Originally Posted by DerekRI
Thanks guys! I just wanted some kind of comparison to get a better appreciation for what the trackies do.. I push a 52x17, and now knowing the trackies usually run a higher gear is damn impressive.
It's probably a mistake to generalize from road gearing experience to the track context. Case in point--my son often rides a 42x16 fixed on the road, while my Riv Quickbeam is set up with 42x15 fixed and 42x16 fw. We both find these 71-74" gears to be appropriate in the rolling hills of the area where we live.
When we visited a velodrome recently, however, we rented bikes and ended up with on geared 48x15 and the other 48x16--apparently this is the norm for track newbies. We did some 1K match sprints and my son ran off and left me when he had the higher gearing (he's really a much stronger rider than I am), while I was able to nip him at the line when we traded bikes.
In short, you can run (and you will need) a considerably higher gear at the track than you might run on the street. Hope this helps.
Dr. Bill