First track bike. Decent budget, please help.
 

Looking to get a quality bike I can grow into. Here are my choices..

Langster Pro (black) 1760
Langster Pro (white/red) 1590
Felt TK2 1800
Fuji 1.1 ~1300

I'm trying to avoid the bikes with a red theme (silly, but I'm not a fan)

Thanks! This will be a strictly track bike.

All good bikes that can treat you well as a beginner or as a more advanced rider. Mostly pretty similar - stiff aluminum frames, carbon forks, basic components. TK2 is a bit more sprint oriented than the others.

Get the one you think looks the coolest.

The Langster Pro frameset is still selling for $600 so you can probably build that up cheaper than the full price if you pick that one!

Heh, avoiding bikes with a red theme eliminates a lot of them, there's way too much red, white, and black in the bike industry! The TK2 doesn't have much red at all, but if you're a sprinter, you might want to lose those handlebars. They're pretty flexy from what I hear. I'm personally gonna get a black Langster Pro for myself, but I'm a Specialized fanboy. The stock wheels are nice and light, though I've not heard how they are on the track. The low spoke count makes me think they'd be flexy under bigger riders or during sprints. I feel like the Fuji might be the best in spite of the paint scheme because all these bikes are pretty similar, but the Fuji is the cheapest, so you'll have some money left over to get other componentry.

Get the one that fits you the best and looks the coolest.

But mainly the one that fits you best.

Avoid proprietary seatpost systems if possible. Generally a PITA...even on my fancy LOOK 496.

i've ridden the felt and fuji. i liked the fuji better. must be my body style or something. i ride a dolan. you can build one on a decent budget.

What do you guys think of the giant Omnium?

I can get a really good deal on specialized and giant track bikes.

if youre getting a deal, get the langster pro. comes with omniums and american classics if i remember correctly

First I would like to thank everyone for replying to this thread. I know this section is not very active at all at the moment so every reply counts.

I have spoken to a friend of mine and he has a good hookup at a local shop. My discount is 20% off everything. They carry a lot of bicycle brands but not including Fuji and Felt.

Which narrows my search for a track bike down to...

Specialized Langster Pro
Giant Omnium

When comparing these two bikes, I notice they have the same crank, chains are probably about the same, both 1/8". The Langster's is gold, which is unique IMO. What about the wheels? The Omniums are 42mm and the Langsters are 34mm I believe. Is there a big difference here? Which has the better handlebars or are they about the same? Frame material?

Please take a look..

Omnium specs
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/...specifications

Langster specs
http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bik...gsterpro#specs

I've never had a Giant bike. Not sure on the Giant branded wheels. I know American Classic is reputable.

All this said.. in my opinion on which looks coolest: Langster Pro BLACK >> Giant Omnium (blue/white/black) >> Langster Pro Red/White

The only thing is that if I go for the black, it won't be available for at least a month, and I want to ride now. I suppose I can ride a rental for a month but is it really worth it?

Thanks again guys!

The wheel depth negligible. These wheels will be demoted to being "training wheels" (wheels for training sessions) when you buy a set of race wheels (wheels for special occasions/races).

Between the two, I'd say if you are heavy guy and/or race on a bumpy track, stay away from seatposts with the one-bolt system like used on the Specialized linked above. Those tend to allow the saddle to tilt when the rider is pulling hard on the cranks while on the nose of the saddle.

Other than that, they are pretty much the same. The Specialized looks cool in the matte/satin black.

they both are solid setups. you can't lose. personally, i really like the look of the giant. but i lust after those american classics. i like the superlight chain on the giant and ive never used an izumi chain. i like colors. i would go for the giant.

The Specialized has a 45mm rake fork... that's pretty crazy for a track bike, and they make good bikes so I'm sure it'll handle okay, but it sure is weird for a good track bike.

The Omnium gets used at all levels of racing, even WC events in the last few years. I'd get the Giant as long as the sizing works for you.

I recently got a Specialized Langster Pro. I had raised my eyebrows about the 45mm rake fork, too, but it's 5.7mm of trail - a reasonable figure. I haven't taken it to a velodrome yet, but I'm not concerned. It's not too far out of the ordinary.

The American Classic brand is definately quality. But the wheels on the Specialized are the bottom level they offer. So while quality, they are not something that is automatic amazing, and nothing to swing a choice over.

Good catch! That's a road fork!

MMM, look for forks of 30-40mm. Or even 25 like the Bianchi Pista Concept.

For the Specialized Langster, that head tube angle (74deg for the larger sizes, 73deg for smaller) might not go well with a 45mm rake fork. For the 74 angle sizes (56 and up), that leads to a trail of only 50mm which is pretty short. For the 73deg sizes, you get 56mm trail which is fine. If you decide on the Langster and use a size 56 or higher, I would try to find a track fork with a 38 or 40mm rake.

UPDATE for you guys - turns out the shop I was considering wasn't a Giant dealer after all. And after speaking with a few guys at the track I decided the 52 would be a good size for me. So in the end I got the Langster Pro I wanted from the beginning in black.

Now I'm waiting for the pedals to get here and get fitted. May need a longer stem.

As I've worked at a shop, my previous "bike nerdy" self has become a pro-level-bike-nerd ;)
I'm hoping to ride a teammate's Langster Pro in April/May when Marymoor dries out a bit ... curious what it'll feel like (though Marymoor at 400m & 20something bank won't be a very stiff test.

Omega Pharma Quickstep had all their guys on Langster Pros for the team presentation "track spectacular" a while back, and on the Ghent +/-160m track - but at the time I wondered if they had non-stock forks on them.

Until I hear conclusively otherwise, a 45mm fork on that HTA makes the Langsters a bit of a no-go in my mind.
Also, the last few years had non-reinforced dropouts - just alum that was getting chewed up pretty badly...

~from the service department of a bike shop that sees a few track bikes ;)

the OPQS team launch wasn't at the Kuipke, which is 167, it was at the Eddy Merckx Veldorome, which is a 250. The Langster Pros they were using looked bone stock, I doubt they changed the fork.

This year's Langster Pros definitely have reinforced dropouts. Steel plated, and pretty long, too.

Yeah, I'm thinking of casually looking for a 40mm fork for mine, but if I don't I'm not worried.

Congrats. I have a question for this thread. The LBS I frequent for it's knowledgeable, helpful owner, sells Masi. What do you think of this frame?

http://www.masibikes.com/framesets/coltello

I am a newby, but that appears to be a "proprietary seat post" mentioned earllier.

oh yeah - the whole "E-M Velodrome"... whiffed on that one, didn't I :-/

good to hear on the dropouts, the big S makes good enough bikes that their not-so-good track bikes the last few years had been a bit surprising to me.

the geometry seems decent enough - as long as the seatpost holds, It'll probably be fine.

This thread is great, good info on the Langster Pro. I almost ended up getting one.

I wish the TK2 was available in frameset.. jesus.

Piggy backing on this thread, looking to have a bike ready for opening of the 2015 Pan-Ams 'drome in Toronto.
Longtime cyclist, ex-mess, 47 now, comfortable on FG.

Looking to do distance Omnium style more than full on sprint events.
Anything I should look for in the frame design itself?
Chainstay length, or anything more specific in the geometry?
I do a tight setup generally with the back wheel getting in nice and snug.

I'm treating myself as I'll be turning 50 on the track, so 1200-1500$ for a frame set unless it's something super special.
I was considering the 3500$ Marinoni P-Star with Record build, but they license this frame and the wheel gap made my eyes hurt.
http://www.marinoni.qc.ca/html/PSTAR.html
I've still not completely mentally said no.

If I can I'd like to buy Canadian if possible
Considering Cervelo T1, Bianchi Super Pista (ridden this brand off and on for 30 years
Not locked in to alum vs carbon. I know this seems somewhat all over the place, but I'm looking for a frame I can grow into as a track racer, not looking to get a 'starter' frame that I'll be frustrated with in a year.

Any and all feedback is welcome.