********** BTW, I asked Lee at one of his clinics about crank length and he said that it did not make any difference and to match the track bike crank length to my road bike. At that point in time, I was using 172 on both my road bike and track bike. And he may have a different theory today.

Jaytron

Good to know, I'll probably do one of those then. Have you heard any differences between DA and Sugino 75's?

He uses 165 IIRC. He also wants me on 165 on my road bike. So there's that

Hermes

I was wondering whether he uses D/A, Sugino or Campy.

Brian Ratliff

Both are stiff. DA is lighter (probably stiffer too), but it'll also make your wallet float away. I use Sugino 75.

Not the Slowest

I also heard about trying to match crank lengths Road =Track. I'm a newbie and I have 1 Track bike but 3 or so Road Bikes I use.
I'm 5-11 210lbs, my Track is 167.5 but when I bought my road bikes they were all at 175, which is on a 56-57 frame.

I am not at the point where I can afford to swap out the cranks on all today, except one. I do commute about 44 miles 3-4x a week and that actually uses a biopace crankset 175. I bought a 170 crankset for that bike figuring that a) it's close to the 167.5 and b) will get my effort a bit more evened out.

Based on that experiment and a few sessions this season with a coach I can decide what to swap if need be.
I do believe that the shorter cranks will improve my spin especially with "round" chainrings. Not even sure if I should be at 167.5 -165 or 170, I get so many opinions. What I need is more exceleration and am working on it, maybe the road bike is slowing me up with too long a set-up. In anycase I am sure the Biopace is not helping.

Brian Ratliff

I dunno about that. I regularly switch between short cranks on the track and long cranks on the road. But here's the thing: I don't generally ride a road bike the same way as a track bike.

When I am training for track on the road (say, standing starts or sprint jumps), then yes, I do match the cranks on my road bike (really a track bike with brake) to those on my track bike.