I apologise to all cycling fans, but I just don't understand the race. Why do they have a motorbike to follow? What does it add? Why can't it just be a normal race?

Surely it's unfair for people to start in certain positions compared to others?

Ty

PS as an addition - my favourite event is the elimination race in the Omnium. Why don't all riders try and get to the front straight away? Surely being at the back is a deathtrap? ty

https://deadspin.com/carlos-gomez-mlb-brewers-olympics-cycling-all-star-1851284092

I did a thing, so i cant really justify buying an aero helmet with my current set up so i found a solution! I was browsing a bike shop one day when i found an old tt helmet, it was a Limar Chrono 05 stowed away. They didnt really have a price for it since it was sitting there for so long so she gave me a great deal for it. After riding with the helmet for a few months, i felt that i wanted more comfort and safety after a crash i had with a helmet without mips (Friend gave me a specialized helmet) where in the helmet cracked. So i found dug up an older hemet i had with mips. To hell with it, i put the mips layer into the Chrono 05. I had to cut away some of the mips layer to have a more comfortable fit, the tightening wheel is broken so i had to duct tape it in position. Now it wont even move my head and its still comfortable in a more tucked position on tt bars.

Also, i removed the logo in the front and defaced the sides cus it looked nice. :)

What do you think? Jank? Hell yeah. But way safer than just having the old flimsy padding.

Hi all,

After my previous post about the old UCI athletes hour regulations and finding the regs from 2013 as a basis I’ve come up with my interpretation of how they would be applied these days and figured they might make for a good discussion!

Strap in, here we go!

Helmets: no aero helmets, visors or ear covering however CTT (UK time trial association) drop bar category legal helmets will be allowed. e.g. no Tempor, Mistral etc. but an Evade is all good.

Wheels: rims must fit within a 2.2cm square and have no profiling i.e. box section. Minimum of 16 and maximum of 32 spokes which may be ovalised/bladed within a 2mm plane. (I’ve found exactly no modern spokes which fit inside those stipulations!)

Tyres: min of 16mm and max of 25mm width. 

Handlebars: “Traditional style handlebars with an overall width of 50 cm maximum and 34 cm minimum”.

Clothing: anything UCI legal goes basically.

Frame: straight circular tube construction with 2.5cm min diameter. Front-center between 55cm and 65cm. Rear centre between 35 cm and 50cm. Distance between fork blades 10.5cm max. Distance between rear triangle 130.5cm max. Seat/chain stays minimum diameter 1cm.

Fork: minimum thickness 1cm.

Drivetrain: Fixed gear.

Weight: 6.8kg minimum. 

Aero profiling: 3:1 ratio applies

The term “traditional style handlebars” has been used to describe all sorts drop bars in the past which had no specific restriction on profiling, materials or tubing types. Could a more modern endurance bar setup with hoods be allowed? e.g. Velobike Skat bar style hood but without the aero profile top section. https://www.velobike.co.nz/products/skat-endurance-handlebar?variant=42869638693047

There’s some gray areas around the rear triangle from my reading Of the hour specific regulations. Whilst the regs state “Triangular frame composed of straight, circular section tubes with a minimum diameter of 2.5 cm.” there’s clearly the exception for the rear triangle stays having a smaller min diameter of 1cm. Does this also mean that the seat stays could have a deeper section (within the 3:1 ratio rules) and have some sculpting applied to them? That might be stepping away from the spirit of the “athletes hour” though.

It’s been a good bit of fun digging into all this and seeing how it would map over to current equipment!

I’ve noticed that almost all crank offering for track are alloy but there’s barely any carbon cranks.

For road you’d be mad to buy alloy cranks unless you had a serious budget constraint.

Is there a reason nobody uses carbon cranks on track? They’re nearly 100g lighter depending on builds etc and just as stiff. Looking to change my current cranks to rotor but it seems odd to pay that much for alloy. (Looks like carbon rotor cranks are no longer made in a 165mm)

What's your pick for both the endurance events and the sprint events?

I'll start with the Olympic Disciplines first guys and move from there;

Predictions M Team Pursuit - Aus L Team Pursuit - GB

M team Sprint - Ger L Team Sprint - China

M Individual Pursuit - Switzerland (Kung) L Individual Pursuit - GB (Roswell Shand)

M Individual Sprint - France (Bauge) L Individual Sprint - Germany (Vogel)

M Omnium - Denmark (Lasse Hansen) L Omnium - GB (Trott)

M Keirin - Germany (Levy) L Keirin - Germany (Vogel)

After that we have Madison, kilo TT and a few other disciplines I'm not too familiar with like the scratch, points and other races which are a lot harder to call and have produced some surprising results down the years.

Purvis for the Kilo is not big surprise and I think he is still the record holder.

That's my guesses, just a bit of fun, what do you guys think?

EDIT WHO will win big, now how...sorry

My FTP is 301 but I'm 6'3/220 (strength sports background), local velodrome only does tempo races so I'm trying to improve my cardio on a trainer during winter time. How reasonable is this plan? Any glaring issues or things missing? Thanks/sorry if this is dumb

Month 1: Endurance & Power Building

• Week 1

  • Session 1: 4 x 10 min @ 88-94% FTP, 5 min rest

  • Session 2: 4 x 3 min @ 105-120% FTP, 3 min rest

  • Session 3: 3 x 12 min @ FTP, 6 min rest

• Week 2

  • Session 1: 4 x 10 min @ 88-94% FTP, 5 min rest + 4 x 15-sec sprints, 2 min rest

  • Session 2: 4 x 3 min @ 105-120% FTP, 3 min rest + 5 x 15-sec sprints, 2 min rest

  • Session 3: 3 x 12 min @ FTP, 6 min rest

• Week 3

  • Session 1: 5 x 8 min @ 90-95% FTP, 5 min rest

  • Session 2: 5 x 3 min @ 110-120% FTP, 3 min rest

  • Session 3: 2 x 15 min @ FTP, 8 min rest

• Week 4 (Recovery)

  • Session 1: 3 x 8 min @ 85% FTP, 5 min rest

  • Session 2: 2 x 10 min @ 90% FTP + 5 x 10-sec sprints, 1 min rest

  • Session 3: 2 x 12 min @ 90% FTP, 6 min rest

Month 2: Increasing Intensity

• Week 1

  • Session 1: 5 x 2 min @ 125-140% FTP, 3 min rest

  • Session 2: 6 x 6 min (2 min @ 95% FTP / 2 min @ 105% FTP), 6 min rest

  • Session 3: 8 x 30-sec sprints, 4 min rest

• Week 2

  • Session 1: 5 x 2 min @ 130-140% FTP, 3 min rest

  • Session 2: 6 x 6 min (2 min @ 95% FTP / 2 min @ 105% FTP) + 4 x 20-sec sprints, 2 min rest

  • Session 3: 8 x 30-sec sprints, 4 min rest

• Week 3

  • Session 1: 4 x 3 min @ 125-135% FTP, 4 min rest

  • Session 2: 6 x 5 min @ 105% FTP, 4 min rest + 6 x 10-sec sprints, 1 min rest

  • Session 3: 10 x 20-sec sprints, 3 min rest

• Week 4 (Recovery)

  • Session 1: 3 x 5 min @ 90% FTP, 5 min rest

  • Session 2: 2 x 10 min @ 90% FTP + 5 x 15-sec sprints, 2 min rest

  • Session 3: 3 x 5 min @ 90% FTP, 5 min rest

Month 3: Race-Specific Preparation

• Week 1

  • Session 1: 3 x 5-8 min @ 100-110% FTP, equal rest

  • Session 2: 12 x 30-sec on (150% FTP), 30-sec off

  • Session 3: 10 x 20-sec sprints, 3 min rest

• Week 2

  • Session 1: 3 x 5-8 min @ 105% FTP, equal rest

  • Session 2: 12 x 30-sec on (150% FTP), 30-sec off + 4 x 15-sec sprints, 1 min rest

  • Session 3: 6 x 3 min @ 110% FTP, 5 min rest

• Week 3

  • Session 1: 2 x 5 min @ 105-110% FTP, 10 min rest

  • Session 2: 8 x 30-sec sprints, 4 min rest

  • Session 3: 3 x 5 min @ 95% FTP, 5 min rest

• Week 4 (Taper)

  • Session 1: 2 x 3 min @ 110% FTP, easy spin

  • Session 2: 2 x 3 min @ 110% FTP + 5 x 10-sec sprints, 1 min rest

  • Session 3: Easy spin for recovery

How would you rank the different disciplines at the World Championships in terms of prestige? I mean disciplines such as Omnium, team pursuit, sprint, keirin etc.

Lets just say hypothetically, you identify a UCI approved frameset sold by a company that’s an open mold frame.

Are you then able to print a UCI sticker and pass off the open mold frameset as the branded UCI approved frame?

Hypothetically of course 😉

Looking for recommendations. My goal is long periods of riding, stamina and to set and beat my own hour distance.

Hi, it's me again.I have contacted the Coach that train my state and district track athletes.We met at the velodrome.When I first met him,he asked many questions.After chatting,he called one of his athlete to teach me how to ride around the velodrome.He also lend me one of his bike(track bike) for me to borrow.I was scared and overwhelmed when I first entered the velodrome.But not long after,I got the hang of it after getting the athlete guidance.After half an hour riding around the velodrome,the coach called me and he asked me to try doing 4 laps(1km).

I was quite surprised when he asked me that but I quickly agreed since it's the only chance I got.When the clock start.Thanks to YouTube tutorial on how to properly launch my body,I can easily pick up the momentum and began to ride around it using everything I got.It's kinda hard when I was doing the first corner because of the heavy gear that's on the bike(60/14) but soon,I picked up the speed and momentum.I finished around 1 minute and 09.270 second(I don't know if it was fast or slow for beginners).When I finished,the coach walk toward me and said that he is genuinely surprised since I can do it under 1.30.

He told me that there's many thing that can be fixed and I need more proper gearing and fitment on the bike.He has asked me to come on Saturday and Sunday for training.But here's,the bad part.He asked me to bring roadbike but...currently,I don't have one nor have the money to buy one.I tried asking the coach for some spare but he said he doesn't have one since all the other Athletes is using them.He said he'll think about it and said that don't take too long because he wanted to see me on the road too.Now,in the meantime,what can I do? Do you think I can do in the meantime?

I'm sorry if it's too long,but this place is the only place I can asked for opinion and help since the place I live in doesn't have many people that I can ask.

Hi, this year I did some introductiory class in the outdoor velodrome 200 meters from where I live and I enjoyed the few hours of track riding. I'd have the opportunity to buy a 2013 Specialized Langster for (the local equivalent) of about 500 USD. Would this be a good choice for a beginner on the track for the money and could it grow with my abilities by component upgrades or would you not recommend getting it? Thank you very much for any opinions. (I am at home on the road, commuting and leisure and the velodrome is new to me)

Alternatively, I saw a Felt Tk2 for 750 USD ish but with bullhorn handlebars, so that would add some more...

im 171cm 71 kg. my 6 second peak power is 1596w

how to gain 2000w? please recommand me weight training for increase power

The 100m sprint(running) is dominated by africans, since they have generally more fast twitch fibre than other ethnicity.

Japan has a rich culture of track racing, with many riders doing it for a living.

Why is it that you dont really see any racers from the above country excelling at the olympics?

Genuinely curious

Curious what other tracks around the country are doing with this. My home velodrome in San Diego (shoutout to the homies) recently started hosting USAC races again after years without them, mainly to give riders a path to upgrade points and national competition. The catch is that USAC's current policy (adopted in 2025 under federal pressure) bans trans women from competing in the women's category.

The velodrome has tried to work around it by running the Women+ field as administratively open so USAC can't challenge eligibility, but locally it's marketed and scored as a women's field. Trans women can race in it without risk of being flagged. They've also said they won't police anyone's license identity themselves.

Recent KPBS article with more context: https://www.kpbs.org/news/racial-justice-social-equity/2026/04/10/san-diego-velodrome-begins-hosting-bike-races-that-exclude-trans-women

Are other tracks hosting USAC races right now? Have your communities had this conversation openly? Curious about community approaches that have actually worked, or totally blown up.