please explain this: track vs. conversion
 

It seems to me that there is some stigma against conversions in comparision to a track bike. Could someone please explain this dichotomy to me? I don't see why a conversion would be viewed as inferior... if anything to me it seems like someone put forth the effort into constructing something they love... as opposed to just buying a track bike as is... would be respected?

Just something I don't understand, thanks.

oh dear.......

conversions and track bikes are both cool.
people just like to feel better about themselves and talk **** about other peoples bikes because the dropout aren't facing the right way.
anway, we just had a whole thread talking about this and it went on for pages.
just search for it, i'm sure you'll find it.

Conversions are road bikes, road bikes have different geometry from track bikes and don't have horizontal dropouts. Thats the difference

Then there's the onslaught of Taiwanese (not that there's anything wrong with that) bikes that are kind of like road bike with track ends. That's what I ride.

Give us an example? You mean those ugly Leader frame?

No...like my Schwinn Madison. I actually like the ugly leader frame except for its ugly welds.

Erm. I think you mean track ends. Most all conversions have frames which have horizontal dropouts.

i understand the geometric differences, and frame differences. i wasn't asking the difference between the two. i just want to know why conversions are often viewed inferior. i don't get it. where does the disdain come from?

Who said conversions are inferior? It's a mixed bag on that subject. Some conversions just palin kick ass, some suck and some track bikes really aren't track bikes.

Do a search man, this has been discussed very recently. Post #3 in this thread has already mostly answered your question.

Mostly the people here.

Speaking as an urban planner with a conversion myself.

gotcha. thanks. so it's all a bunch of elitist-ego b.s.

I have no beef with conversions.

and i have no conversions with beef. now let's all just let this thread have a little quiet time, huh?

Man **** Conversions! All They Do Is Ruin Bikes And Bike Culture

lol

\m/

F*ck Bike Culture! It's breeding conversions. :D

i think this thread needs more quiet time.

****! i just bumped it! and i'm doing it again!

at least i'm not continuing the insipid original discussion. just ride some bikes.

conversion vans?

You're not cool unless you have an intense amount of toe overlap and you've eaten ***** because of it.

Probably because a lot more people have built ****ty conversions than have built a crappy track bikes. If somebody is going to do something half-assed, they do it on a conversion (why? cost, cost, cost). There are a lot of nice conversions (mine is not one), but there are a lot more nice track bikes. There you go.

Well, one reason why you might consider a conversion inferior, that i didn't see mentioned above is the BB height. A Track bike with a high BB will be easier to pedal fast through corners than most road bike frames with lower BB's.

Not necessarily a reason to be snooty against conversions, but one reason you might prefer a frame that was designed to be a fixed gear.

I love my conversion but sometimes I want a higher bottom bracket