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Old 10-06-11, 06:01 PM
  #1542  
Cleave
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Originally Posted by Allegheny Jet
Here are two more questions: Do you use cages or cleats? For frame sizing should I find one that matches my road bike or a little shorter since the drops are lower than the road machine. I am flexible and don't have trouble in the drops or on the TT bike.
Originally Posted by Allegheny Jet
Could I get a flip flop hub with a 15 on one side and a 16 on the other and the cogs being interchangeable with the freewheel and lock ring? That would give me 4 combinations with 2 fixed and 2 SS gears ratios. Boy, I am quite the newbie at this.
Hi AJ,

Hopefully I can add to the good advise so far rather than repeat it.

Your choice of pedals will really come down to how explosive you will be on the bike. Sprinters use traditional cleats, toe clips, and (two) straps to make sure that their feet won't come off the pedals. (I have still witnessed a sprinter pulling their foot out even with two straps.) I am guessing that on the road you will be OK with clipless pedals if you set the release tension relatively high since you appear to be a strong guy.

Regarding frame size, if you really are only going to ride this bike on the road, then I would get a frame that puts you in the same position as your road bike. That may or may not be the same size frame as your road bike depending on the stack height of the frames, top tube lengths, etc. The old (steel frame days) rule of thumb was that a track bike should be 1-2 cm smaller than your road bike assuming you were going to race on the track. This would allow you to get the deepest tuck possible for sprinting or even for pursuiting.

Regarding flip-flop hubs, I think that most are fixed on both sides. What I have seen is you can get a freewheel cog if you don't want to ride fixed. Here are some examples of freewheel cogs: http://www.benscycle.net/index.php?m...h=188_333_1445

If you are only going to ride on the road and since you will be using brakes, you probably need to get road bars and tape them normally. BTW, Roger Young has said more than once that even sprinters should tape their bars all the way to the top, not just into the drops.

Of course I am providing of of this advice from the perspective of riding fixed only on the track and having a single-speed (freewheel) bike for riding in the rain.

One last thing that I read last year was that riding a fixed gear doesn't really smooth out your pedal stroke because the momentum of the bike moving forward smooths out the dead spots in your stroke. I can see that point but I think that riding fixed is a good supplement because it makes you pedal in a way that helps keep your legs from working against each other as can happen on a road bike.

Hope this provides additional help.
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