Benefit of using a track bike for training?

[ride_jc3]

I’ve been told that it’s good for roadies to spend some training time on a track/fixed gear bike. Can anyone tell how/why it is beneficial?

Thanks

[dutret]

I’ve been told that it’s good for roadies to spend some training time on a track/fixed gear bike. Can anyone tell how/why it is beneficial?

Thanks

will force you to get comfortable moving your feet really fast.
will let you worry about your bike less when the weathers nasty.

[andre nickatina]

Yeah, basically what dutret said. You learn to spin at really fast RPM's if you have the gearing low, and over time you learn to spin better at high RPM's (or suffer because you get bounced around in the saddle if you don't). You learn to pedal over many obstacles you'd normally coast over (speed bumps, driveways, etc.). You get stronger at climbing hills if your gearing is a little higher, because (obviously) there's no shifting down.

[Yoshi]

Be careful about training on a fixed-gear though - in my experience I found that I started to get lazy with my pedal stroke. A track bike will carry you through the dead spots if you let it. If you get into that habit with the track bike when you get back on a road bike you won't be able to pedal (slight exaggeration)!

Once I realized I was doing that I stopped and now have no problem, but just keep that in mind so you don't have to go through relearning how to pedal on a road bike.