[Closed] Track wheels, cheap as possible?

I think Planet X have some cheap ones for sale.

I put an advert on lfgss.com forum and picked up a brand new pair posted for £60 for my son's track bike.

Seen the Planet-X ones for £120, they look good but if I could get cheaper... Ribble have hubs for around £40 for the pair.

Ebay?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Track-Wheels-PAIR-Fixie-Courier-Double-Sided-700-With-16T-3-32-Fixed-Wheel-Cog-/130891943534?pt=UK_sportsleisure_cycling_bikeparts_SR&hash=item1e79c48e6e

v-sprint

Wow they're nice.

Just bought a frameset with money I didn't have.. now these bargains are going to start eating away at my brain so I might as well just sod it and get the whole lot...

ebay for a cheap rear, i got a spare for about £35 including cog and postage, speak to your chosen track and see if they are happy with you using a road wheel with a pin lock skewer on the front

So - QR skewers are out?

molgrips - Member
So - QR skewers are out?

Bit worried there's no smiley joke face, they are most certainly out

No need to be worried.. just because I've never built a track bike before doesn't mean I'm going to ignore all the rules and be dangerous...

PS I am unbelievably excited about this new purchase 🙂

This may be of some use for your build up, in particular the bit about tyre choice which you may have to factor in;

http://pcms.s3.amazonaws.com/ncc/file/4870/fa q's-and-answers.pdf

I usualy ride herne hill where tyre choice is not much of an issue and use a pro race 3 on the front and a more track tyre (vittoria diamente)on the rear but i can attest that having a tyre slip half way up Newport banking is an "interesting experience". Don't forget pictures of the final build here

Thanks for the link. There will be pictures, I haven't had a new bike in many years 🙂

Tubs or clinchers?

molgrips - Member
Thanks for the link. There will be pictures, I haven't had a new bike in many years

Tubs or clinchers?

where are you racing? tubs supposedly stay up when punctured so got a chance on a steep banking - clinchers supposedly no chance. herne hill this probably makes no difference, newport or manchester maybe it will. i ride clinchers both on my hack wheels and best but thats because I couldn't be arsed gluing tubs on and i'm slow

Newport. There's a very slim chance I might end up on the outdoor track at Maindy one day though..

Is there any difference in rolling resistance?

Is there any difference in rolling resistance?

God knows, ask one of the coaches at newport what they use / reccomend they are quite helpful there. If I was only riding newport I would go tubs but that's my opinion only

MrSmith - Member
v-sprint

www.v-sprintwheels.com

if you contact Jim on LFGSS http://www.lfgss.com/thread90468-7.html#post3564835 he sometimes has one off deals on wheels that are cancelled orders. There's a code on LFGSS which will get you a discount as well. Great wheels. Great Service

One of the big reasons for tubs is the pressures you can go to, 200psi/14 bar (if your pump will take it!) is quite normal for the indoors. You won't get that with clinchers. This has a massive effect on the rolling resistance on a smooth wooden track

As has been said, tubs are more stable if you flat, which makes them lots safer.

And the argument about gluing them on is valid, but you'll only do it once as you'll probably never puncture indoors and you'd be lucky to wear the tubs out.

So, for me starting from scratch, it looks like tubs are the way to go.

My trackie mates used to use tubs, but were always very, very, very careful with them; no rolling the bike along across the car park; always carried. Blow them up at the centre of the track, let them down to 50 or so psi afterwards, and always used wheel bags to transport them.

They also used ball bearing hubs with light oil in and with one ball bearing taken out each side; I think to 'let the balls run freer', which I'm not sure made any difference.

I wouldn't mind carrying them across car parks, it'd probably live in a bike bag anyway in the garage.

So, for me starting from scratch, it looks like tubs are the way to go.

The hire bikes at Newport are clinchers and are fine.

QR is a no-no. Here is a good guide:

[url= http://www2.nationalcyclingcentre.com/documents/Track%20bike%20specification.pdf ]Spec[/url]

with one ball bearing taken out each side; I think to 'let the balls run freer

most people just switch to boxers

Novatec Tub wheels are good for the money. V sprint are very well built, but IMO you don't get much wheel for your money.

Never bothered with tubs. The reality is that it makes no difference at entry level and it more hassle/faff than it's worth.

Also it makes getting hold of wheels & tyres a bit easier if you stick with clinchers.

Just back from Cyclopedia in Cardiff where I spoke to the amazingly knowledgeable Ian. He reckoned that whilst he could get wheels for £70 ish it was definitely worth spending £120 on the next step up because they'd be a lot faster. Which is really the point on the track.

He also said a track chainset of reasonable quality (£70) and a decent sprocket were definitely worth it. That'd put my whole build at about £420 or so, only marginally cheaper than the whole built-up bike!

I just bought a 48T 165 Ambrosia track chainset off of ebay (new). Looks fine for beginners bike, I think the seller is velotastic, he had more.

I use clinchers at the track but that is what the bike came with rather than it being a decision i made. If i was to choose now i'd probably stick with clinchers for the convienience unless i had a couple of sets of wheels, one for training and one for racing. Im using vittoria diamonte pista and they are really nice tyres, about 150g and can be pumped up to 145 psi.

Personally, one area I'd avoid saving money on for a track bike, is the wheels. It might look like a nice smooth place but you are going to be putting some serious loads through them as well as better wheels making a much bigger difference on the track than anywhere else.

I've seen many, many tubs puncture at the track, they make a hell of a bang. Usually followed by a bit more banging, a bit of scraping and then maybe some crying.

I would never go for any daft wheels with a small number of spokes at the track.

When I asked about wheels his first question was 'is it for the track or fixie riding?'

I almost decked him.

I've seen many, many tubs puncture at the track

More than clinchers?

You can get a decent stronglight track chainset of planet x for £60 and sprockets there aren't too bad either

Most people who ride track (including coaches) use strong traditionally built wheels with high quality clinchers like the Vitoria ones that take a high psi and save the tubs for race day.
If you ride tubs you will want a spare set to swap to if you puncture, have you seen how much a good tub costs and how much they cost to repair?

I've never seen any clinchers pop at the track.

Hi chaps. By way of intro. I run V-sprint and we specialise in singlespeed track and road wheels. We have been giving lfgss a forum price now for three years and supplied 100s of wheels to them. Our background is track and cycle speedway so happy to pass on any advice and tips etc. In the meantime you can see the site www.v-sprintwheels.com.

I wonder if v-sprint's wheels are going to be better or worse than my LBS's offering.. hmm...

Anyway the frame arrived today 🙂 However the dropouts don't have those little screw stops to make sure your wheel ends up in the same place each time. Surely without these it makes alignment difficult?

If I'm going to be removing the wheels for transport am I going to have problems? Or is it not an issue? The last singlespeed I rode had 20" wheels and was made to look like a motorbike.

We supply lots of LBS's in other parts of our business so its always a choice..
Having the stops in your frame will always help with line up but have to slacken off to remove the wheel anyway as the chain is tensioned. The screws are really goo to stop the wheel pulling when under effort more than lining up...

Do I get the LGFSS discount for being on STW? I'm not really a London based fixie rider! 🙂

My LBS said that the cheapest wheels you can get (£70 ish a pair) weren't much good for track racing and it was better for performance reasons to spend a little bit more, hence the £120 he quoted. I dunno what they are, but do you consider your entry level wheels to be good for racing?

Is there a big jump between those and the £180 ones?