Taster session at Manchester

BUICK

Myself and Johnnyhotdog went today - it was amazing and much much harder than it looks. It took a mere 5 minutes or so before we were very thirsty indeed, and this evening we can feel the heat coming off our legs (respectively - nothing homoerotic going on) as, presumably, they work on repairing themselves. It was crazy mad awesome and I'd recommend it to anyone! No crashes or anything dramatic just pure fun. I say no crashes... I came close to falling twice walking down the ramp there with slippery cleats

Bronzie

It's a blast for sure - I made the mistake of looking down the banking from the top first time I went and scared the bejaysus out of myself - an hour later I was blasting around and up and down the banking without too much nerves.

BUICK

It's amazing how intimidating the banking is - whether looking down it from the top, or up it from the bottom. Yet when you are actually up there it's fine! I've been trying to find out what the gearing set up would have been on the bikes we were riding but haven't found any definitive info on that. Wish I'd asked at the time. Does anyone know?

andyp

Track gearing is normally around the mid-80s in gear inches. I ride 50x15 on the outdoor track at Herne Hill.

BUICK

I got the impression from other info on the tinterweb that they would be around 85 inches too. It's strange when riding the track bikes that even at low speeds it feels quite easy to turn the pedals and to have control - guess they have very good bearings! Really enjoyed the smooth surface and the clear 'rules' about how to ride. I'm still surprised just how much effort it took! I've been doing some particularly hilly training rides fixed, and other rides on a loaded 'cross bike so that I was pedalling extra weight around, so I felt confident I was going to cut quite a dash... hahahaha :oops: