Dalai

Illegal if racing under UCI rules... https://www.uci.ch/mm/Document/News/R...NG_English.PDF

ARTICLE 1.3.033

carleton

Yup...and under that rule, women's sports bras are also just as illegal (seriously)

I believe that the "compression" word was added to address the new fad (at the time) of using compression socks like the road Tri geeks do.



It's still unproven if they provide any benefit.

carleton

Also, not sure if you are serious or not. But a compression shirt provides the same or even less pressure than a cycling skin suit.

Dalai

Am serious. Met enough commissaires over the years who will stick to the letter of the law (or their interpretation of the rules) regardless to the reality such that many skin suits are tighter...

Baby Puke

Ick, you just posted a photo of a triathlete. Moderate yourself!

Edit: Love the work on the number pinning.

Dalai

Careful Baby Puke - Nothing wrong with Triathletes (other than wearing compression guards or socks)...

carleton

I mean, that's my point. It's a Tri thing that the UCI shouldn't even care about. There were a FEW UCI roadies using compression socks and UCI had to make a rule about it.

I really wish that the world would just start a new cycling org and migrate away from the UCI altogether.

Dalai

That is because you have to use a number belt which means the number is only pinned at the top. As the number must be rear facing for the bike but forward facing on the run it is pinned onto an elastic belt so you can spin it around at the bike - run transition...

Baby Puke

...

Velocirapture

Definitely a good plan ^. Just make sure compression shirts work for you, before buying a bunch. The one i have makes my hands tingle if i ride in it. But then maybe i should have gone up a size - especially if they are supposed to be just as tight as a skinsuit! O_O

Velocirapture

A friend of mine who researches in bio-mechanical engineering looked at calf compression for her PhD. Apparently the calves act as a 'second heart', and as the muscle contracts, it assists in pushing blood back up the body. Calf compression assists this function, and especially in cyclists. Cycling calf-contraction rate can be too high for a good 'pump' effect. What happens instead is that as the calf contracts it traps the blood in the vessels instead of assisting it along. In this situation, the compression is especially helpful.
I believe she wrote to the UCI in this regard to have the ruling against compression overturned medically (she is also a cyclist), but with no luck.

I might have some of the details here not quite right, but if anyone is interested in the topic i can follow up.

(@Dalai, I might just take you up re the Sports Sci journal articles! i really enjoy sports science info, but as a pleb i can usually only find a scraping of articles on whatever topic, and in those instances, just the abstracts :-/)

Minion1

Yarp. I don't know why you'd go radial for a handbills front wheel these days, you'd be better off with a Shimano/Mavic/fulcrum wheelset. 2 cross is plenty stiff with relatively short spokes, but provides some way of distributing stress across the spokes. f you were building a deep set of wheels radial makes sense because the angle of the spoke leaving the rim might not work, but for standard alloy rims most are made with a crossed pattern in mind.

Velocirapture

So you're saying no socks is slower??

carleton

Yes, please! I'd like to know more!! I'll PM you my email address if she can share her paper.

20+ papers. Go nuts: Appendix 3 - Resources and research papers ? Up! Up! Up! An introduction to track sprint cycling

I think I've read them all.

You can also find some here with the right keywords: Google Scholar

Velocirapture

Cool, will chat to her.


Nice! thanks! looking forward to digging in

Quinn8it

i think i remember them saying a knee high sock would be fastest.. but not legal

MarkWW

Is barge cement still the way to go for re-adhering base tapes to tubulars? All I can find is the "new toluene-free formula", which generally means it's not as good as previous, no matter what the product claims.

slindell

Just look at what the British were wearing before the high socks/shoe covers were banned. I am waiting for the aero bandages to make an appearance with a sudden rise in shaving injuries. As for the compression shirts I think that was more for the shirts some of the pursuiters/TT were wearing to collapse the shoulders a few years back.
But the real reason for all of he clothing rules is to rightfully ban sleeveless jerseys with arm warmers.

gtrob

Goal time of ~1:10 kilo:

What gear? I know, I hate asking the question, but really never get a chance to practice it to nail it down.

52x15? Feels like it would be too small, but Id rather lose 1 or 2kmh off my top end if it means actually being able to move the bloody bike off the start.

Minion1

I know I've seen an answer to this question somewhere on this thread, but for the life of google and about a day of my life, I can't find what I'm after so, after apologising for asking questions that have already been answered,

I've got a pair of Nitto B125 bars with a 25.4 clamp, and want to use a 25.4 Thompson X4 stem, where the recessed parts of the stem and faceplate don't really contact that well with the raised clamping area of the bar. I do have a 31.8 stem, but the 25.4 is 130mm and -17 whereas the other one in 120 and 10 degrees. (130mm stem gives me a way better position with these bars).

Question is, 1) is it safe, from memory I've seen a pic of the stem ends up biting into the material on the bar it contacts but they're steel, so probably (?!?) it's not as bad as al.
2), Are the adaptors from 25/6 to 31.8 secure enough for track use if I decide to use the other stem?

Thanks in advance

carleton

I wouldn't use that 25.4 thompson stem with those bars for the reasons that you suspect. They don't mate well and I've seen one crack with that setup.

Shims work very well. I've used them with no issues. The only minor problem is lining them all up when you do the install. Having an extra pair of hands helps make the process faster, but you can do it solo, too.

gtrob

That NZ paper is a gold mine, I can't believe I haven't come across it yet. I guess its sort of on point, since it takes a long time to read and isn't a simple graph in a magazine.

I especially like the conclusions on frame shapes, and what I try telling people all the time. Look at a head on profile of a rider, the bike/wheels are nothing compared to basically 1 leg.

I also hate how little attention or data there is on fabrics and testing out there, this is the first I have really seen it. We take whatever Zipp tells us on their 4% improvements of a wheel like its the only way to buy speed. In theory, and according to this paper, the socks I wear make a bigger difference!

Minion1

Thanks Carleton, I was hoping against hope that the interwebz would validate my poor judgement if I decided to use that stem. It does look dodgy as all get out.

SBUndefeated201

How close should my rear wheel be to the frame? I am just working on all the tiny (and free) adjustments I can make to my bike. I've read that a close wheel is generally more aero than a wheel further out in the dropouts.

carleton

There is no one wheel position on the track. Due to various gear changes, your wheel will exist at various positions at both extremes of your dropout.

If you cut your chain too short in order to get your wheel up close to the seat tube, you will not be able to use various gears. Then you'll have different chains for different chainring/cog combinations.

This is why long dropouts are preferred on track frames.