Israel's new track

New Track Bike on the market. Only $80k: https://bikerumor.com/2020/01/02/wx-...rHg95Pzx0x-72I

Not sure who is actually riding it though.

I'll be a dollar to a dime that:
1: Not one of those frames or components has ever been produced.
2: Everything was done in a CAD program.
3: No one will ride this in the Olympics.
4: This was a "cool" project that became a marketing tool.

The bike and website look like a design school final project.

Oh, and regarding the UCI approval. Anyone can submit designs to be approved by the UCI. They will gladly take your money and review your frames. This was also probably part of the marketing package, "Approved by the UCI!"

And even if it's real, there's nothing groundbreaking about any of it. Not sure why it should cost more than $1,500 USD (and that's being generous). :D

There's a post a bit higher up (#2600) from the bike being ridden at a World Cup. Looks like Awang will be riding the bike at the Olympics.

I stand corrected!

Awang's a small guy who usually has his drops down by tire level. When I watched a few recent World Cups I didn't get a good look at the bike but his position looked a little high and cramped. It's a cool looking bike but those drops are VERY shallow and I wonder if it really works for him. Superbikes have biffed it on the basics before.

Yup.

Pushing the bleeding edge of tech is terribly precarious when you have the strongest men and women in the sport ripping the bikes apart leading up to and in the Olympics. All trying for marginal gains.

It just takes one small failure (a weak point or unforeseen error) to have a bike fail and break.

This will drain the confidence of the riders.

If I were leading a team, I’d be testing final products a year out from the Games...at least.

if I were designing components/bikes I'd frame it as a challenge to the sprinters.
"Nobody has been able to break it yet...so I'm sure you won't be able to either." ;)

Simmons Racing now has a clamp to attache straps to DA pedals: https://www.simmons-racing.com/produ...al-back-type-2

fabian puerta interview (in spanish) from today

That is an interesting take on it. I really like the idea, and it puts the strap in the right place on the foot as well.

The above post reminds me - one of the guys who also trains at Lee Valley has come up with a pretty ingenious strap adaptor for Shimano ( and now also Look) Pedals. Does not require any tools and clips on.

https://www.crankinfo.com/store/product/5

303 of the cost is also being donated to Australian Bush fire charities.

If you focus on simply keeping the clasp closed you forget that the foot moves vertically inside of the shoe several millimeters each stroke.

I think that those wouldn’t provide as solid of a connection as one that allows the strap to go under the pedal body and over the top of the foot. Such a system means that you won’t need $1,000+ shoes that have ultra stiff uppers.

I know that Hoy’s system was like the ones above. But he also had top of the line custom shoes.

Also, I feel like these floppy nylon straps will also stretch each stroke. NJS straps don’t stretch. And being floppy, they may be difficult to get on the foot at the boards or when slow rolling.

I know I’m Captain Buzzkill here. They are an improvement. But not better than zip ties + NJS straps.

How do I know? A couple of years ago, I designed and 3D printed solutions similar to those above and thoroughly tested them.

Thoughts on the new Look Keo Track pedal then? I spoke to rep at CABDA west and he was saying that they developed them so you wouldn't need to use straps. The knob at the bottom effectively locks in the shoe and wont release unless of a crash. I mentioned that some people use straps to also minimize movement of the foot in the shoe. They said to get better shoes. LOL

Also spoke to high up at 3T North America and they said that they were very surprised about the cancellation of the Scatto. Especially since its an Olympic year and its popularity with track people.

"Get better shoes" is a BS answer.

I couldn't figure out how they worked until I read your comment. This is no different that the Kewin Track Pedal that was around about 10 years or more ago...and it wasn't popular then, either.

The Keywin pedal had a small lever (of sorts) on the side that would keep the clamp from disengaging or the cleat from releasing (I can't recall).

If you simply want a pedal that won't release the cleat, use Shimano SPD-SL or SPD-R. But, that's not the objective. Hell, I can setup my SPD-SL pedals so tight that the cleat would move on the shoe before the pedal disengaged. So? When I used NJS straps, I'd set the release tension at maybe 1/3 of max and never disengaged. The way my pedals and straps were arranged, my foot literally did not move vertically no matter how hard I tugged upwards.

Everyone reading this, if you have a trainer or next time you are on your bike, strap in and do moderate standing and seated efforts and see if your feet move in your shoe. That's slop. That's slop that you can remove.

This slop is why I firmly believe that pursuit specialists would benefit from using straps as well. I've seen a couple of photos of some pursuiters in World Cup and Olympics using straps. I've cited them in other threads here. Why did they do it? It's not about disengagement as they never use a powerful standing start. It's about cleaning up the slop in the shoe. The LOOK pedal (and the representative you spoke with) ignores that.

Here's the real test of if the new LOOK pedal is appropriate for Sprinting: See if any of the French Sprinters use it without straps.

(And even if they did, my comment about shoes still stands. Top-tier shoes are quite expensive.)

If this is LOOK's answer it seems they've never seen their own sponsored national team riders racing. Bummer.

I don't use straps because I don't think my shoes and cleats are solidly connected - they are. I use straps as a fail safe, just to be doubly sure I"m not going to pull out and crash myself. (One track crash was enough.)

That's what I thought. Good fitting shoes are not cheap. Curious to see what the french will use. They said the first round of pedals and T20's are shipping at the end of the month and are all going to nation teams and federations.

Makes sense about taking out the slop in the shoe with straps. That has been one of the primary reasons for my search for new shoes. I just cannot get shoe tight enough to not have slop. Maybe straps can fix the problem for a bit.

Also heard from the stages guys that allegedly the tooling for DA 7700 cranks broke and they are not in a rush to remake it. Apparently they either might stop making track stuff or update the crank and BB to hollow-tech and more modern standards.

The new stages head unit can record data up to 4 times per second with a change in the setting. sound similar to the old srm's . Apparently 4 times per second is the max that ANT+ can handle.

I heard Shimano will not be repairing or remaking the tooling and will not be producing new DA track cranks. Get them while you can.

Wow.

How to convert your Dura-Ace track bottom bracket to ceramic.

DIY Ceramic Dura-Ace Track Bottom Bracket

7/32" Ceramic Bearing Source (part# BEA-G5LB732) - https://www.qarvimports.com

A new Dolan is being tested:

https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...3e&oe=5ECA6036

https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...7f&oe=5E985960