jhaber

What is the reason why fixed gear bikes are ridden on the track and not a ss freewheel bike. I was thinking about this tonight and realized I wasn't 100 % sure in the reasoning. Please educate me.

hockeyteeth

Maybe because they didn't have freewheels when things started out and now the convention has been established. Also, the use of a brake on the 'drome is illegal and it would suck to ride a SS at those speeds without any brakes.

jester01

Lighter bikes, you're pedaling the entire time anyway, why would you need a freewheel?

deathhare

Cause MASH dont ride freewheelz.

andre nickatina

Brakes on the track = dangerous. On a track, no one skids or skips. No one can stop particularly fast and ironically this is safer.

This question has been asked in the track forum too, except with road bikes instead of SS.

But honestly if you really want to know, go to a track and ride... you'll figure it out quick.

dayvan cowboy

Something i've always wondered is how exactly people stop on the track

andre nickatina

You don't stop, you get off the track and onto the apron and slowly backpedal or let the bike pedal your legs and not apply any forward pressure.

deathhare

Leg over skidz.

Jenkinsal2

...or fall

extremenergy3

HAHAHA

spacehippo

haha awesome, thread winner.

dervish

skidz are lame now...all the cool kids fall to fit in

GeraldChan

You don't stop; but in order to slow down you ride UP the incline or banking.
In a paceline you rotate off UP the banking which is to the right as you ride counterclockwise.
Roadies who go to the track invariably get this part wrong and muck up a nice paceline.

timmhaan

wouldn't you rotate clockwise? i.e. pull off to the right, up the banking, and then attach yourself at the back.

oldsprinter

He said you go right as you ride counterclockwise - that is rotating clockwise.

filtersweep

Ever seen speedway motorcycle racing? No brakes there, either.

tarckbear

cycle speedway- freewheel no brakes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycle_speedway

Yoshi

Track racing occurs in a very controlled environment (on a track, duh) with smaller fields than road racing. There is so little need for brakes in these conditions that having them is actually more dangerous - occasionally people (especially less experienced riders) will overreact to something (minor contact, swerving, etc) and slam on their brakes, causing everyone behind them to crash.
However racers still need some control over the speed of their bikes so a fixed-gear makes sense. Some minor backpedalling is okay but skidding or hard backpedalling during a race is a terrible idea. After the race is over the riders usually take a lap to slow down and pull infield.

goldenskeletons

a) a fixed drivetrain is more efficient than a freewheeled drivetrain. less moving parts, less friction, and to a lesser extent, less weight.

b) track racing isn't really about going as balls out fast as possible. there's a lot of strategy involved and it requires a certain amount of subtle speed control in order to position yourself well. a smooth cadence is essential, but knowing when and how to apply a little leg resistance is crucial if you sense yourself getting boxed in.
... or if your cadence is terrible like mine is and you suck at holding position in a paceline

ebawho

trackstanding with a freewheel with those high gears would be a *****, and like said, without the ablility to trankstand you lose some strategy involved.

and im pretty surprised no one hast mentioned the fact that its a lot easier to swap out cogs to switch your gearing around for whatever reason than it is it so swap out freewheels..

and the other mentioned reasons.

Yoshi

That's assuming that trackstanding came first.

timmhaan

yep - you're right. i didn't read close enough.

TRaffic Jammer

Being able to brake would mean most wooden tracks would be resurfacing some portion of the track every year. If one so much as thought about braking in the bank with the rear brake, man O man what mess that would be... instant crash.

Cynikal 

hooray for an actual answer.

This make perfect sense.

ryanlovesyou

Really? That's ****ing gnarly. I've seen it before but had no idea they had no brakes, so I didn't really understand all the sliding. Now it makes sense.