gtrob

Pittsburgh has an active facebook page that talks about everything except the status of their track haha.

wens

Yup. I've had posts asking about track deleted as well. It's bizarre.

carleton

Hi, all.

Are there any bike geometry websites or apps out there? I want to put in some dimensions and see if the numbers "add up" and also maybe see the resulting output. Any ideas?

carleton

To answer my own question, I found www.bikecad.ca | Bicycle Design Software

It's very cool. It's free but requires Java. I feel dirty installing and running java on my machine.

But it's cool. Does what I expect.

noglider 

bikecad looks very promising! They encourage us to upload designs, and I think the video is suggesting that we measure our current (production) bikes to catalog how our bikes are built.

carleton

Yeah, I noticed that there was a "publish" option when I saved my CAD drawing on the site. I was wondering what that was about.

Mr. Tiemeyer provides a CAD drawing as part of his deliverable to his clients.

This isn't mine, but here is an example of what I got for my frames. This is the bike he made for a bike show:



I've been using the specs off of my current frame as a baseline then adjusted the seat tube and top tube to what I'd like in a new frame.

taras0000

Wow! I can certainly see that rear triangle being steel. That's really interesting, especially as they had a small nosecone on the headtube. That's a lot of metal in that bike. I would be interested in being able to find steel tubing that deep. That would probably be an amazingly stiff bike.

carleton

That Tiemeyer is 6061 Aluminum.

taras0000

lol. A little bit of a delayed reaction on my post. I was referring to Hill's AIS bike. As for the Tiemeyer, much as I like it, that paint job just doesn't go with a headtube that long.

nspace

@carleton: You can also check out RattleCAD. OpenSource bike cad software. It takes a bit of getting used to but I've used it in an OSX environment and its been pretty good:

https://rattlecad.sourceforge.net/

SBUndefeated201

I appreciate everyone answering my (noob) track questions. How tight do your guys run your clipless pedals? I might be over compensating because I had a close call with SPDs. I run SPD Sls now..I hear they are less likely to release when force is applied. I started with them an minimum and tightened each 10 clicks (don't know if this is an accurate measure). I am only 140lbs so tightening all the way does not allow me to even clip in or out.

700wheel

I run my SPD-SLs as tight as I can release my shoe from the pedal for track use. (For road use I keep them as loose as they go.)
I also spray my pedals with silicone lube once or twice a year.

dunderhi

+1

TurtleRacer

I run my SPD SLs at the lowest tension (both road and track). I haven't ever accidentally pulled out of my pedals- and I can't (I've tried really hard on my trainer). But I'm a noob and only 170lbs, so I think I'm not putting down (or pulling up) the power necessary to pull out of my pedals.

Have any of you pulled straight up and out of your pedals (e.g. pulled out while pedalling with good form)?

SBUndefeated201

I've pulled out of SPDs on a standing start

wens

I've pulled out of SPDs starting cross races, but I'm not sure how relevant that is. Nobody runs their track pedals lose so they can get out when they're muddy, after all.

carleton

Exactly.

For those who don't know, let's differentiate between SPD and SPD-SL.

This is SPD:

They are made for MTB and CX. They are made for quick entry/exit and shedding mud.




This is SPD-SL:

They are made for Road. Made for bigger platform, power transfer, and foot retention.

netromekim

Hey! Longtime lurker but a first time poster. I've taken my cert A & B at the new velodrome in Milton - a spectacular facility - and have become instantly addicted to riding the track. One question I have, specific to etiquette, pertains to the cote d'azur and I'm hoping someone can clarify.
After getting the bike rolling and me clipped in on the apron/safety zone, do I get up to speed on the cote then move up track to the stayers' line to warm up, or should I not dwell on the cote at all? Of course, any movements I make are done only after requisite shoulder checks.
Thanks,
Mike

gtrob

This is going to vary track to track. For example IVBP only has a cote and no safety zone (its actually grass/mud!).

At Milton, in a drop-in rec session, the cote is to get up to speed. If you are just stretching, being lazy, use the safety zone. The cote is just a transition.

Now riding black vs blue is going to depend on the session. In a faster drop-in like we had last night, the blue is the 'stayer' and the black was for intervals. On a slower session with newer riders, that might be reversed. There will ALWAYS be a track facilitator running the session so ask that person to be clear. It all depends who is there, how busy it is, what people want to do, etc. Organized chaos.

netromekim

Thanks gtrob! I must have been in the cert B class before your drop in session last night - if you were in at around 9:00.
I'm registered in a structured recreational session so I'm happy to hear they will help us refine our etiquette. We did simultaneous pace lines last night - one group on the black with another on the blue, both with exchanges - so that helped me solidify the black line and blue line differences.
I just want to make sure I understood the cote etiquette properly, as one of the posts in this thread says you can be clipped by guys doing efforts on the black if you're on the cote, so I wanted to understand better. I get it now.
Thanks,
Mike

gtrob

Ideally you are aware of someone doing a hard effort like that before you move up to the cote, you can get most of the speed you need from the safety zone. The important thing is coming onto the track safely, but you can only see what you can see, you can't predict what someone is going to do. Roll up, look for an opening, time it so you accelerate down the straight on the cote, come onto the track after the turn, up into a paceline. Easy as pie. And cake.

carleton

@nspace

RattleCAD is AWESOME!

Here's what I want in my next frame:

Dalai

Nice. Didn't think your preferred race lengths required fluids whilst racing though...

carleton

Hahaha! I still haven't figured out how to remove those bits from the template

globbinick

First post. I have a Wabi that I am starting to race in alleycats etc (stupid light sodacan lighting se version), but I want to start training on the track. Would a fork change from 45mm>29mm offset on a 74-Seat tube 72-head tube frame make the bike better for the track? It seems to me that most bikes are 76-74 to 74-74, are the 2 degrees a large enough factor to change frames? I think the Langster Pro is the same geo for my size.
Wabi Cycles Lightning SE fixie frame specifications