Track setup

[europa]

My Road Chief is assembled and ready to be set up for racing. Although she's a converted road bike, she'll only be used on the track so it's an intial track set up I'm after.

Seat height I imagine would be the same as for road - set it as high as you can without fully extending your knee. I'm planning to set it as I would for the road and work for there.

Bars down low. As low as the frame allows or is it a bit more subtle than that? I'm planning to set the ends so that they sit comfortably in my hands as I imagine that that's where I'll be riding them most. Is that correct?

Seat fore and aft. Initial tests suggest I can get a nicely balance position quite easily, but I will need a new seat post - both longer and with a bit of set back. Is there anything I need to look for here or just work it as I go along?

The big concern is the reach and this is where I need a bit of guidance. The neck that came with the bike is very short. Because I don't have the right seat post yet, it's hard to tell what the final reach will be, but it will be shorter than I'd use for a road set up. Is this normal for a track bike set up? I ask this because I don't want to go wrapping the bar tape until I've got a workable length quill.

She'll be racing friday night so I'll want to have an initial set up before then.

Richard

[Kalgrm]

Funny you should post this thread at this very moment. I've just spent the last twenty minutes reading this articleon bike fitting, though I can't for the life of me work out why I was doing it. Maybe I knew you were about to ask, because he makes it quite clear from the beginning that there is no relevance to 'bents bikes.

Cheers,
graeme

[europa]

Well, I wanted to fix the Toscana but you wouldn't let me and a track bike has to be fixed gear

I like that article of Peter White's and have referred to it a lot in the past.

Richard

[europa]

Actually, Peter's article confirms what I thought about the short neck. I'll buy a new quill tomorrow along with the seat post. It'll be a guess but what are the chances of a choice of quills in the modern lbs? As it is I'll be relying on his legendary old stock pile.

Richard

[Bnej]

It'll be a guess but what are the chances of a choice of quills in the modern lbs?

Pretty good. Many cheaper bikes still come with quill stems.

[tallywhacker]

Actually, Peter's article confirms what I thought about the short neck. I'll buy a new quill tomorrow along with the seat post. It'll be a guess but what are the chances of a choice of quills in the modern lbs? As it is I'll be relying on his legendary old stock pile.

Richard

I find it more comfortable riding with a shorter stem (8cm). You'll find it hard getting a short quill from a bike shop anymore. Ebay is your best bet

[mikesbytes]

Funny you should post this thread at this very moment. I've just spent the last twenty minutes reading this articleon bike fitting, though I can't for the life of me work out why I was doing it. Maybe I knew you were about to ask, because he makes it quite clear from the beginning that there is no relevance to 'bents bikes.

Cheers,
graeme

Ha ha, is there a version for bents ?