carleton

Tell me about it.

Loving bikes is what keeps me into bike racing. Track racing (especially as a sprinter, if you take it seriously) is 9 months of work and 3 months of fun. All to chase tenths of a second.

Huffandstuff

As a self identified hipster, Alpenrose was nothing but friendly/awesome to me when I started racing and as Carleton pointed out, there are plenty of really fast bike punks.

queerpunk

well of course Alpenrose would be.

SBUndefeated201

Thanks the responses! It's cool to see all around support for those new to the track.

Quick question. I am looking for wheels to use during practice and street riding instead of my Miche Pistards (I've had enough of bent spokes and potholes). What would be more advisable for a cheap wheelset...Mavic CXP22's laced to formula hubs or Sun M13's laced to Formula? I like the box style of the M13 but will get the Mavics if the M13 are not good.

Baby Puke

I'm considering getting some 50mm-ish Chinese carbon rims for some training/casual racing wheels. Are there any sources/eBay sellers you folks can recommend for cheap but reliable product?

carleton

I'd ask over in the Road forum. They have 20x the participants we do and being that the rim you get will likely be a road (not track-specific rim) it would be an appropriate question.

Road Cycling

This guy is a bike forums member who is in that world. Maybe he can help:
https://www.bikeforums.net/members/bo...boutme#aboutme
About Us

Baby Puke

Thanks Carleton, I'll try that.

VanceMac

FWIF, I've bought several sets of wheels from this seller: carbonspeedcycle on eBay

taras0000

You guys go into the road forum?

carleton

Road Racing isn't so bad: "The 33"-Road Bike Racing

taras0000

Oh I know. I love crit racing on short technical courses. I love LSD rides where you just get lost in the countryside and find new roads you've never been on. I've just never been in the Road Forum. Never really had a reason to go.

Dalai

Lots of good options to check out. Keeps riding fresh! I'm heading on a 2 week solo bikepacking trip in a few weeks then racing a round of the National CX series a few weeks after that...

carleton

What are BT dropouts made of? Aluminum, right? Which alloy (7075, 6061, other?)

Banchad

Do pros use any lube on the drivetrains? I've seen videos where they're handling the sprockets and chain and they don't appear to be getting any grease on themselves.

queerpunk

grease isn't that mucky. go squirt some chain lube on your fingertips and rub 'em together. it's not all black and gross.

so what's black and gross? dirty grease is, because tiny particles of schmutz sticks to the grease.

the moral of the story is: pros keep their chains clean.

carleton

+1


The chain shouldn't be wet (or worse, greasy) to the touch.

Also, track drive trains tend to stay cleaner longer because there is simply less dirt, grit, dust, etc on tracks than on the open road.

One thing I like to do is keep a shop rag in my bag and wipe down chainrings and cogs after I remove them when I'm sitting between efforts. This keeps them as well as your gear bag clean.

VanceMac

So glad I went to wax for my track chains. So clean. I haven't managed to make the transition on my road bikes yet... but next time I need a new chain, I may finally convert.

queerpunk

I picked up some wax one time. Then I read the directions and realized that I needed a dedicated slow cooker for my wax, and that it needed to be reapplied every 1000kms or something like that. So I didn't use it.

VanceMac

Yes, $13 rice cooker: Robot Check

And I don't get anywhere near 1000km. I change about every 3 weeks. I have 3-4 chains... drop them into the wax one at a time, then have a couple months worth of chains. I'm not anal... exactly the opposite... so it helps me keep everything from getting grimey.

queerpunk

yeah, i think it wasn't so much that the cost was an impediment, it's that i didn't feel like going to the thrift store to pick one up.

shrug.

the 3-4 chains thing sounds pretty good, too.

VanceMac

I know it sounds like a hassle. And I'm usually lazy about such things (like REALLY lazy). But this is pretty seamless once you convert. Still... the fact that I haven't converted on road also says something about that, I guess.

Baby Puke

I think the wax is actually a LOT less work- cuz you never have to clean the thing! I'm a true believer. All my bikes are on the wax now. The only hassle for road bikes is you have to get a reusable master link like the Wippermann, but man it's such a nice system.

Dalai

No idea... Sorry.

Banchad

What is this wax you speak of? Tired of getting grease on my clothes and staining them.

Velocirapture

How does the boiled wax idea compare to wax-based chain lubes like squirt and white lightening?

Also - what do folk use to clean off chains, if you're not simply just re-waxing them? Ive been using something called Cleen Green (not sure if its available outside of S/Africa?), since its biodegradable, but it seems to be rusting my chains :-/