track newb. road gearing versus track gearing

[mihlbach]

I've never ridden on a track before, but I've been riding fixed on the road for some time. I want to try riding the Kissena velodrome in Queens. On the road I ride ~76 gear inches. You think I ought to gear up a little for the track? I really don't know what to expect. I'm a pretty strong cyclist, but these days I'm more of a diesel engine (i.e. distance guy). I'm an OK sprinter (former BMXer), but I'm probably not a totally badass sprinter. Thats sorta what I want to work on at the track. I have a flip flop hub...so I was thinking about putting a smaller cog on the flip side.

[superstator]

The rental bikes out here all seem to have about 80" gears on them, so that might be a good starting place. Just depends how much of a spin you have - 76" @ 30mph would mean spinning over 130rpm.

[Mike T.]

On the road I ride ~76 gear inches. You think I ought to gear up a little for the track?
Oh for sure. I don't ride big gears on the road but 81" (48/16) is a bit too low on our tight indoor track. It's fine for between 30 & 40kph. It was a bit low in our 44kph paceline last week so now I've gone to 48/15. That feels high right now but I'll be used to it in 2-3 weeks.

I rode 48/17 (76") on the track all winter just for "getting in the miles" but it was really too low for much over 35kph and that's an easy speed even though I'm pushing 60 (years that is).

[Tommyp]

You'll probably want something in the 86-92" range for racing. And a nice low gear for warm-ups.

Search gearing, you should find a ton of stuff.