Road Cycling - Track Frame sizing?

I'm thinking about a track bike
(even have a velodrome where I live)
and I'm not sure of sizing.
I ride 53 or 54 center to center road frame,
but I'm unsure of size in general for a track bike.
Do track riders generally ride same size as
road frame?

thanks,
Marty

TOP TUBE

I say this about 100x a day. You need to concern yourself with the correct top tube lenght that YOU need.

Originally posted by lotek
I'm thinking about a track bike
(even have a velodrome where I live)
and I'm not sure of sizing.
I ride 53 or 54 center to center road frame,
but I'm unsure of size in general for a track bike.
Do track riders generally ride same size as
road frame?

thanks,
Marty


Hopefully, Velo will see this. She's a multi-time national track champion, so she ought to know.

Xavier,

can you elaborate? I know what toptube length
I need for a road bike, but as stated I'm not
sure of track bike.
Are Track bikes generally a smaller frame?
Are they built with different geometries (like diff between
Racing and touring frames) ?

Thanks,
Marty

A lot of smaller track bikes utilise a smaller front wheel, in order to promote a more aerodynamic posture (not just to avoid toe overlap, as in a Terry bike). You may find that a 650c front wheel works best in your size.

lotek,

Of course, it varies a lot, but more often than not, track riders ride slightly smaller frames than their road frames. This is because everything happens quicker on the track, and you need a nimble bike to act accordingly. The only thing that basically doesn't follow for this is pusuiting and other time trialing.

Will you be sprinting, endurance riding, pursuiting?

Sprinting: You want to have a almost totally flat back when in the drops. You want to be low, aerodynamic, but have good leverage when pulling on the bars. This means, you'll probably have the same top tube length, you'll probably have to lower the bars with a drop stem, etc. Or, if that is not low enough...then you should get a slightly smaller frame with a shorter seat tube length.

Endurance Riding: This set up should be the closest to your road bike. Top tube length and overall geometry should be around the same. You don't want your bars too low, because you could restrict breathing too much. Go with comfort for this set-up.

Pursuiting: Low and aero. It's basically the same postition as a road time trial set-up, except you probably want to get lower if you're flexible enough. Top tube length might be a little longer, since you want to stretch out more. And, it might be a little shorter in the seat tube because you want to get lower.

For me, I ride a 53-54 cm center-to-center road frame as well. I've ridden all sizes of track frames, though. I don't think you have to be too picky with them as much as you do with road frames. It's much easier to modify positon with stem length/crank length, etc. Currently I have a 49 (I've ridden 53, 51, & other 49s). I think its a very good size for me. I can set it up for full on pursuit; the seat tube is short (I can get low), and I put a long stem on to stretch out more (I can get low). Then, for massed start races, I put my regular bars on with a slight riser stem that is a little shorter. A perfect set up!

So...my advice is to go a slight bit smaller and work your perfect position from there.

Originally posted by D*Alex
A lot of smaller track bikes utilise a smaller front wheel, in order to promote a more aerodynamic posture (not just to avoid toe overlap, as in a Terry bike). You may find that a 650c front wheel works best in your size.

650 fronts (funny bikes) are illegal I do believe, in international competition. I don't know if that matters for you lotek, but I think that's the way it is.

I wouldn't recommend 650s at all in your size. Go with 700s. You can get aero enough, and still have the spin advantage of 700s. I only know of one rider who rides 650s, actually. Tanya Lindenmuth used to ride 700s but she switched recently to 650s because they're better for her (she's 5'1" I think). Unless you're that short, you don't need them.

Velo,

Thanks, thats exactly what I wanted to know
(slightly smaller).
The Frisco Velodrome is still up in the air but
there is a concerted effort to revive it. I'm thinking
about "jumping on the bandwagon" and as they say
"in for a penny, in for a pound" so I'm gonna try my
hand at track riding.

Thanks again,
Marty

Glad I could help, lotek. I hope you guys get Frisco up and running again. We're really missing it. :(