Originally Posted by
carleton
One note:
Track riders generally use much narrower bars than road for generally a few reasons:
- Much of the racing happens in close quarters and wide bars aren't a good thing in close quarters.
- There is no "roadie sprinting" on the track. You know, the thing where roadies get out of the saddle and swing the bike back and forth like a flag. DO NOT DO THIS. This isn't a good idea on a fixed gear bike. I've seen many newbies unclip doing this. Also, not good because of the close quarters.
- They are more aero. This is minor compared to the safety concerns above.
- Wide bars are great for out-of-the-saddle climbing on the road. There is out-of-the-saddle climbing on the track.
They will feel weird at first. Don't throw them out. You'll get used to them after a session or two.
Narrow bars affect your fit. Basically, bringing your arms from a wide to a narrow position lengthens your arms thus pushing your back up. To undo this, you'll need either a longer top tube or longer stem. It could be as many as 2cm.
Great advice, thank you! I admit that I am guilty of roadie sprinting...in my defense, I haven’t learned correct form yet. Really glad you said that, and hoping that will be covered in next week’s class. To be honest, I was really frustrated after last week’s class. We were doing proximity drills, and I was far more wobbly (for lack of a better description) on the bike than I was comfortable with being so close to other riders. I don’t have this issue on my road bike. I will admit that I don’t ride that close on the road, so the close proximity is new to me, however, I didn’t expect to have have bike handling issues. I’m hoping I just need more time on the bike and on the track.