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If so, what should one look out for and where?
Thanks. 🙂
They do where I live (Tassie) but there are lots of track riders here. The more track riders you know the better your chance
Often the coaches/development guys at velodrome will sell off in batches, but they can have had a tough life. A new one can be had from around £500 ish though.
Thanks chaps. It's a case of being practical too as it will need to be stored at the velodrome and I believe that works out to £30 per month.
I did my accreds at Glasgow where they have very basic Dolan PreCursa's. Once I got into it I bought a better specced Precursa direct from Dolan so knew it would fit.
Of course fit is another concern. Is there a guide to geometry for track bikes?
Give Calshot a ring.. they quite often have ex-fleet bikes for sale.
In fact: http://www3.hants.gov.uk/calshot/kit-for-sale.htm
Thanks frogstomp, that's useful.
I had one stolen from outside a pub the night before my last finals exam in 1978 so there's at least one out there.
in general terms try and have effective top tube same as road bike. Usually bars will be a bit narrower, which is good as you are always on drops. The shorter cranks (165 normally) can take a bit of getting used to, particularly if you have knee issues, so some fettling with saddle height and position will be required.Is there a guide to geometry for track bikes?
https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/227169/?offset=175#comment12090107
I have a 52cm Dolan pre-cursa for sale for £250 (Bristol).
If you're near the Manchester Velodrome, there's a notice board that often has details of track bikes for sale, usually placed by people who ride there.
And for any new bits, the Velodrome Shop has its own website:
http://www.velodromeshop.net/index.php?p=home
When I did my intro to track riding at Newport velodrome recently, I saw a notice board advertising a few preloved bikes.
Give Calshot a ring.. they quite often have ex-fleet bikes for sale.
I rode on that track nearly 40 years ago 😳
A good place to look is lfgss
Thanks again for the replies.
It's for 'the boy', he's 6'4" so unsure whether there will be much around in his size. He lives in That Lahndun.
Would he really be better off buying new?
TBH they are so few and far between it seems better off building his own. I've got an old steel frame, spare wheels- just need a quil and chainset and its sorted. Full builds for sale tend to have pants bits on- too rare.
If it can wait a few months I suspect there will be a few in Derby once the novelty has worn off!
In my view, yes. Track bikes have a hard life; if they have been used as accreditation/hire bikes they are built with the lowest spec possible, low gearing, get used and abused for hours every day, regular bashes and crashes.Would he really be better off buying new?
If it's been a personal bike and raced, then it will likely have had some crashes and bashes and drivetrain etc takes a lot of punishment. You could easily get one for £300 and then need to spend £200 on it, which takes you into new Dolan PreCursa land.
I tried building myself but unless you have a lot of secondhand stuff and a stunnning bargain on frame-fork you'll struggle to do one for less than the Dolan precursa
have a look out for secondhand fuji track, they are a bit agricultural but would be ok for a starter bike that you can upgrade/flog on. (You can get them new from Evans but if you can get 350quid together then you'd be better off finding a bit more to get the dolan)
London based - try asking the organisers at Herne Hill as well as having a trawl of lfgss and bikeradar classifieds, cyclingweakly ?
When buying secondhand, just make sure you're getting a proper track bike. There's an awful lot of fixies, ex-courier bikes etc out there which might look the part but don't have suitable geometry for track.
In that respect buying new is better although it can be hard finding stuff in that size. I'm about his height and at the time I was looking for a bike there was nothing new in a 60-62cm at all.
Stock range and availability is better now but you often have to trawl through specialist shops that are near to velodromes or look online.
Not sure that track bikes necessarily have a hard life - they do tend to hold value very well and there's not much to go wrong!
When buying secondhand, just make sure you're getting a proper track bike.
this...someone was trying to flog one at our club until someone pulled out the tape measure and noticed that the height of the bottom bracket would have meant it could not be ridden at Manchester velodrome.
just checked:
Specification of a Manchester Velodrome bike:
Track bikes must have a fixed wheel, 165mm cranks, and 280mm (11") bottom bracket height (measured from floor to centre of bottom bracket), no braze ons, and must have track ends.
Just buy a used Dolan Precursa. If it's for you, then there are often smaller bikes available as juniors grow out of them. £300 will buy a nice one. Look on Ebay and Gumtree.
Nice frames, stiff, but not "proper" track geometry - they are really road bike 73 degree parallel frames, but are fine on the track, nevertheless. I bought mine off here.
EDIT: since it's for the boy - he may as well buy a new one to be honest. Ebay throws up some nice bikes too from trackies who are upgrading or don't have time. But a Precursa is a fine bike. A Track Champion is a little bit nicer. Then there is carbon.
Struggling with internet connection so a bit behind!
Some really useful comments and am curious about shorter cranks - how would that affect a person with very long legs? Would he be better off with normal length?
Thanks again. 8)
Struggling with internet connection so a bit behind!Some really useful comments and am curious about shorter cranks - how would that affect a person with very long legs? Would he be better off with normal length?
No, you have to be very careful with crank length because if he rides a steep track and he's up the banking he may strike the pedal. I'm 6'1 and a bit and ride 165mm cranks on my track bike and 170-175 on everything else and have never noticed any difference on them. if it's on the road not such a problem
LFGSS
No, you have to be very careful with crank length
the pedal you use often has a bigger impact
Unlikely to be allowed on track with anything over 165mm crank length, certainly at Manchester and Glasgow
[url= http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXPCTB/planet-x-franko-bianco-pro-carbon-track-bike ]This one[/url] looks pretty good for the price - not new, but shinier than the Dolans and not a lot more expensive.
There's a facebook group for the Newport velodrome that has lots of used bikes for sale in a variety of price ranges. May be similar for London.
I have a cheap track frame to sell but it's only 56cm.
genesis madison new for £350 in big sizes
i have no idea if it's good but i like my genesis road bike