Hello All,
First let me say that this forum is great. Been reading them for some time now and trying to learn. I was hoping some of you could help with some questions.
Background: My 15 year old started racing track early last year in Londonderry, NH. Comes out of a BMX racing background (still races) and also races some Cross in the fall. With the BMX background he's definitely been more comfortable in the sprinting side, but also raced omniums all summer as well with points races, etc., mostly racing 2-3 times a week. We went to the Jr. Track Nats in Trexlertown mostly for the experience and he had some downs but also some ups and would like to continue this year and hit Trexlertown a little more often.
He raced much of last year on rented Fuji track bikes and just before the Nats, we purchased a 2012 Fuji Track 1.0:
http://archive.fujibikes.com/archive...me=Track%201.0
And he raced the rest of the year on it completely stock. He's age limited on gearing so the stock 48x15 was fine. He's about 5'10"+ and around 175.
Now he's looking to upgrade some parts. Coming out of BMX, the first bang for the buck upgrade I would consider would be better wheels to save on rotational weight, get better hubs, and hopefully increase stiffness. After that we would usually look at gearing and cranks. Would those same concepts carry over to the velodrome? He's also been talking about sprint and/or aerobars.
So my questions for you fine folks, are for thoughts on the above. Would better wheels be the best first upgrade? And if so, would having them built be best? For a sprint-centric set of race wheels that won't be crazy expensive, maybe in the $500+ range? Also, what else would you advise for the first few upgrades?
Thanks!