Dear lord, people live to argue on this site.
Not a criticism, just an observation.
I too am curious about what spoke count/cross you're thinking? Maybe weight and height while we're at it? It'll help.
Originally Posted by
ryan_rides
I live in South Florida. The only hills we have are bridges to go over the intercoastel or the highway/train tracks. I only skid of I have to. I don't run brakes although I did when I was a messenger. I'm guessing that prime/odd number cogs give more skid patches? I said before I believe I can ride a 50t maybe a 51t. I carry a U lock every where I go.
Originally Posted by
ryan_rides
I'm fully committed to upgrading my components. New and better. Of course I want my bike to look good but that's just a bonus of upgrading. I care more about performance. I want to be able to maintain more high speed rather than have faster acceleration. Also I want to go to a higher cog and chain ring for a smoother drive train. Tires: I ride gatorskin hardshell and I don't want to change that. There's glass etc. everywhere you look down here. I also ride tire liners. Yes I know it's more rotational weight but I like not worrying about getting flats.
Originally Posted by
ryan_rides
I currently ride an aluminium Aventon Cordoba fixed gear with carbon fork(aluminium steerer tube). I know that upgrading my wheels will save weight and also upgrading my cranks. Right now my bike sits at 18.9lbs with rear light and one ass savers fender
Ok Ryan, I get the sense you're a strong rider that wants to go fast in a mostly flat environment. To me, on the scale of hill climber to Time Trialist (TT), you are firmly on the TT side of the scale. In other words, heavy and aero vs as light as possible. Being light is always a bonus, don't get me wrong, I just think it should probably be priority 2 instead of 1. Also, more weight = more momentum to fight wind friction at a constant speed. Accelerating and stopping suffer, so there's your trade off.
I'll paint you a picture of what I think is kind of the far end of the scale for fixed track aero, and you can approach as you see fit.
first thing, a few items I've found super useful:
- Pinheads security track nuts for the front wheel (lighter and more secure)
- Ynot pedal straps, if you like wearing regular shoes. I'm guessing you probably have clipless.
- Short crank arms (~165mm or less, great for maintaining speed @ high cadence)
- 17 cog (more skid patches, you got it!)
- The biggest front chairing you can handle, and still climb the overpass
- Once you run out of room up front, start to shirk below 17 in the back. I ride 48x17 with 170mm cranks for climbing, but I'm fat and in a super hilly area.
Wheels - Disc back, spoke front. - most aero with control.
Back - Full disc, 80mm, or 60mm back.
Front- Tri-spoke carbon, 60mm, 50mm, or 40mm.
I've heard less than 40mm at lower than 30km/hr has negligible aero advantage, so just go for light or strong if these don't float your boat. Also, deep rims are annoying for street for locking and because you need long stem valves on your tubes. Fair warning.
Tires - Gators, yeah buddy! Honestly though, go fat, especially on the back. 25mm is good. More surface area to skid and lean, comfort, ability to roll over bumps, maintain speed, etc. Skinny tires are fine if you want to sacrifice the above.
Handlebars - deeper drops, TT bars or both. Depends how you feel about them. Here's some good info:
https://youtu.be/oJ9H0INZ2_s
Bottom Bracket, External BB, Ceramic hubs - I don't have enough experience to recommend, but there's certainly things here to consider.
And, Ryan, if you live anywhere near a velodrome and haven't gone yet, go check it out! You have to drop some cash and do some intro courses, but I'd bet you'd probably enjoy it!.. and you might possibly stomp other new riders.
Hope this helps!