bitingduck

Yep, that's one of the things I see a lot, but most people I know ride very similar size/setup on road and track. It's also becoming meaningless with the move away from traditional horizontal top-tube diamond frames. You really can't assume a 56 from one mfr is going to be like a 56 from another at all anymore-- you have to look at the details of the geometry or get on it.

A few other comments (and maybe more later):
- he did leave out the near-universal "stick" or "stay" when there's any uncertainty during a pass during training.
- At ADT/HDC/VSC/Carson (initials of the week...) the general rules for training are you ride on the black line, on the blue line, or at the balustrade, and everything in between is for passing. Less crowded tracks typically just say "warm up above the blue line" but when you can have as many as 100 people on the track at once, it helps to impose a little order.
- In the racing section, it says "25-30 riders". USAC and UCI rules limit you to 24 riders on a 250 m track (or 18 teams for a madison, though I rarely see more than 16 teams) and I think 36 riders (and probably 24 madison teams) on a 333.
- I see elite riders riding gears both a little smaller and much larger than he suggests. Particularly larger in keirins and pursuits.
- teamwork can actually have an enormous impact in races. Sometimes it's subtle, but if you watch it's clearly there.
- I think 11 and 12 tooth cogs were really a result of the freehub combined with better manufacturing techniques. I think it was just hard to make freewheels with the smaller cogs. I also agree that they're unnecessary-- I'd be happy if I could get a 10-speed cassette that started at 13.
- It looks like he incorporated some of my tire spiel.
- He points out nicely to "when in doubt, hold your line", particularly at the end of a sprint. But it should be in bold 24 point font.
- At northbrook, you can end up in the middle of the track in a crash. One of the messiest crashes I've seen was there.
- Blaine produces a lot more splinters than Carson-- I can give you splinter horror stories about Blaine, even though I've spent much more time at Carson.
- Pay attention to miss and out rules, because final sprint formats vary significantly.
- On the quick releases-- there's probably far more wheel contact on the track than on the road. My shoes have been scraped by wheels many times, and I've seen someone cut a spiral in someone else's disk with his front axle. I've even had contact between the *bottom* of my front wheel and someone else's during a race (without any crashing). QRs are just more likely to get popped open in those kind of situations. I think it's been rare for me in a P/1/2 omnium to not have substantial contact with another rider at least once over the course of racing.
- Blue band is more important on steeper tracks- it's sort of a "clear airspace" zone. If you're passing someone who's riding slow on the blue band, your wheels can be a meter apart to the side while your head is on a collision course. I've seen a sponge tech get pegged in the head with handlebars during a team sprint.