Track Bars and Chainrings

[orphic]

I need to buy some bars and some chainrings.

For bars, I am leaning towards alloy Nitto B125's unless some (probably second hand) Easton EC90's come up for a ridiculously cheap price. Are there any other suggestions, or does someone know someone/where selling the Easton's super cheap?

I was going to get some chainrings through Cycle Underground. I've read good reports elsewhere - does anyone here use one of their rings on the track? Can I go the cheapest option or is the $20 extra for the 4mm plate worth it?

[christian]

I have a chain ring from Cycle underground, its not quite as round as a Sugino ring I have but they are a lot cheaper. I would definitely go with 4mm plate and the 3mm Plate my be a little on the flexible side. One thing to note is that the rings are not heat treated after they are machined, they are made from a alloy that hardens as its worked. I'm not sure if rings from the big manufacturers are heat treated or not.

[christian]

Geoff S ordered some rings last year in the wrong BCD, they are 144, you may want to see if he still has them and wants to off load them

[othy]

http://www.alexscycle.com/

This is where I ordered my Nitto bars and Sugino chainrings from.

[T-Bone]

I'm using Miche Advanced chainrings (when the bike gets out), and they seem pretty good so far. A little cheaper than cycle underground 4mm at $60 from wiggle.

This place seems to have good prices for nitto bars as well http://www.kookiebikes.com/shoppe/home.php?cat=6 plus it's in Australia, so postage should be less.

[mikesbytes]

Normally I'd recommend steel nitto handlebars, but I doubt you have the same upper body strength that I do.

What size chainrings do you want?

[orphic]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I might speak to Geoff about the chain rings, but since remembering I actually own the one currently on the pink bike and confirming it's 144bcd I can hold off for a bit on that.

Doing some research on bar width - does anyone have some wisdom to share on this? The 38cm's I currently ride feel fine, but I do have narrow shoulders and wonder what kind of benefits riding 36cm Nitto's would give me.

[christian]

From http://www.bikefitting.com/English/Theory/Comfort.aspx

The handlebar-width should correspond with the width of the shoulders. Handlebars that are too wide automatically increase the frontal surface area of the cyclist and lead to loss of aerodynamic advantage. An additional drawback is that the cyclist will also show a sagging between the shoulder blades. In the long run, this will lead to complaints of the neck and shoulders. Contrary to common belief, handlebars that are too narrow will not result in loss of oxygen intake; however, narrow handlebars often lead to more nervous steering than wide handlebars and, hence, to loss of comfort.

I used the shoulder width plus 2cm to decide on bars for my road bike, but run bars that are my shoulder width on the track. It would be good if you could find some 36cm bars to try, there may be some in the some room at the track.

[mikesbytes]

At the end of the day, there's a degree of personal choice. I prefer the wider handlebars to gain greater leverage off, but I probably use my upper body more than most riders.

[orphic]

Thanks for the words of wisdom. You have all earned yourselves some non-redeemable brownie points.

[mikesbytes]

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