Velodrome - Track Gear, Tools, Saddles, Gloves etc.

^^ I dunno. I just use regular road mitts on hot days and some thin winter Castelli full finger gloves in the evenings. I never bought anything special, just whatever I had already.

It sounds like you are already over thinking all of this.

^^This. You're better off just going down there, using a hire bike for a few sessions, and making an informed decision as to whether this is something you even want to pursue before you start investing quite a bit of money.

"Over thinking" on an Internet forum?
Never.

I'd love the 35cm Nittos in alu

The steel are heavier because they're stiffer than the alu version, if you intend to only use it for track, then no point in getting the alu version (unless you find your bar a touch too narrow).

What Gloves do you recommend off of your own experience? I was checking out the Hzrl Grippp. Hard to get hold of and am unsure of performance. NFL wide receiver gloves have a grippy layer which is designed to deal with huge amounts of sweat over a long period of time during a game/training. So that's why I thought about Cutters.

I'd have thought the other reason for glove is to prevent your hand from getting road rash when you crash.

Don't overthink it!

This.

Just turn up with the appropriate gearing, and see how you get on before you go all lady ga-ga on wiggle ordering parts that you may not need.

I'm not sure about 160mm cranks - the shorter you go the less leverage you get and the harder it will be to get a gear turning. Unless you're riding a road conversion (which you shouldn't be) then Herne hills banking isn't steep enough to pedal strike.

Don't overthink it!

quoted for posterity.

The steel are heavier because they're stiffer than the alu version

this made me laugh

Scoble offering advice on track equipment cracks me up every time.

Sometime it's not always useful to have brakes when it come to cyclocross, as you'll be crashing on the same tree every time.

#internetwisdom

I'd have thought the other reason for glove is to prevent your hand from getting road rash when you crash.

True of any type of riding: road, track, cross, mtb...

Especially mtb.

this made me laugh

that's some quality science you're laughing at there..

If you're doing sprinting I'd recommend steel over aluminium even though they are 400g or so heavier. They are A LOT stiffer which means better power transfer and control. You're not going up any hills so the weight does not matter as much. Plus, 400g is only like 0.45% of your system weight (assuming you + bikes = 90kg).

True... I know I need to get to track. When I have a chance. Saturday mornings belong to my daughter gents. Can't have her missing Capoeira Class. So Indra was telling me about Monday evening class or something.

Now just the logistics. I finish work around 6pm need to find out start times etc. Cause it may take me 45mins to get there from central London. I think. Cycling.

If you're doing sprinting I'd recommend steel over aluminium even though they are 400g or so heavier. They are A LOT stiffer which means better power transfer and control. You're not going up any hills so the weight does not matter as much. Plus, 400g is only like 0.45% of your system weight (assuming you + bikes = 90kg).

I've heard about it before. Definitely won't get rid of my Steel ones.

Ones does not simply walk into Monday night race training without having completed the progression pathway; Induction, 3 x Basic sessions and 3 x Intermediate sessions. Even that may not be enough experience as some of the recent accidents may have shown.

What I tried to say was that experienced riders could do a fast track induction on a monday, or are they not offering that anymore?

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And repp for "one does not simply"

What I tried to say was that experienced riders could do a fast track induction on a monday, or are they not offering that anymore?

By appointment I think.
But it's meant for people who've raced in other disciplines who already have group riding skills. So if he has, he's cool.

Oh cool, that's good to know.

Scoble offering advice on track equipment cracks me up every time.

ftfy

If you're doing sprinting I'd recommend steel over aluminium even though they are 400g or so heavier. They are A LOT stiffer

On the other hand, 31.8 bars are about twice as stiff as 25.4 for the same weight, and look how long it took Nitto to spot that. Their OS bars are still poorly designed, as the diameter drops to the same as their skinny bars much too quickly. I'm a fat bastard, and I can't say I've ever been troubled by flex in my Deda Pista bars, thanks to the gradual taper on the diameter (it's almost like Deda actually looked at how structures have been designed for the past, oh, 5000 years). Of course, if you want fashionably narrow bars you're SOL with most manufacturers, so Nitto have that going for them, for the time being.

I agree with Rob that I would like to do this right and attend as many sessions as possible so come September may have to see if there is another class nearby I can enrol the little one in so I can come on Saturdays. They were talking about a weekday capoeira class but that is to be finalised.

Okay I will try not to over think it. It's just my personality. Agreed I need to try it out so I get a better understanding on how to spend if at all. Just really excited.

On the other hand, 31.8 bars are about twice as stiff as 25.4 for the same weight, and look how long it took Nitto to spot that.

In theory they should be but in reality I have always found little difference overall between 25.4 - 31.8 set ups. The stems flex too though and the larger diameter 31.8 stems are generally not as stiff as the 25.4s. Actually the stiffest bars I have ever owned were an old set of 25.4mm with a long clamping area which suits most stems well, this is a stiffer bar then the Alpina 31.8mm carbon for instance. Unfortunately they do not have a great deal of drop and I never used them for sprinting. I currently have them set on a road bike mounted with an old and very overbuilt MTB stem from the 90s.

Their OS bars are still poorly designed, as the diameter drops to the same as their skinny bars much too quickly.

I didn't know that this was an issue with the 31.8mm Nittos thanks for pointing it out. Hearing this is disappointing and limits the stem choice - what were they thinking?

Tony

The clamp area is wide enough for most 31.8 stems, then the diameter drops to the usual size quickly. They look a bit rubbish but I can't see how that makes them less stiff than the standard alu ones? I think their idea was to make them OS to fit more stems, not to make them stiffer.

(One of) the stiffest combo I've ever handled is Nitto chromo 34cm in a pro 7s stem (with shims from 25.4-31.8) at that point you start getting into how flexible the fork steerer is.

Anyhow, complete digression from the OP.