ElGatoSeis

Up until recently I was thinking about building a second road bike for my +1 allotment (a lighter frame w/ a more aggressive geometry, like Tarmac)... However I now caught the SS bug, and see enough many positives about it that this is going to happen.

I've been doing research about what SS bike to get/build, and I concluded I don't want to go the way of a conversion. So I'm looking at frame options with horizontal dropouts.

Some options I spotted so far are track specific bikes like Bianchi Super Pista, or Trek T1 (Super pista frameset looks really promising, but not sure I can add a rear brake to it)

My question is: Is there a significant disadvantage riding track specific frames on the road in terms of steerability / comfort etc.? I'll probably be doing 30-50mi training rides on this bike in addition to occasionally commuting 10mi.

steelisreal

aa

UCF Eric

I can't imagine doing 30-50 mile rides with track geo would be very comfortable. I'd look for a frame with a more relaxed geo and a rear brake hole. Surly Steamroller, Leader 722, Soma Rush, Pake Rumrunner, I'm sure some people can name a few others.

vpr80

Technically speaking, what kind of specs are you guys looking for to determine a relaxed geo? <73 head? <74 seat angle? longer chain stays?

xavier853

add lower bb to the mix

adriano 

really short head tube and downward sloping top tube, right?

cc700

most track and ss specific frames have relatively small diameter tubing.

this is mostly due to the old-school and vintage aethetic popular for this type of bike, since fixed gear, and later ss, pre-dates multi-geared bikes by more than a half-century.

these smaller diameter tubes are generally steel since it's mostly easier to make steel stiffer while still small in diameter than when compared to other, lighter materials of same tube wall thickness. tubing manufacturers make steel tubes lighter with variable gauged tubing that gets thinner the farther away from the joint. straight guage tubes are used but more often there will be single, double, or often tripple butted tubes. butting is a process in which the tube is made thinner in the middle, and each butting is a decrease in tube thickness. the more a tube is butted, the lighter it becomes while retaining its stiffness, to a certain point.

newer frames made out of aluminum and carbon generally have thicker diameter tubing due to the light weight of those materials, enabling less weight for stiff, wide and aerodynamic tubesets of large diameter.

because of this, if you're trying to get into any of these frames it's going to be very difficult to get into a ss-fg frame due to the small amount of volume inside the smaller-diameter tubes of steel frames.


if you're trying to get into a frame i would suggest a very large bicycle, perhaps a bicycle made ten times it's original size for an outdoor art exhibit, as that tubing diameter would likely be larger than your skull and hips from greater trocanter knob to greater trocanter knob(generally speaking the widest static point of a human's skeletal structure) where most SS and FG tubes would be smaller in diameter and prevent you succeeding in this endeavor.

Six jours

You misspelled "trochanter", smart guy.

Gato, when I was racing as a young junior (a long damn time ago), I drilled out the fork crown of my track bike and used a front caliper with a "quick-release" brake lever on the handlebar. I would ride it to the track for the races, take off the brake, race, reinstall the brake, and ride home. The "commute" was about 30 miles total, and it worked just fine.

I think we make too big a deal out of the fairly small differences between various bikes.

cc700

indeed i did!

ElGatoSeis

Thanks for all the responses so far. So folks recommend something like Surly Steamroller instead of Super Pista.

One of the things I liked about SP (and T1) is the thick tubes. As cc700 pointed out most other (non-big names, incl. Surly) frames do have thinner tubes, which would really be my second choice if I can find an alternative...


BTW,

To be honest, this is what I thought myself and was hoping to hear. But I figured I should ask the question because I don't actually know much about track frame geo etc.

Philasteve

I vote for the surly steamroller too for longerish rides, I have one and it rocks super comfy and it's a really tough bike it'll last forever plus it fits fat tires like 38's if your going to use it on light trails.

PluperfectArson

I know Kilo TT isn't exactly track geo, but I did 110 miles on it without any real difficulties.

UCF Eric

I've done 60 on my Kilo and it wasn't horrible, but I would much rather do 60 on my road bike. A track bike is going to do the job, but there are other bikes that are better suited for the task.

tombc

Doesn't a Steamroller have oversized tubes too? Kilo definitely does. Bob Jackson track frame is standard gauge up to 56cm I think. OP probably won't care about this because he wants oversized, just waxin.

chas58

Yeah, it is pretty mild for a track bike. It does pretty well on the street.

Disadvantages for a track bike on the street (not including equipment):
- Track bikes are very very stiff, unless they are steel
- They are more maneuverable (they love to turn), and less the sit back and cruise for 50 miles
- riding position is a little more aggressive.

None of that really makes much difference on a steel frame with mild geometry, but it is more significant with an Aluminum bike. I would much rather ride 50 miles on a steel bike like a Kilo TT rather than a more track specific bike like a Trek T1.