Originally Posted by
ZeCanon
Roadies overgear on the track because we ride at different cadences then trackies. I CAN NOT race a points race on anything less than a 50/15. I usually run 50/14 or 51/14. I simply can't spin that fast and produce power. Yes, it's not what trackies do, but I'M NOT A TRACK RACER.
My teammate was 2nd in the collegiate national points race last year on a 52/14. When you don't have hours of high cadence work in your legs, going with traditional track gears because "it's what trackies do" is just dumb.
Nobody races a long points race in a 90 inch gear. I tried that and got blown out the back so fast I couldn't even say "hi" (I am still somewhat inexperienced at the track and have been going on feel, and I was a Cat 3 in an elite mens field). You are right. When the fields flying around at 30+mph, it's hard to produce power if you are spinning >110 rpm. Higher gearing works better for this particular event because the pace is high and even. Pursuits, same thing. But a kilo isn't a pursuit and a kilo most definitely isn't a long points race. A huge chunk of your time in a kilo is the start time. Probably a solid 20% (15 sec) give or take. Acceleration, in this event, is a big deal.
Trackies ride their gears simply because that's what you have to ride to be able to accelerate. Not "just because they are trackies". It's really hard to do a credible standing start for a sprint event with anything over a 90 or 92. Not impossible, but hard. That's all I'm pointing out here. No need to get defensive. Just like you don't take advice on pacing hillclimbs from a trackie, you don't take advice on track sprint gearing from a roadie.
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Cat 2 Track, Cat 3 Road.
"If you’re new enough [to racing] that you would ask such question, then i would hazard a guess that if you just made up a workout that sounded hard to do, and did it, you’d probably get faster." --
the tiniest sprinter