I have two track bikes, a Zinn titanium custom track bike and a Bridgestone Anchor carbon fiber sprint track bike. A generic “track bike” is set up with a similar position to a road bike, and a sprint position has the bars much lower with the frame being incredibly stiff. The sprint bike typically will have quicker steering characteristics.
The Zinn has all the right geometry and enough comfort to be used on the road, so I took the track fork and handlebars off last week and added a road fork with a front brake and a road handlebar with a front brake lever and a tandem stoker dummy lever on the other side. This allows the “on the hoods” hand position and more braking than just the rear wheel braking by resisting the pedals.
For the maiden voyage in Dallas I wanted to go on a Greater Dallas Bicyclists (GDB) ride that leaves from Forest and Preston Road and heads over to DFW Airport, with a fast loop around the airport, then a moderate ride back for a total of 60 miles.
The choice of gearing is critical on a fixed gear bike as you only get one combination. I chose a 50/17 gear (77.2 gear inches with a 2096 circumference, 667 diameter) which was super going out to the airport. Once I got there and the wind picked up to 15-20 MPH, I knew the airport loop would be interesting. This loop typically averages around 24 MPH so I wasn’t too worried about the upwind sections but the downwind sections might be untenable.
My worst fears were realized when I spun out about 32 MPH on the first downwind leg. Ouch! While we all have been dropped at times, it is so surreal to be dropped while going down wind, while everyone else is having the time of their life! I had to give in to my limits as this equated to holding 139 RPM.
When I finally got to the end of the ride I was re-introduced to the fact that 60 miles on a fixed gear is 60 miles. I can’t wait to do it again!
For those technically curious, Analytic Cycling has gear, aerodynamic and other geeky data.
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Hi Kev–woo woo nice bike! You’re like a lot of cyclists I know–have more than one bike. But more than one track bike!! WOW!
Okay, can’t wait to go riding in Texas, with you all,
cheers
Jen Benepe
Hi Jen,
Nobody buys bikes off my showroom floor so I have demo models built up in my size so I can properly test them. Every now and again somebody my size wants a bike and it happens to be a perfect match with one of the show bikes, and they get one without waiting.
I will start posting pics of the show bikes shortly. Thanks for the comment.
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