Track bike build advice

Zippe

Hey,
Building a track bike for pursuit racing,I'm hoping to try it out this year, I have never done any track racing and I'm not sure on what gear is the best to go with,I have a frame/set and TT bars,I'm looking at what cranks to get and a wheel-set and rear cog, any advice on what gear to go for ? What wheels work best for sun drive track,I take it as its outdoor front wheel would not want to be deeper than 50mm for side wind ?

Cheers zip,

Beasty

Track cyclists usually have perhaps 3 options for the chainring, perhaps something like 49. 50 and 51 (or perhaps an even smaller range) and at least a couple (often 3 or more) for the sprocket - maybe 14 and 15 (+16). They can be changed between races and allow you work out what works best for you

I tend to be relatively highly geared - maybe 91.6 gear inches (51 x 15) and will go higher for the pursuit. Lower gears are recommended when it's windy and I know a lot of people who will race at less than 90 gear inches (50 x 15) and go even lower when warming up (Manchewster Velodrome has someting like a maximum of 84-85 gear inches on their hire bikes)

There is an article on gearing in the FAQs on the trackcycling.ie website

For wheels I tend to use 60mm or so for the race legue but will go deeper and 5 spokes on the front with a rear disc wheel for anything more serious

Harrybelafonte

Do you have regular bars as well as TT?

nak

My advice is get accredited (if not already), come to the training sessions on Saturdays and Mondays, then give the race league a try. Not many chances to do pursuit at Sundrive other than the big races at the weekend like the international GP and nationals.

Zippe

I'm living in mayo so weekend racing suits me better with my work and kids and my wife's working hours the week days would be very hard to get to, I will get a set of track drop bars over the next week or 2 to have also, I have to go looking for a crankset,chain and training wheels now, I have a Zipp disc I can get a track converter kit for and a Zipp 808,HED tri spoke and a 50mm front wheel to use for races, I have to get a hex head skewer for the front wheel as there TT wheels,

I'll get the cranks and gears sorted out this week now that i know what to go for and get the bike out on the road for a spin,

Anyone know where best place to buy track stuff locally by any chance, any bike shops around that specialize in track stuff ?

Thanks for the replies,
Zip

Beasty

Not a LBS but Velodromeshop is a UK online supplier with as much variety as you can hope for, and some useful articles/commentry to help you on your way

Zippe

Beasty wrote: »

Not a LBS but Velodromeshop is a UK online supplier with as much variety as you can hope for, and some useful articles/commentry to help you on your way

Hey,

Thank for that,I'll have a look there tonight,the next accreditation is on the 5th of April so I'd like to get it build up before then if I can to get the feel for the fixed gear,

Cheers zip,

kumate_champ07

Zippe wrote: »

I'm living in mayo so weekend racing suits me better with my work and kids and my wife's working hours the week days would be very hard to get to, I will get a set of track drop bars over the next week or 2 to have also, I have to go looking for a crankset,chain and training wheels now, I have a Zipp disc I can get a track converter kit for and a Zipp 808,HED tri spoke and a 50mm front wheel to use for races, I have to get a hex head skewer for the front wheel as there TT wheels,

I'll get the cranks and gears sorted out this week now that i know what to go for and get the bike out on the road for a spin,

Anyone know where best place to buy track stuff locally by any chance, any bike shops around that specialize in track stuff ?

Thanks for the replies,
Zip

you wont be allowed do those weekend race events unless you have done a couple of race nights first, accreditation is not enough unless you have raced track overseas.


3 best track cranksets:

Dura Ace 7710 (105 octalink bb is fine with this, ultegra is actually better than the track dura ace bb)

Sugino 75 -work with campy iso taper bb 109mm, 111 is fine too

Sram Omnium, very stiff, looks nicer on modern frames, comes with bb and 48t chainring


there are more expensive versions of the 75, 'grand mighty' is worth the extra cost if you will be racing alot, the others wont have noticeable difference

Zippe

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

you wont be allowed do those weekend race events unless you have done a couple of race nights first, accreditation is not enough unless you have raced track overseas.


3 best track cranksets:

Dura Ace 7710 (105 octalink bb is fine with this, ultegra is actually better than the track dura ace bb)

Sugino 75 -work with campy iso taper bb 109mm, 111 is fine too

Sram Omnium, very stiff, looks nicer on modern frames, comes with bb and 48t chainring


there are more expensive versions of the 75, 'grand mighty' is worth the extra cost if you will be racing alot, the others wont have noticeable difference

I will prob go with a miche cranks for now and see how I get on and upgrade to one of the others next year, if I'm only doing the pursuit racing will I still need to have done some other races ? I don't intend on doing the racing just the pursuits,

Cheers zip,

nak

I have Miche Primato cranks on my bike and am happy with them.

You would need to ask the track commission, about racing, but a lot of riders racing every Wednesday didn't get to compete in the International GP last year. You would need start gate experience for the pursuit. Think nationals is the only other event with pursuit.

kumate_champ07

nak wrote: »

Think nationals is the only other event with pursuit.

Omnium has the pursuit

Zippe

Not as straight forward as I thought so...... I should have looked into that first before I got the bike.


Cheers for the info,
Zip,

learn

Is it possible to hire the track for midweek pursuit training ?

kumate_champ07

learn wrote: »

Is it possible to hire the track for midweek pursuit training ?

yes, if its not booked already. you can hire a derny rider too ,to pace you.

nak

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

Omnium has the pursuit

Didn't include that as I thought you had to do the whole omnium.

Harrybelafonte

nak wrote: »

Didn't include that as I thought you had to do the whole omnium.

Think nak is right. If you only want to do pursuit you'll only have two chances a year. Better also consider kilo and 500 if you want to get any use out of the bike.

I'd recommend questions re track hire be directed towards the Track Commission.

r27

If you have not already bought the cranks I would recommend staying anyway from miche threads are poor and better cranksets can be had for the money

randomstuff

If you're on a budget, these are quite good value http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CSSTTR2K/stronglight-track-2000-crankset 165mm 48t are in stock. Have done some research about them and they are suppose to be good, got them last week for myself.

kumate_champ07

randomstuff wrote: »

If you're on a budget, these are quite good value http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CSSTTR2K/stronglight-track-2000-crankset 165mm 48t are in stock. Have done some research about them and they are suppose to be good, got them last week for myself.

they are great for the price, plenty stiff. what you pay for with the more expensive track cranks is mechanical tolerances, you can see the chairing wobble slightly from side to side on a cheaper crank. and the threads and tapers dont last as long/arent as well machined

Zippe

Hey,

Thanks lads for the replies, do you mean there is only 2 events or 2 leagues I could take part in pursuits ?

Cheers zip,

Harrybelafonte

Zippe wrote: »

Hey,

Thanks lads for the replies, do you mean there is only 2 events or 2 leagues I could take part in pursuits ?

Cheers zip,

Two events. There isn't enough time to run pursuits at the league. You might get a third event like we said but you'd have to take part in all events in the Omnium, and to do that you'd need to have raced in bunches in the track to be allowed up.

nak

Zippe wrote: »

Hey,

Thanks lads for the replies, do you mean there is only 2 events or 2 leagues I could take part in pursuits ?

Cheers zip,

That may only be one, as the standard in the pursuit for the International GP was very high last year. It was only open to experienced track riders last year as it is a UCI event with points available. You would need to be able to use the start gate for it. Training sessions every Saturday if you can make those.

r27 wrote: »

If you have not already bought the cranks I would recommend staying anyway from miche threads are poor and better cranksets can be had for the money

I have never had any problems with Miche cranksets; have had one on my bike for 6 years and it was well used before I got it. No bother with the new one I have either.