Re: fixed gear road bikes, was Re: [CR]A nomenclature question

(Example: Framebuilders:Jack Taylor)

Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2004 12:44:31 -0700
From: "Chuck Schmidt" <chuckschmidt@earthlink.net>
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: Re: fixed gear road bikes, was Re: [CR]A nomenclature question
References: <40390325.8000309@erols.com> <0a0b01c3f981$108b06f0$efddfea9@mooshome>


jerrymoos wrote:
>
> I agree with Kim that a fixed gear road bike is not a track bike. Besides
> the rear-facing dropouts, real track bikes have higher BBs. Round section
> tubes are also typical, but not mandatory. I think the distiction is
> clearer to the Brits, with their long tradition of road time trialing, where
> fixed gear was commonly used. While a track bike could certainly be adapted
> to that use, in UK it was common to build bikes with track dropouts, but
> with a lower BB and with drilling for brakes by design rather than as an
> afterthought.

Don't you mean round section "forks" rather than "tubes"? Anyway, in England from I think, the '20s through the '60s these bikes were actually road/track bikes (sometimes called path racers). They were dual purpose bikes; geometry that would work for either tracks (but not steeply banked velodromes), grass tracks, time trials, hill climbs and crits.
> In America, with essentially no time trialing tradition, such
> bikes are rare as hen's teeth. Although some of the top US builders like
> Brian Baylis can certainly build a fixed gear road bike for the rare
> customer who actually wants one, Most fixed gear road bikes in America are
> accidental.

In America, track bikes were used for road racing clear up through the 1960s since it was almost all criterium style races here.

Chuck Schmidt South Pasadena, Southern California

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