Road TT bike on the track?

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Kasparz
Posts: 566
Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2007 10:17 am
Location: Latvia

by Kasparz

Best riders dimensions? Rider who would use 165mm track cranks can use 175 cranks on road or tt bike. Short track cranks are not for endurance events unless you use 165mm on road too.
Hour record can be done at high power output and high cadence, 24h record is on another planet.
Also, most if not all of latest hour records(after Obree) are done on EPO, you can be sure about that.

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Tapeworm
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Joined: Thu May 03, 2007 10:39 am

by Tapeworm

Why would a shorter crank somehow handicap or otherwise induce more fatigue? Sounds like mumbojumbo to me.
"Physiology is all just propaganda and lies... all waiting to be disproven by the next study."
"I'm not a real doctor; But I am a real worm; I am an actual worm." - TMBG

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11.4
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Joined: Tue May 23, 2006 4:33 am

by 11.4

Let's not judge the poor guy.

He asked if he could use this bike on the track. For this purpose alone, yes, you can. As long as you are only training and then setting a record by riding at speed on the pole, you won't hit a pedal. And your choice of crankarm length -- you still won't hit a pedal.

It's actually not true that the angle is the same at the pole as up higher on the track. This is only true in the middle of the banking. Elsewhere, there's a change in angle of the banking going from the straights into the banking.

The place you will crash on the OP's setup is if you are riding up or down the banking, or riding slowly on the banking. In either case, you are likely to clip a pedal. You want to have a practice of riding at the pole and, when you want to slow down or change position, drop down onto the apron. Still not entirely safe on the apron, but you can figure that one out at low speed early on.

Track power riders traditionally rode 165's. Now they're spread all over from 165's to 172.5's, with 165 and 170 being the most common. Riders who are doing long endurance record rides tend to go to 172.5 or 175 mm cranks. And these generalizations are pretty consistent regardless of rider dimensions.

I would suggest that you spend some time on www.fixedgearfever.com. This is the hangout for all the serious trackies (and that means many national and world champions, so understand that there's a level of sophistication in the posts once you figure who is real and who throws BS around. You'll find a lot of info about endurance events, crankarm length, almost any track in the world, etc.

Practically speaking, to achieve your goal you will need to do quite a bit of track riding. That means you'll be sharing the track with others and you can't just hog the pole. Accordingly, you'll be riding up and down, riding pacelines with other riders at different heights on the track, etc. etc. Just doing that kind of riding, plus riding with other trackies, means you want to be doing it on another bike with safe pedal clearance, and just switch to your record bike when you are doing dedicated training and the track is closed to everyone else. (You only have to veer up-track and slow down once to avoid another rider to clip your pedal and crash, potentially bringing down other riders. Causing crashes that bring down others is an absolute no-no on the track and you won't get to bring your bike back on that track again.)

mentok
Posts: 577
Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2012 9:58 am

by mentok

would the uci permit computers/powermeters to be fitted to the bike and/or visible to the rider?

Kasparz
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Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2007 10:17 am
Location: Latvia

by Kasparz

Tapeworm wrote:Why would a shorter crank somehow handicap or otherwise induce more fatigue? Sounds like mumbojumbo to me.

Longer cranks - low cadence. Short cranks - high cadence. For 24h event you want low cadence and longer cranks(usually what you use on road or tt, not track) to allow leverage for mashing bigger gear.
11.4 pretty much said it.

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Tapeworm
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Joined: Thu May 03, 2007 10:39 am

by Tapeworm

Kasparz wrote:
Tapeworm wrote:Why would a shorter crank somehow handicap or otherwise induce more fatigue? Sounds like mumbojumbo to me.

Longer cranks - low cadence. Short cranks - high cadence. For 24h event you want low cadence and longer cranks(usually what you use on road or tt, not track) to allow leverage for mashing bigger gear.
11.4 pretty much said it.

Except that's a load of crap right there. Long cranks (whatever that definition actually is) can be high RPM and conversely short cranks can be low RPM. I would suggest practicing with the same cranks on both road and track.
"Physiology is all just propaganda and lies... all waiting to be disproven by the next study."
"I'm not a real doctor; But I am a real worm; I am an actual worm." - TMBG

Dalai
Posts: 1491
Joined: Wed Dec 15, 2004 10:54 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

by Dalai

mentok wrote:would the uci permit computers/powermeters to be fitted to the bike and/or visible to the rider?


UCI? Not visible.

Tokyo Drifter would be riding under UMCA rules. Might allow it as they allow a geared bike on the track apparently...

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ras11
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Joined: Thu Sep 25, 2003 9:11 pm
Location: SC, USA

by ras11

Not sure about the SC, but you ca quickly gauge the issue by checking the lean angle of your pedals/shoes with the crank in the 6 oclock position. If the bike angle to the ground is less than the max track angle than you might have an issue. That said, as other posters have said, at speed this is not an issue. When in the turns you will be perpendicular to the track surface.

Good luck with your ride! Post your stories!
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deermatt
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Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2011 11:46 pm

by deermatt

Im not sure if its been said but the rear wheel spacing on a TT and track bike are different, geometry is different too. You're best off getting a dedicated track frame, or rent one from the track.

Fatbiker
Posts: 874
Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 1:41 pm

by Fatbiker

First of all I would like to say: go for it! Even if you don't break the record, you will have had on hell of day.

Second, if gears are allowed I would definitely opt for it, since I doubt you will be able to ride in one gear for 24h comfortably.

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