woof

What would it cost roughly to build a covered, small velodrome? The reason I ask is because I know a guy who is seriously thinking about spending $500,000 on a sports car. I bet he's good for a couple million if he could put his name on something that would make him a hero in our city. Land is cheap here so I'm thinking strictly about the building.

Also, what do you think would be the shortest feasible track that a fit 50yr old could ride on?

smitty22

i bet you thats a start. i'm no businessman but if he wants to throw a few bucks my way let me know. i could use some book money for next semester.

oldsprinter

Depends on the materials you use, but a concrete track can be built for less than $500,000. A tarmac track is even cheaper - go for 15 degree banking and you can use a tarmac machine - just like doing a road.

But if you want a wooden track made of the correct Russian hardwood, grandstand etc - https://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1632132007

Mike T.

The track itself is the cheap part. It's the building that's expensive.

That question made me laugh. I ride on arguably the shortest one in the world and it's 138 metres and 50 degrees steep (Forest City Velodrome in London Ontario). I'm a month shy of 60 and guys in their 80's ride there. If you can ride 25kph you can ride this thing. 30kph is much safer. By the way, the shorter the track the more steep it must be.

So I can't answer your question as to what the shortest track that a 50yr old could ride. This one maybe -

Yoshi

I imagine that spending $500,000 dollars on a car is very different from spending $500,000 dollars on a velodrome. Unless he has that much cash liquid, I wonder how easy it would be to get loans/make downpayments for the latter.

bitingduck

I think I saw an interview with Dale Hughes where he said something like "Raise $200K and I can get you a track built". It would be outdoor plywood, but probably quite nice. I'm not sure what an inflatable building costs, but the burnaby people might be able to help with that.

And FWIW, the track Mike T. rides was built for something like $100K canadian, back before it was worth anything.

dickodick

two existing companies:

track and building package, veloplex arena system: https://www.betcycling.com/veloplex/veloplex.htm



v-worldwide: https://www.betcycling.com/veloplex/veloplex.htm

seems to be track only, need separate building.

woof

Thanks for the info. I'm hoping the crazy vanity (or whatever it is) that makes a guy buy a $500k car can be converted into getting us a velodrome. I'm doing OK but far from rich but I know people who could order that velodrome next week if they wanted it.

Retro Grouch 

I doubt the folks who buy $500,000 cars worry much about getting loans.

lofter

https://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/new...2?OpenDocument

crosses fingers and wishes for xmas

bonechilling

That's great and everything, but Wentzville is seriously the far side of the moon for most of the riders I know. And it's totally inaccessible if you don't own a car.

Still, anything's better than Penrose.

lofter

just thought i would share it . i seen it reading the dispatch .

Terex

Easier to do than a pool. A parent at my daughter's school wanted to donate money to build a swimming pool, but the school declined due to ongoing maintenance costs. I'm sure a velodrome would be much less expensive to maintain. Good luck!

Charlesbian

outdoor velo would be hella easy. depending on the popularity of racing in ur area the guy could make his money back in 5-10 years by holding amatuer races everyweek.

I would say it would be a great place for kids to get started on the sport, but then i realize a bunch of dumbass 14-yr olds trying to be cool would barrell down that thing without a helmet and get themselves killed, probably getting the track shut down.

dwmckee

I have seen the portable mini indoor Red Bull tracks. Does anyone know if these mini portable tracks are available for purchase and if the price is in the range of what a healthy bike shop can afford?

I'd also like to know if anyone on BF has ridden a mini track and if so what the experience was like compared to a more conventional size track.

carleton

1) This is a zombie thread.

2) The mini tracks are a joke. Literally for entertainment only.

gtrob

Oh no! Shoot it! Shoot it in the head!


I actually know some people building their own 100m track in the dirt right now. Plan is hard packed that you can ride with CX tires. So...the cost of a few weekends worth of beer.

700wheel

The recently build velodrome in York, UK, cost £1.1 million (US $1.8 million) according to this report Opening of York Velodrome ensures Grand Depart legacy
And this is a fairly simple velodrome. Aerial photo here: New Cycling Velodrome Opens in York in July Where to Stay
Of course building costs might be far different between the UK and the USA; in both business and leisure I have found that costs for comparable items in the UK are generally significantly higher than in the USA.
I visit York every year or so and I plan to ride this track next year.

Also in the UK grass track cycling takes place. It can be just as exciting as hard surface velodrome racing. Here is a typical site: https://www.facebook.com/RichmondGrassTrack . I mention this because it is perhaps the lowest cost to "build" a track racing facility.

misterwaterfall

That looks pretty fun. I've heard of "grass crits" but never seen any in my area.

Darth Lefty 

I am not a track bicycle racer by even the remotest stretch of the imagination, but I've spent an embarrassing amount of time racing R/C cars on small dirt tracks, both offroad and oval. What sort of track you can get and how well it lasts depends greatly on the dirt and the weather.

In Southern CA and Arizona and probably other desert states, they race on adobe tracks and do not water them; these build up a "blue groove" of tire rubber. They form an incredibly reliable surface for traction as long as you stay in the groove, but are like talcum powder everywhere else. Basically they are very fast but unforgiving of mistakes. There are some glue-like products that can be added to the soil when the track is being built to make it harder. The tires we used for these were called "mini pin" and would be chewed up in one race night. The cars could be cleaned off with compressed air. The whole experience favored those who had an excess of both dollars and skill. I hated them.

Most other places, I've raced on tracks made of packed damp soil, which is watered several times each race night. They tend to form ruts and erode and need constant maintenance, but are very forgiving to drive on. Tires last forever but the mud was messy. It was fun.

dwmckee

Man, that grass track is really cool. We could do that in the back yard with a little extra dirt and some grass seed! Any of this going on in the US?

carleton

Unfortunately not that I am aware of. I'd like to see it tried, especially being that cyclocross is really big in the us.

I could see it happening.

gyrfalcon16

Pedal pushers need to step it up a bit...

700wheel

I just found this cost data for the Aigle track in Switzerland
[TABLE="width: 600, align: center"]
[TR]
[TD]TECHNICAL DATA:
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Track length:
[/TD]
[TD]200 m
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Track width:
[/TD]
[TD]6,65 m
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Inclination max:
[/TD]
[TD]~ 47 degrees
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Inclination min.
[/TD]
[TD]~ 13 degrees
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Speed max.
[/TD]
[TD]80 km/h
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Construction:
[/TD]
[TD]wood
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Surface:
[/TD]
[TD]wood
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]track construction costs without design fees and taxes:
[/TD]
[TD]~ 400'000 US$
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Source SCHÜRMANN VELODROMES, UCI-CMC Aigle/Switzerland

It is hard to believe that $400,000 covers cost of track, building, land, and other infrastructure.

andr0id

IMO, if somebody is going to go through the trouble, spring for a 250m track. It will be much easier to attract state and even national events if you don't have an oddball size.