JesusBananas

Too bad you are anti-gif sigs. Because that would be the best gif sig.

Jaytron

No but seriously, do you have a preferred brand of bibs, or at least a few brands that you've tried and didn't like?

carleton

I like:
- Castelli
- Hincapie
- Specialized
- Adidas

Jaytron

What the hell, Adidas makes bibs?? TIL.

Also track question, I overheard some dude talking about track drops, saying that he usually gets narrower-than-usual bars for track. Is there any rhyme/reason to this? My roadie has 42cm bars, the ones I used last Saturday were like 38cm. I feel that maybe 42cm might be too wide for track and could get in the way?

carleton

Yeah, go with narrow. My bars are 37cm 3T Scatto bars. Before that, I used 38 and 40cm. Most sprinters use 37-40cm sprint bars. Most endurance racers use road bars or narrow versions of road bars.

Wider bars cause you to wave the bike back and forth when sprinting...which is bad on the track.

Spend a day or two going through 2-3 pages and check out all of the threads on the track forum. There is a lot of great info in there about gears and equipment.

carleton

Yeah, I got them from Performance when I first started racing. I still have 2 pair...and love them. The Adidas cycling stuff is sort of hard to find, though.

See about joining a team where you can benefit from the knowledge of your teammates. You can also borrow equipment. Teammates will help out another teammate...even the new guy.

Dannihilator

Hard to find because they stopped making it. Loved the Adidas gloves fwiw.

carleton

I guess they are like Nike. They only make cycling stuff for the pros now:

Jaytron

Will do, thanks.

Would a team pick up somebody without any racing exp?

Nagrom_ 

I see a lot of pro's with untaped bars and gloves instead?

why?

carleton

Yes. There are "Teams" and there are "Clubs". They are roughly the same thing. But, clubs are less formal and have fewer requirements for entry (race resumes, racing category, etc..) and participation (MUST race a minimum number of races etc...).

My team has a 2-tier system, a "Sport" team and an "Elite" team...which is the same difference as a the Club vs Team mentioned above. The Elite members get more benefits but we also have to work harder training and racing.

So, you can probably find a club no problem. I'd ask around and see what your options are at your local track then pick one and ask if they are accepting members. Most clubs have a very open policy. Others have restrictions like East Point Track Club in Atlanta that is limited to only 20 members at a time. Others are just snooty.

Clubs have benefits, too. Discounts at a bike shop maybe.

People customarily join a team/club for at least one full season. And if they want to join another club, do it at the end of the season. People move around for various reasons (new city, more friends in another club, more benefits, better match of skills with teammates).

Also, if you're fast...the teams will find you

adriano 

luckily, adidas just wanted to shorten their name to mavic.

carleton

Some bars, like the Easton EC90 Track bars, have texture that feels similar to paint with sand in it, but a little different. It's gentle on the hands but grippy. Feels great with gloves or even bare handed. You can't see it in photos or even if you are up close. But, if you touch them, you'll feel it.

Smooth bars are sometimes, but rarely, used with grippy gloves.

Smooth bars with bare hands will get slippery very quickly.

Some racers will use grips and bare hands covered in weighlifting chalk, which is great for absorbing sweat and has a great feel to it. Example:

carleton

I don't get it.

Nagrom_ 

Huh, thanks. I've always wondered.

adriano 

https://www.adidas-group.com/en/press...003_04_22.aspx

carleton

If this guy can deadlift (lift off the ground) hundreds of pounds with his bare hands using chalk, it's grippy enough for cycling:


Gloves are primarily to protect than palms of the hands in a crash and slide on the road. When people slide, they instintually put their palms down to stop themselves. The rash on your legs will be tolerable before the palms of your hands stop hurting. It's hard to ride with torn up palms because the pressure is always directly on the wounds. This is why the palms of cycling gloves have so much padding.

The secondary features of gloves are for grip and keeping sweat from your bars.

The photos above show Hoy doing a solo flying 200M where there are no other riders so virtually no risk of crashing unless he get a blowout. Bare hands are aerodynamically faster than gloves...and lighter. At his level, every little bit helps.

carleton

Wow. I did not know this. That's old new, too. Thanks!

Jaytron

Snap, I'll definitely start looking around.

I need to get fast! Maybe I'll get approached by a team.

Santaria

Carleton,

Crit race coming up here again soonish. I can borrow a proper-fitting decent demo road bike for the day to do it, but some people have suggested I use my FG. I think I can handle the limit for Cat 5/4 (30 minutes) and do well. My concern is cornering. Last year one of the mechanic's wives (singular) took a turn to deep and ended up blowing up a $2k bike into the chain-link fence.

They are apparently using a more turn-friendly course this year. What would you do?

Extra info: I did this race last year 45 lbs. heavier on a CAAD9-5 and ended up pulling a lot of people because I didn't think I could be competitive. This year I'm significantly lighter, stronger and my sprint has become more defined.

TMonk

they wont let you do it fixed
ss yes, but fixed no.

at least not at the dominguez hills series around here. someone tried that two weekends ago.

hairnet

no fixed gear in USAC road races, other smaller organizations pretty much have the same rules. A SS track bike with short cranks = pedal through all the corners

carleton

I'm a USA Cycling official.

Rule 1M3(b): For road, cyclo-cross and MTB races, only a bicycle with a freewheel and one working brake on each wheel shall be used.

So, you can't use your bike in FG mode.

Even if you could, you'd wreck in the first turn as people would brake harder than you and you'd plow into them.

Santaria

Guess I'll borrow the road bike, still would have been nice to ride in my comfort zone. I've recently had the living crap scared out of me on my M80 when I coasted for like a second. I've become so accustom to the FG that any moment where I'm not pedaling, I better be stationary or that instinct to freak out kicks in.

carleton

Stop thinking so much.

You'll be fine.