Originally Posted by
colnago62
There was a rule of thumb when I started on the velodrome in the 80’s that said buy size smaller than your road frame. I never felt super dialed in until I bought a frame from a teammate who about my size that he had custom made. Found out that I needed a longer top tube than what a size smaller frame could accommodate.
That rule of thumb was around in the early 2000s but quickly got debunked when aluminum and carbon frames showed up with shorter head tubes.
Remember, a top track bike in the 1980s looked like this:
Complete with long head tube, long reach stem, long and deep bars.
If anything, the rule of thumb advice now is, "Get a track bike with a TT 1 size
larger than your road bike."
Why?
- More aggressive positions (lower back) for the shorter races (shorter than road rides/races).
- Narrow bars push the back up. To reclaim your position, you have to push the front of the bike out forward by increasing the top tube length.