What makes a track bike

Teach

I know stiffness is key, but if I am looking at second hand bikes how do I know it is suitable for a track bike?
Can any frame be turned into a track bike?
I am wondering about getting into the sport, but cost is a significant factor. Can I convert one of my frames to a track bike?
I've seen recommendations of bikes to buy on here, but they are £600-£800. Wondered if it can be don cheaper or if I would just be wasting my money.

TommyEss

You'd be hard pressed to convert any road bike into a track bike - the rear hub spacing wll be too narrow, and the bottom bracket too low.

If you're looking to ride on indoor velodromes (e.g. Newport or Manchester) you require your BB to be no lower than 11 or 11.5" (can't remember whihch - but a damn-sight higher than a road bike's)

Then, track bikes are designed with tight angles, giving fast steering and handling - most road bikes will be a bit slacker - not necessarily a big problem, but there nonetheless.

In summary - I wouldn't go down the conversion route - look for second hand bikes, and see what you can find.

Out of interest - Where are you based, and have you been to a track yet?

I know that sounds daft, just trying to ascertain where you are in the process - if you're thinking you need to buy a bike before setting out on the track, that's not the case.

If you get down to Newport or Manchester, you can hire bikes and do a taster session. You can also hire bikes at Palmer Park in Reading, and I would expect you can at Welwyn Garden too. I can't think of other tracks off the top of my head - oh, there's Calshot near Southampton, a tiny indoor track even tighter and steeper than Manc and Newport.

Anyway, point I was going to make was - I've been racing all this season at Palmer Park on a borrowed bike from a fellow racer - I've since moved to Oz, so am running straight into their race season, so now I'll look at getting a bike (now that I know I enjoy racing, and want to do more of it) - I didn't need my own bike to find that out though - so if you're just starting out, there's no need to risk jumping in and buying a bike you end up maybe not using much.

Also - once you've been racing a bit, you'll meet other riders - so a better chance of finding the second hand bargains - and you'll also get to know more what you want out of a track bike - you'll see what's popular, what works, what doesn't.

I know that's a bit long - the summary is - don't bother trying to convert a road bike into a track bike!!

Hope that helps,

Tom

Teach

Cheers Tom for that detailed reply.
I live 45mins from Manchester, so I am fortunate to be fairly close. I was just looking on e-bay and was trying to work out if a bike was a fixie or a track bike. It claimed to be a track bike, but certainly didn't look it, apart from having no brakes! I forgot that the velodrome hires bikes and that makes far more sense, unless someone wishes to give me a track bike

Thanks again

Teach

Cheers Tom for that detailed reply.
I live 45mins from Manchester, so I am fortunate to be fairly close. I was just looking on e-bay and was trying to work out if a bike was a fixie or a track bike. It claimed to be a track bike, but certainly didn't look it, apart from having no brakes! I forgot that the velodrome hires bikes and that makes far more sense, unless someone wishes to give me a track bike

Thanks again

TommyEss

No worries - sorry I whittered on a bit.

Sounds like a few sessions at Manchester would be a great start for now.

As for ebay - an awful lot of those "Track Bikes" on there are just cheapo bikes aimed at the "hipster/fakenger" crowd - and won't have the right geometry for a tight indoor track. Also, you really risk them not being very good quality or strength - there's a lot of force goes through a bike on the banking, and it's not a nice place to crash.

If you find any on ebay you're not sure of, pop a link on here and I'm sure people will be able to help you out one way or t'other.