Track Cycling: Velodrome Racing and Training Area - do I need a road bike?I'

I'm interested in getting back into track racing and have an old schwinn road bike that needs new wheels. Should I fix this
to train with or convert it to a fixed wheel?

thanks in advance

Thanks for the response. I didn't have any intention of using the conversion for the track,just thought if
I had to get new wheels I'd might as well make it a "fixie" and train with that. Thanks again.

Try finding a 27" tire, 27" shrader valve tube, or a quill stem at your local shop. They will be very hard to find.

All of these items are still produced and distributed widely, and are available for purchase in the vast majority of bike shops.

Whether a conversion will be allowed varies a lot among tracks. Some of them even have conversions for rentals-- I rode my first track race at Blaine (43 deg banking, 250 m, wood) on a rental Panasonic conversion with 170 mm cranks.

If you're just getting back started, your best bet is to keep the road bike as a road bike and use rentals at your local track. AFAIK, every track in the US has rentals available, some of them quite nice. One advantage of using a rental is you don't have to worry about whether it's suitable for the track you're on.

Thanks! great information.

I can't speak to your experience, but every shop I have worked in or shopped at has a least a small collection of quill stems, and if they don't then they usually have quill-to-threadless adapter which will easily solve the problem.

You are flatly wrong about 27" tires and tubes. First of all, a 27" tube is the same thing as a 700c tube, which obviously every shop has (and yes, in Schrader). Secondly, those two items are the bread and butter of all but the most high-end retail shops - they keep the lights on and few shops could do without them.

This has nothing to do with your opinions about the merits of these items. I don't know why you would even bring that up, since it's so wildly irrelevant.

Why? Because if it's a decent and workable bike, then spending $60 on tires and tubes is no big deal if it gets you riding again. If you need a new quill stem and no shops in your area carry them, then figure out what size you need and pick one up on eBay for $15. You're still spending several hundred dollars less than it would cost to get even a passable bike.

Your analogy is flawed because those things are not remotely hard to find. Fixing your old Schwinn to use for some off-season training is not analogous to restoring an antique car.

Sheldon is rolling over in his grave right now.

Are you really that dense? The question was not "is this bike going to be the best, most modern bicycle ever made?" It was "should I fix up my old Schwinn?" It's reasonable to assume that the OP has no other road bike, but wants to race track next year. Therefore, it is in his interest to invest a nominal amount of money in fixing this bike, provided it's somewhat decent (there are a lot of really great old Schwinns out there), so he can have something to ride on through the winter. A bike is better than no bike.

It's as simple as that. This has nothing to do with fetishism of old parts or some Rivendell-esque riding fantasy. This is about keeping something out of a landfill while simultaneously providing the OP with a bicycle on which to ride.

I don't give two ****s how many bikes you have owned, you still give terrible advice all over this and other forums.

wow carelton sounds like your the one who has to have the last word in.

You make a lot of assumptions in your posts such as:
- All parts for old bikes are easy to find
- All parts for old bikes are reasonably priced
- This old bike, *if* replaced, will wind up in a landfill and not as a 2nd bike or given to someone or a co-op.
- The OP will not have a bike if he doesn't restore this one.
- The OP sees no value in a modern bike.

I really don't give two ****s about how you want to restore old bikes to save the planet.

I thought you were done. You already conceded that I'm right, which I am, but whatever, I'll go ahead and undress you some more.

You seem obsessed with finding my ulterior motive for thinking this bike should be fixed. I don't have one - I don't care about saving the planet, I don't fetishize NJS parts or old-school technologies. My only point has been, is now, and will always be that it is bad advice to tell people that things such as 27" tires and tubes and quill stems are "hard to find." As I said before, I cannot speak to your experience, but in my many, many years working in bike shops, these parts, and others, are still manufacturered and as such are available new, or cheaply used. Although apparently not in Atlanta.

I've yet to see you disprove this, although I have seen a lot of over-emotional nonsense.

Bonechilling,
Thank you! I took my 80's Schwinn Premis into my LBS and it took $80 to get it back in shape.
Now to save up for a track bike.....don't want to pay more than $1000.

Thanks

Awesome. As I recall, the Premis was a pretty good Schwinn, with mid-range Shimano components and basic 4130 tubing (probably CroMor or Tenax, or something). These bikes are classic work-horses and it should suit you well for whipping yourself into shape.