Legalities (of various sorts)
 

So while I was looking through the photo galleries on various velodrome websites today, I saw that every so often, there would be a race (pursuit races, as best I could tell) where riders weren't riding the normal deep drop handlebars, but instead had aero bars, as you would see in time trials/triathlons. Is pursuit the only kind of race where these bars are allowed (according to UCI/USCF rules)? I didn't see anything in the regs about this, and it looked like everyone was running drops in the other ones...

Which leads me to my next question...are aero forks (carbon or otherwise) legal in any/all/some races?

Are there any other track legality requirements of note (other than fixed gear only, no brakes, etc.)?

Aero bars only in individual events, TT, Pursuit.

Aero forks are probably a grey area as it can be argued their shape is structural the same way as the disc wheel was snuck in years ago.

Interesting - in the intro to track racing section on cyclingnews.com, it looks like the guys running the team pursuit race are using aero bars, but it is sort of hard to tell. Anyway, if aero bars are allowed in so many individual events, why is it that most people seem to be running drops? Seems like you'd be able to get (slightly) better aerodynamics and leverage by using aero bars, and the increased weight wouldn't be much of a hindrance...

Aero bars

Yes: individual and team TT events.
No: massed start events.

Some women's 500m riders prefer drops as they don't move their hands during the 2 lap effort.

not to hijack but...

what about different wheel sizes (700 rear, 650 front)

not any more.

Must both be the same diameter now. Track and road.

True, the Women's 500 TT is under 40s and is suited to an all out sprint effort unlike the mens 1min effort, with all the science and data known about cyclists nowadays I don't know why the UCI is draggiing the technology chain in aligning mens and womens events.

I was talking to a racer buddy of mine about this very topic not to long ago. Alot of guys run carbon forks now and theres only so many ways to shape it, they will have a slight aero advantage, its the bladed ones intended to be as aero as possible that are the issue. In my sad state of boardum i was going to link up some pics, but my cafine fix hasnt been met and im terribly lazy as a result. :)

My question to more experienced types is are they rules as to what materiel your bars can be made of? Or is it preferance? I see alot of the pros in the pics run steel, for the durability factor i presume?