Track bike vs road bike setup



Phill P

New Member
Jul 9, 2006
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For those who ride track........

Do you use the same crank length and seat adjustments on your road bike as your track bike?

From what I've read (and see in geometries) that crank lengths tend to be shorter and seat angles steeper on track bikes compared tor oad bikes. I would assume to strengthen the correct muscles when training on the road you'd want the same bike setup.
 
Yep, shorter cranks and slightly steeper angle on the track bike. No, I don't match those settings for my road bike, I don't think they're different enough to affect anything muscularly. The seat tube angle is only about 1.5 degrees different; and the cranks are 165 vs 170 for the road. Can't tell the difference that readily. Although I ride the track bike on the road sometimes....not very comfy however!
 
My road bikes use 172.5mm cranks. My track bike uses 170mm cranks whether ridden on the road or track.

My track bike has a 74 degree head tube angle and 30mm of rake. The seat tube is also 74 degrees. About the same as a crit bike frome the '80's, not all that radical.

The track bike is 2cm shorter than my road bikes. The top tube is the same length as most of my road bikes and I use a slightly (1cm IIRC) stem length with Cinelli track bend bars fitted.

My seat is more forward, in relation to the BB, than my road bikes. The stem is just slightly lower than road bike position, but the bars have more drop.