AQA - any questions answered - Track Edition

I put some cheap Deda 380mm bars on my track build. Perfect.

I did accreditation in Glasgow about 10 years ago. Does that theoretically carry over to Stratford?

Given it was 10 years ago… should I take it all again/do a refresher?

You can ask us for a letter that proves confirms you are accredited, what any other velodrome does with that is upto them.

In the other direction we’d have someone that was fully accredited at one of the other dromes do an accred 4 or revalidation session.

Also worth noting, if you haven’t been to a revalidation session at Glasgow since lockdown, you don’t currently have a valid accred 4 sub on your account so I dunno how that’d effect us giving you a confirmation letter.

For reasons that escape me, none of the covered velodromes in the UK trust each other's accreditation. I have a current Glasgow accreditation and that will only grant me partial accreditation at London and Manchester (and probably Newport and Derby, I haven't checked), I'd still have to do at least one or two accreditation sessions to get fully accredited there.

Mind you, if I took out a race licence and entered a race meeting at any of these tracks, I could ride there without going through this. Not that I have any intention (or ability) to race. I just ride the truck for fun.

I could tell you why I think it is but doing so might be detrimental to my employment status…

Does anyone with UKIVA on their bc licence know if they get full access at all of the 4 velodromes that aren’t Glasgow or do you still have to do some sort of accreditation when riding ‘away’?

I have the UKIVA on my licence and in London, at least, I think you still have to do the 4th of the 4 accreditation sessions to be fully accredited.

You do, and vice versa, someone that got accredited at Lee Valley would have to do acc4 in Glasgow.

I was wondering if Lee Valley, Manc, Derby and Newport had an agreement between them.

What sorts of cross-eyed looks would I get/would it be safe & permissible if i set up my single speed cyclocross bike for use on a track?
This is its geo:

Well, I guess if you converted it to fixed wheel, removed the brakes, levers and any other protruding bits on the frame, and fitted suitable tyres then maybe, just maybe it would pass. Perhaps.

I think some outdoor tracks, run sessions for road bikes in which case, you could ride it as it is.

Not sure if you intend indoor or outdoor use. It's 3mm short in bb clearance for indoor use, but I doubt that'd be spotted by eye.

TBF if you have the money to ride indoor regularly then you have the money to get a track bike, second hand Dolan would get you going for a few hundred. If you won't be riding regular just borrow a venue bike. No-one will thank you for putting them in hospital because you bodged a cx frame for track use and something goes wrong.

71.5deg headangle would maybe handle poorly? Usual hta is like 73/74deg for track.

You'd need to pad and cover brake posts and brazeons so you'd probably end up riding something that looked like a mishapen parsnip.

It's 3mm short in bb clearance for indoor use, but I doubt that'd be spotted by eye.

This is true, but the parsnip brazeons and slack hta are gonna guarantee the bike gets a lot of attention.

extremely valid points. thanks for the input.
i'll keep the parsnip on the road then.

With a bike that’s only ever been ridden on a wooden velodrome, only anti-clockwise, is it a good idea to turn the wheels (or just the tyres) round other way to even out tyre wear? Assuming the tyre doesn’t have a single direction, or even if it has?

Flipping them from new to prolong the life…probably something in it yeah.

Doing it because you’ve noticed wear/deformation in the shape of the track side shoulders on your tyres…it’s probably time you changed those tyres anyway.

No deformation, just the left side shows a bit more wear than the right.

I’ve ridden 11 x 1 hour drop-in sessions at Glasgow over the last couple of years on this bike, that’s all.

How often do you change the tyres on the hire bikes?

We’ve only done one sweeping renewal of all tyres in the (almost) 10 years we have been open. Individual tyres get replaced as we noticed damage, wear, cracking, perishing etc.

Fair enough. Sounds like I have a while to go before I need new tyres, but I'll turn them round prophylactically.

Accreditation. If you have some drome experience (taster sessions) and regularly ride fixed gear, do you still have to 'officially' go through the motions for Stage 1 accreditation just to have an email to say you have it?
Or can you go straight to stage 2?

As far as know in Glasgow and London, if you have an accreditation from any other indoor U.K. velodrome, you can go to stage 2.
Otherwise, you have to go through all stages.

In Glasgow, the taster session doesn’t count towards accreditation in Glasgow. I did 2 taster sessions there and when I went through the 4 stage accreditation process, I had to go back to the beginning and do stage 1.

OK thanks. Yeah seems I have to start from scratch but no worries; hopefully it's just a formality and I haven't picked up any bad habits!

Ha ha, believe me, it’s not a formality. You will learn stuff you didn’t know you didn’t know.

^ this

@yoav @rhb

Went and did Stage 1; seemed to be a doddle. As I was leaving they convinced me to stay and do Stage 2 the same night!
Stage 1 seemed to be all about learning about the bike and just experience riding with others on the track so there was nothing there I wasn't familiar with.
Stage 2 was a different kettle of fish but despite being 'told off' a couple of times I passed that also. At the end of the session the coach told us he had spent most of the session just training us for Stage 3 anyway.
Stage 3 now booked...

Nice one, enjoy the rest of the stages & then training.