Originally Posted by
DMC707
Very few bikes get hammered in the same way a track bike does. Small tracks have high g forces , standing start events put a lot of power through the crank, and short, fast sprint events put a strain on drivetrain parts. Plus, some of the sprint specific track guys are 200 lb guys who squat 400 lbs (or more) and put from 17 or 1800 watts (local fast guys) to 2500 watts (pros) through the cranks
Lots of square taper bottom brackets still being used. For high level usage, the Dura Ace track crank is probably the most popular, but the Sugino 75 and Campagnolo Pista are not far behind, -- The Campy and Sugino products are still square taper
Point being : Upgrade to your hearts desire - we all do it, but just dont kid yourself into thinking any performance gains will be had outside of possible weight reduction
I didn't care about flex on my capo knock off Kinese made aluminum frame. Because for 1 it never interfered with shifting...
For other people there really isn't a good option other than QT for getting the correct chain line on a track bike. See photo.
On my Dawes sst kinese made with canndale capo chain stay knockoffs. I ran it free wheel. I had a cx50 crank sitting around an older still good ultegra bb.
For giggles I put it all on and with the absolute back 52 oval chainring my chain line while not perfect was close enough. Close enough that the oval never pulled chain off, even on the bumpier of roads.
So basically I am 2 : zero on hollowtech being better and improving efficiency.
Funny thing is I was too lazy to just buy a new st bb. And the life expectancy of a bikes bb being ridden in all weather, humid weather, with a square taper, will be less than that of an outboard bearing bb. start sawing on them, and that life drains fast!
Edit: the downfall of an oval on a singlespeed, is anything north of 120 rpm gets difficult to spin.