Psimet2001 

I am obviously new to the whole track thing. I have great fits on my road and cross setups. Bad fit/no fit on my TT setup.

I borrowed a bike for track that I ended up owning (long story). It kicks butt and sizing should work fine, but I don't know where to start with proper position. Only rule I heard is that the nose of the saddle has to be 3mm back from the BB center.

Apart from that I set it up in similar fashion to my road/crit setup. It's not comfortable but feels efficient...but I know it could use improvement. What are some rules of thumb for track?

bitingduck

Start with your road position and tweak from there, which you're already doing. You might want to go a few mm lower on the saddle if your legs get pretty straight on your road setup, but really not much more than that. There should be plenty of people at Northbrook who can look at your position and suggest changes.

Nose of the saddle actually has to be at least 5 cm back from BB center, but I think that still only applies to races under UCI rules (e.g. elite nats), and doesn't apply for events categorized as "sprint" events. The same rule also applies on the road for TTs.

carleton

+1 to what's written above.

I've had lots of fit issues over the years. I'm better at sprint events and I got lured into the "Lower is better" mentality. So, whenever my flexibility would let me, I kept creeping the bars lower and lower. I didn't realize that I was "turning off" my power the lower I got. As a happy coincidence, the guy at my local shop who did my bike fit was an Olympian in Track Cycling...sprinting no less. So, he helped me get things dialed it. My bars came up like 3-4"...and so did my efficiency, power, and top speed.

Apparently, the word on the street is that trackies are really, really meticulous about bike fit and components. I can say that's true in my case. I'm sort of The Princess and The Pea when it comes to my bike. Which may explain why I spent a few hundred dollars chasing down the perfect handlebar. I think I tried like 7 or 8 till I settled on one.

You mention that your bike is "not comfortable but feels efficient". What's not comfortable about it?

bitingduck

And I'm sort of the opposite-- not really picky about equipment, and seem to be easy to fit. I've been copying my fit from bike to bike for quite a while, but know at least two guys (one's a close competitor/occasional teammate) whose bikes I can just get on and ride as long as it's the right pedals.

That's why I recommended just having someone local look at it-- if it's that subtle he really needs to have someone experienced watch him ride for a bit.

carleton

Psimet2001, you there?