Starting track riding

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christian
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Joined: 30 Oct 2007, 19:21
Location: Earlwood

Postby christian » 31 Oct 2007, 18:42

I'm pretty interested in trying my hand at track riding. I went down to Monday night training last week and spoke to Lindsey. Who was most helpful. Lindsey mentioned loaning a bike to give it a go, I'm attempting to round up some road pedals, since I sold my last road bike 8 years ago, still have shoes just no pedals and I think my mountain bike pedals won't be tight enough.

Beyond this I guess my first step would be to aquire a bike, I've been doing some research. The cheapest viable option in a new bike looks to be the Avanti Pista at only $900, any comments? I'll also consider a second hand bike if one comes up. My budget as it stands is around $1500, but out of this has to come pedals and any other cogs/chainrings I need. I figure once I have a bike then I'll have a lot more questions, especially on what gear I should be riding etc.

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weiyun
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Postby weiyun » 31 Oct 2007, 19:21

SPD pedals may disengage on a hard sprint. It has been widely reported before. If you want to stay MTB, Crank Bros' pedal design actually tightens the engagement with harder pull. Even with road pedals, many still advise strapping for safety as seen in some of the recent accidents.

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mikesbytes
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Postby mikesbytes » 31 Oct 2007, 21:08

What kind of bike and how much you want to spend is a personal decision, some spend mega bucks and others spend peanuts. If it is your first track bike, I'd suggest spending as little as possible and once you have a season under the belt, you can purchase exactly the bike you want.

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T-Bone
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Joined: 21 Nov 2006, 22:50
Location: Up the Hill

Postby T-Bone » 31 Oct 2007, 21:09

Other options are the Apollo (formerly raceline) track bike, which has been popular. Or there's hillbrick. I also noticed De Ver cycles have a track bike when looking through the bicycling australia magazine, http://www.bikesdever.com.au/Bikes%20De%20Ver.htm I like the deep rims, but the 130bcd cranks, and the green paint job wouldn't appeal to me, though cranks can be swapped.

timyone
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Joined: 22 Nov 2006, 20:29

Postby timyone » 31 Oct 2007, 22:10

if you can find a second hand bike of what tbone is talking about could be good, id say get one new, but that will be cutting it tight with the pedals etc etc.
I ride one, and theres quite a few people that do, and it can get you right through to a grade.

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Simon Llewellyn
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Joined: 13 Nov 2006, 22:31
Location: Tempe Velodrome

Postby Simon Llewellyn » 31 Oct 2007, 22:24

Hey sorry for a crappy answer but I have answered this question so many times now that I"m a bit over it. The raceline/apollo is the pick of the bunch. excellent frame for the price, you can ride the national titles on it with a better set of wheels. You can buy chain rings later, cogs cost $6- $7 from AL anyway. Probably find some old pedals easy enough, plenty going round.

If you don't care at all about winning and just want to ride for fun. The avanti is a good cheap package to save a bit of money... The frame quality is probably not too bad, the angles however are not super popular around the competitive people.

If you want more indepth advice just come down to the track mon, wed or thurs for rollers...

Grant Bond
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Joined: 14 Mar 2007, 21:28

Postby Grant Bond » 01 Nov 2007, 08:30

Gday Christian ,

Welcome to the world of track, im sure you will really enjoy it.

Dont listen to Simon too much about frames...he needs something pretty flash beacuse he is so powerful so he has different requirements to somebody just starting out. :D :D :D (Just kidding simon)

To get yourself started i would just rock up with those spd pedals and we can wind them up super tight for you, for the first few weeks you will probably want to just get a feel for riding fixed and brakeless so you will probably just want to roll around spinning which tends not to put too much stress on gear anyway. This is what i did when i started a couple of years ago and i am still alive to tell the tale! I think psychologically it is pretty important to have at least one item that is familiar because your first roll around on the fixed gear is in all ways a strange and mystical experience, im not saying its weird, just really different to riding with a freewheel. Think of those old pedals as a security blanket!

Once you are comfortable with the bike i would upgrade to at least a good set of road pedals or even better a set of traditional pedals with toe clips and straps.

If you like it once you try it then go to the expense of gear...

All of the bikes mentioned above are good options, it really comes down to personal preference.

I havent ridden the bianchi pista but they definitely have that bling factor, i have seen a few messengers on them which suggests that they are bombproof!

Other options for an entry level frame are the Fuji track or the much loved Apollo, plenty of riders are campagining on these frames and they seem to give good service.

The best thing to do is hop on to one of the club bikes to get going. We look forward to seeing you down on the banks of tempe on monday and wednesday nights, always good to have one more person to play with at the track!

Cheers

Grant
Last edited by Grant Bond on 02 Nov 2007, 07:58, edited 1 time in total.

timyone
Posts: 4380
Joined: 22 Nov 2006, 20:29

Postby timyone » 01 Nov 2007, 11:09

yeah true, turn up and ride a bit first.

I recomend straps for your feet eventually, which arent that cheap :S

Theres a girl with the avanti at the track at the moment, and theres a few raceline/ apolo's around for you to check out.

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Adrian E
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Postby Adrian E » 01 Nov 2007, 12:13

Hi Christian,

As someone who's also started at the track this year I'd advice you not to worry to much about the equipement and just enjoy having a go. When I started, I used my mtb spd pedals and shoes and I borrowed Lindsay's bike untill I finally got my own bike (an Apollo). The risk of pulling out is real, but if you not doing any 100% flying sprints there there much less chance that could happen. Of course your going to need something more secure if or when you become competitive.

Regarding the bike... its as always a matter of personal choice. Because track bikes are very simple in there components its easier to mix and match (however, you don't want to make any costly mistakes). Huw picked up a nice Raceline/Apollo on ebay for nearly half the normal price. There's a few track bikes on ebay so it could be worth taking a chance with. I've been very happy with my Apollo. The new model this year looks even better.

christian
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Joined: 30 Oct 2007, 19:21
Location: Earlwood

Postby christian » 01 Nov 2007, 12:16

I'll drop down on Monday night then, assuming work doesn't get in the way.


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