Track bike spec's - rules or rideability

dabac

Hi guys,

I was watching some track racing on TV recently and started wondering about what features of the bikes that comes from rules and regulations, and what features comes from that simply being the best way of doing things?

I understand the advantages of having a bike as simple as possible, but it sure looked like a few gears to choose from could have gotten them away from the starting line faster.

taras0000

Track bikes exist in their current state because of two reasons:tradition and safety. When bicycles first came about, they only had one fixed gear and track racing was the earliest, most popular form of racing. Throughout the ages, track racing hasn't changed much either, so neither have the bikes. As far as safety goes, it is much easier to control your speed and distance from another riders back wheel with a fixed gear. Multiple gears would necessitate a freewheel, which would necessitate brakes. Someone sits up and freewheels during a bunch race, guys throw on their brakes in behind to keep from plowing into them, and crashes abound. With the racing being so tight on a track, if you can't swerve around it, you won't be able to brake in time anyways. Brake hoods can also make it a lot easier to get tangled up with another rider. When it comes to time trials, such as the kilo, a single speed system holds up much better than a multi gear system. In my experience, a fixed gear also accellerates off the line faster, for any given gear.

hope that helps

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Taras

Swoop

From a sort of engineering perspective...fixed gears are more efficient. There is less loss in the transmission due to rubbing on pulleys and funny chain angles. Some people actually prefer to do time trials on fixed gears, depending on the course.

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"Will work for Jersey..."

dabac

I get that. But somwhere there must be a breaking point between what you gain in efficiency and what you lose by starting on a too big gear, or spinning out before reaching top speed. But maybe these guys are simply MUCH stronger riders than I am...