By Scott Patton
Let's look at the facts here:
- A track bike has one gear.
- You can not coast on a track bike.
- To go faster, you have to pedal faster.
- If you use a bigger gear, you don't have to pedal as fast to go as fast.
- If you use a smaller gear, you will have to pedal faster to go the same
speed.
Those are facts. We can not get around them. When you get out on
the track, you will sometimes feel like you cant get on top of your gear or that
you are spinning your legs off. It will happen. I can humbly guarantee
that. It may be in the same race, it may be in the same day, it may be in
the same LAP! You never really know. The problem is, you can't
change it right then. You can't gear up, you can't gear down... you just
have to deal with it!
The question is... how do you deal with it? Well, there are a couple of
methods. You can CAREFULLY analyze your pedaling style, your leg speed,
your power, your gear availability and the event you are about to ride.
You can weigh out the benefits of a larger or smaller gear. You can ask
your friends, teammates, coach, officials, fans or any other resource you can
figure out for information. You can process all this information and come
up with the "Ideal Gear" for your current situation.
Another method is simply find a gear that is pretty close and run with
it! I see a lot of people changing gears for various events. You
know... 'putting on the big meat' for that long race, gearing down for the start
of the chariot race... Man, that's a lot of work! Now, all you gear
changers our there are getting ready to say "But Scott, I feel totally spun
out in a ____", or "I just cant get a _____ moving". Let's
take a look at some gears here!
| MPH |
RPM
(48x15)
(86.4) |
RPM
(51x15)
(91.8) |
Difference |
| 18 |
70 |
66 |
4 |
| 23 |
89 |
84 |
5 |
| 28 |
109 |
102 |
7 |
| 36 |
140 |
132 |
8 |
| 41 |
159 |
150 |
9 |
In this table, I show you the difference between a common "warm up"
gear, the 86, and a common beginners race gear. As you can see, the
difference in RPM is not that big of a deal! To put it all in perspective,
at 36 mph, you are doing roughly 60 kmh. The track is 333m or 3 laps to
the kilometer. Three laps would take you one minute. That's 2.67
revolutions per lap. You can EASILY squeeze that in!
Personally, I would likely opt for the bigger of these two gears, but hey, that
is just me!
| MPH |
RPM
(48x14)
(92.8) |
RPM
(49x14)
(94.6) |
Difference |
| 18 |
65 |
64 |
1 |
| 23 |
83 |
81 |
2 |
| 28 |
101 |
99 |
2 |
| 36 |
130 |
128 |
2 |
| 41 |
148 |
145 |
3 |
This example compares "Cat 3-4 gears" to "Pro-1-2
gears". A 36 mph points race is absolutely unheard of. I have
spoken to riders who have competed in world cups and world championships.
It just isn't that fast. There may be sprints that fast and periods that
fast, but not the whole race. So looking at our 36 mph example, you are talking
about .67 pedal revolutions per lap. That's NOT a lot! If you are a
world class sprinter and can hit 41 mph, it's still only 3 rpm. I know
that nobody reading this can do three laps at 41 mph in EITHER of those gears!
So what is my big point here? Simple - Gear selection should not be
something that gets you all worked up and worried before, during or after your
race. Pick a gear. Any gear. Give it a shot. Race a
night of racing on it and see how it works out. If you don't like it, try
another. Give it a shot. Realistically though, the wind, your lunch,
your afternoon coffee, your mood and a lot of other things will likely affect
the outcome of the race a lot more than the difference between a 92.8" and
a 94.6" gear!
Now, as you try different gears, you may want to WAY over-gear one night,
just to see what that feels like. You may want to way under-gear another
night. I think you will find, that for the racing here in Colorado
Springs, men should select a gear in the low to mid 90's, women should select a
gear in the mid to high 80's. This article is note designed to show you
that gear selection does not matter at all, just that "close" is good
enough! You will learn what feels good to you, it just may take time.
Elite racers may argue with me on this, but I will leave that up to
them. For the average cat 3 through 5, or Masters racer, you are probably
better off enjoying racing your bike and hanging out with your buddies than you
are changing your gear all the time!
-Scott
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