Originally Posted by
carleton
Don’t sweat the details like gearing and whether you are ready for big gears. That’s like a new basketball player talking about “which dunks should I practice?”
I suggest that you cut your teeth on “normal” gears then move to big gears when the time is right.
The number 1 thing that will make you faster faster is simply showing up at the track and riding and racing your bike as much as possible.
^^ This. Haha
Love the analogy...
My primary thought was that if OP is in the UK, the 'local' track might well be a fast indoor one like Manchester, Newport (Geraint Thomas National Velodrome of Wales, ahem...), Hoy, or Lee Valley, etc... which probably means at least 2" or even 4" bigger gears are probably appropriate for the boards vs the average outdoor track. And especially if you're that strong and still have some BMX speed, and you might just be a decent sprinter which means future gears will possibly be larger again. Once you can ride the track well...
Do experiment as Carleton says, and race as much as you can. 95-ish sounds like a very good starting point for most club level racing.
Originally Posted by
ChrisRob01
Yes I am looking at Dolan and in the UK, do you know if you need to go to the showroom for a bike fitting?
Getting my pedals and shoes tomorrow from Evans
No worries, glad to hear you're enjoying track
No idea about the Dolan showroom as I haven't been, but if you can go, I reckon do... they can probably help with the fitting, especially if they're trackies, and would be worth it if you can try out the different sizes/models.
I note that Dolan still offers customisation of stem size and some components on the website when you buy, so that might help with getting the sizing close from day dot. Just do beware of the tall head tube on those XL Pre Cursa frames. Not sure if the TC1 is the same (the DF4 is, of course, a world-class bike - but also assumes you want to have your bars slammed [down low] which you may, or if you're 6'4 like me, you may not...) but the Pre Cursa XL I rode was definitely too tall in the head tube/bar height for proper track racing, even for me. Along with any aero disadvantage, the drops being too high put your centre of gravity up quite high, which makes handling a bit cumbersome at speed and on the banking. Most new track riders who I tell to drop their bars and inch or two from their road positions notice the handling benefits first and foremost. The aero is just a bonus for most of them, especially in age-group racing. But it's a personal thing. Get someone experienced to eyeball you on the bike, or a full on fit with someone who knows track, if you can.
All the best!