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Old 07-17-05, 04:00 PM
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Jose R
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Join Date: May 2004
Location: NYC
Posts: 573

Bikes: Custom DeanUSA El Diente CTI, Rich Adams Track, Johnny Coast Fixed, Argon18 Gallium Pro

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For off the rack track frames, I would look at size and geometry first, frame materials second.



I do not know what size you ride, but if you look at the HT angle on the Pinarello, it doesn't look track-ish until you get to the 52cm (c-c) size. Also note that the fork used does not change fork offset (rake) from the smallest size to the largest. This means that the front end handling of the bike changes from an extremely slow (trail=6.9?cm) to quick (trail=5.6cm). So the smaller sizes would be ok for mass start racing, but the larger frames would be good for sprinting. In my estimation, the 54cm frame is the best compromise.

One thing to note about aluminum track frames; do not buy them if they do not have stainless steel replaceable track ends. Aluminum track ends will get worn out real quick. (I can only guess that to get around this you should use the mks tug nuts or something similar to avoid wear on the aluminum, but I do not know this from experience.)

Re: aluminum vs steel. I won't get into a geeky argument about which is better. Alot of people ride aluminum frames on the track because of availabilty. And in many cases these frames are used as entry level frames. Eventually, the frames are replaced by custom steel frames or carbon fiber frames once that racer feels ready. The fuji track pros and bianchi pista concepts are nice, but each have issues I wouldn't settle for. The fork offset on the Fuji and the integrated headset on the Pista. But, if I had a choice of the two, I would go for Bianchi.

Personally, at this price point, I would spend a little more and go custom. Which usually means steel.
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