Keirin/ Sprint Gearing

[nu2track]

Can anyone give me an idea what kind of gearing match sprinters and Keirin rider use (gear inches or teeth count). Its amazing how fast these guys go and was wondering what gears they are using. Thanks...

 

[carpediemracing]

my understanding is most racers use an 88-92" gear. so they'll use 49-50-51 x 15. as a roadie (pusher not a spinner) I put on a 51x15 and felt like I was really overgeared. however it worked for long sprints where gaps opened right away.

I'm not that experienced though. I "raced" 2 nights at TTown in the Cat 4's, got dropped (?!) the first night in both races, placed 3rd in one the second night, and 4th in the subsequent 3-4 race (where all top three 3's and 4's race together). I hadn't ridden a fixed gear for real before those two weeks and I haven't ridden one since then.

cdr

 

[Dial_tone]

Can anyone give me an idea what kind of gearing match sprinters and Keirin rider use (gear inches or teeth count). Its amazing how fast these guys go and was wondering what gears they are using. Thanks...

You would use a much bigger gear for keirin racing because you are drafting the pacer who gradually accelerates to near 30mph. For the sprint you would need a smaller gear to respond more easily to sudden accelerations.

 

[Meek One]

Can anyone give me an idea what kind of gearing match sprinters and Keirin rider use (gear inches or teeth count). Its amazing how fast these guys go and was wondering what gears they are using. Thanks...

48x14 is pretty typical in sprints, maybe slightly bigger for the keirin 49x14, 50x14. FWIW Theo Bos used a 52x14 to dominate the world in the Keirin earlier this year...I think he put out some crazy number like 1800 watts for 30 seconds...which makes sense since he completely dropped the entire field by 50 meters or so.

 

[Meek One]

48x14 is pretty typical in sprints, maybe slightly bigger for the keirin 49x14, 50x14. FWIW Theo Bos used a 52x14 to dominate the world in the Keirin earlier this year...I think he put out some crazy number like 1800 watts for 30 seconds...which makes sense since he completely dropped the entire field by 50 meters or so.

Here it is if you missed it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMsotvad5nA

 

[nrhorwitz]

11.355 and he had his arms up for one whole straightaway.

Amazing.

 

[mezzinator]

Here it is if you missed it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMsotvad5nA

Wow, simply brilliant.

 

[victorthewombat]

my understanding is most racers use an 88-92" gear. so they'll use 49-50-51 x 15. as a roadie (pusher not a spinner) I put on a 51x15 and felt like I was really overgeared. however it worked for long sprints where gaps opened right away.

I'm not that experienced though. I "raced" 2 nights at TTown in the Cat 4's, got dropped (?!) the first night in both races, placed 3rd in one the second night, and 4th in the subsequent 3-4 race (where all top three 3's and 4's race together). I hadn't ridden a fixed gear for real before those two weeks and I haven't ridden one since then.

cdr

I think they use approx 80-85 depending. I doubt people consistently use an 88-92 even a racer could not sustain that gear on a track.

 

[mikesbytes]

I think they use approx 80-85 depending. I doubt people consistently use an 88-92 even a racer could not sustain that gear on a track.

Why not?

 

[Jack-o]

I think they use approx 80-85 depending. I doubt people consistently use an 88-92 even a racer could not sustain that gear on a track.

I think you'll find it's only the juniors that would use gears around the low 80s. Theo Bos recently broke the world record for the flying 200m and is reported to have used a gear of 51x14 (not 51x15 as reported in cyclingnews.com) or close enough to 98.5 gear inches (chainring / cog size x 27)

I'm only a humble masters 2 racer but I'll usually use 93.6 (52 x 15) or 94.5 (49 x 14) depending on the track and atmospheric conditions. And I'll usually use the same size gear for both time trial and sprint events.

Double World Masters Champion (TT and sprint), Darren King from Melbourne likes to use a 96" gear when racing.

 

[Jack-o]

There is people on Fixed Gear Fever saying that Theo "The Boss" actually used 51x13 which is an incredible 105 gear inches.