ftfy
Where I grew up winning races was the aim… not losing on a higher ratio 
I’m in c grade. I wanna win, sure, but considering I’m not in a grade or racing for sheep stations, I’ll happily spend the time improving my technique.
This ^ The same thing happens at chandler guys surge to from being over geared.
unless more folks take your example, your grade will be limited to an 84. no kidding.
that would be pretty frustrating. but at least I’d have the advantage of a bit of spin practice…
try riding A grade on an 88! but the commissaires would rather have races that are slower than races that are dangerous - which they often have been lately.
Im all for this.
Brendan, would it not make more sense that the commissar’s identify problems with gearing and speed and stop people from moving up the grades until they are ready and therefore also limiting the gear that they can run?
So you may have a rider with great strength and speed but lacks skill who is only allowed 84" in a certain grade till they’re ready to move up. On a big gear that they can push, they may win week in week out but on a smaller gear they just have to learn to spin in control. Get dropped, spin faster!
I learned a lot from just watching A grade from the sidelines and I’m certainly not someone that can spin really well yet.
Is there a place to learn ie coaches to speak to?
haha you would be
i did suggest something similar.
if you’re interested, talk to nath about it. he’s pretty concerned atm, and after sitting on the sidelines over the last couple of months, i know what he means.
Yeah it’s all about heart and lungs,
gear restrictions make a level playing ground,
If all c run say 84, b say 88 and a open unrestricted will make safer riding and fairer racing.
Will do. Cheers.
Back to gear inches for newbs to track, start in the eighties and stay there for a while. Juniors do and new to track seniors should as well.
i ran 86 for the first four months of my track career. went up to 90 for two weeks, now coming back down to 84 (will run 86 for motorpace when my 48 shows up)
I know it would be safer in the long run, but if they enforced this in Sydney I would sell my bike and give up. I am only semi-competetive because I was born with big legs and am not predisposed to spinning quickly.
I understand the safety thing completely though, because we have people who are fit from triathlons or running who show up and think that because they can sit on the wheel of a b grader, they should be racing a or b grade. It takes years to build up safe bunch skills on any kind of bike. It’s tough because you want to encourage people to take up the sport, but they might not want to bide their time in the lower grades as all of us have done.
Yeah valid point, the guys at chandler do a good job of the grading but c grade can be scary some nights.
Also is there a massive difference in quality in the rear cog i.e Dura ace, miche, sun tour, phil wood?
all of those will do you just fine.
I always preferred a 90" (50X15).
In the distant past, I rode 48/14 with 49/14 when I was at peak fitness. 47/14 was for early season, before fitness turned up. Mostly outdoor tracks but enjoyed some indoor tracks too.