Originally Posted by
carleton
Have a steel frame made. You'll be much faster on a round-tubed steel bike that fits very well than on an ill-fitting superbike.
Why? Because your body is the engine and an ill-fitting bike won't let your engine perform optimally. Also, because your body is 90% of the aerodynamic drag. So, optimizing your fit optimizes your aerodynamics.
You may go through a 2 or 3 frames over a couple of years until you find the perfect geometry for you. Then, if you want, spend big money on a carbon bike that has those dimensions.
I kind of have to make whatever the next fame is last a few years, and I'm definitely on the tiny budget program, so this may take a while to find a solution, which isn't the end of the world.
I'm with you on the body position and fit understanding for aero and performance, I just didn't realize I should be looking at track frame sizes the same as I was with TT road frames. I just picked a similar geometry and 58cm size to my regular road bike (which was pretty hard to find, actually, most used track bikes I came across were smaller than 58); typical track newbie mistake no doubt.
Once I find a solution, I'll go through my normal routine of swapping out stems, bars, spacers, and tweaking saddle positioning, until the fit is dialed-in. That's a fun process, I enjoy the tweaking. At least now, I'll come into it having made several rounds of it on the smaller frame, so the range of tweaking will begin at a better starting point with the larger frame.