Grass track racer geometry?

[GSmith]

Does anyone have any historical reference for grass track racer geo? Any help is much appreciated.

[GSmith]

I'm trying to get some beta to build an authentic grass track racer and the QBP minimum gets more action? Anyone?

[e-RICHIE]

I'm trying to get some beta to build an authentic grass track racer and the QBP minimum gets more action? Anyone?

grass track racing is/was a niche of a niche in the uk, and as fringe
as cycle speedway (look it up atmo), and granville sydney in the
national hill climb championships. what do you wanna do? recreate
that scene? appropriate it? start from scratch? i ride my 08 'cross
bicycle on grass every day and there is no special stuff or technique
involved in doing this on an oval. one prolly doesn't even need to tape
the tubies on through every third spoke pairing to keep the tyre from
rolling. that was old school to beat the band. i spelled tyre the british
way to show the enormous value my mom got in return for sending me
to the finest schools atmo.

[Dave Kirk]

Hey Gary,

I'd contact Ben Serotta. He rode grass track a bit and when I first met him he had a banked grass track going around his barn. I never got to ride it. I'll bet it's still there and whoever lives there now must wonder what the hell it's all about.

dave

[Eric Estlund]

My understanding was that grass track bikes were just track bikes ridden in a field. The one I built used steep angles, medium high BB and was stretched slightly to fit non-track specific tires.

If I were to do it again, and I was not just building a re-creation, I think I'd just opt to build around the rider like any other build.


Were/ are there many (any?) grass track specific frames produced?

[e-RICHIE]

Were/ are there many (any?) grass track specific frames produced?

no - the only real mod was the tape around the tires to resist rolling forces atmo.

[GSmith]

grass track racing is/was a niche of a niche in the uk, and as fringe
as cycle speedway (look it up atmo), and granville sydney in the
national hill climb championships. what do you wanna do? recreate
that scene? appropriate it? start from scratch? i ride my 08 'cross
bicycle on grass every day and there is no special stuff or technique
involved in doing this on an oval. one prolly doesn't even need to tape
the tubies on through every third spoke pairing to keep the tyre from
rolling. that was old school to beat the band. i spelled tyre the british
way to show the enormous value my mom got in return for sending me
to the finest schools atmo.

You're old, but not that old. I believe that the grass track scene was a bit more than niche in the UK prior to your time there. Looks like a pretty robust club scene prior to and after WWII.

Looking at old photos, catalogs, etc., what I can see is long, slack, higher BB's, extreme fork rake, and lots of tire clearance. They look like modern CX and hard track love children. I was looking for any specific knowledge of angles, build details etc..

Why? I'm bored and want to create a grass track hipster scene here in New Hammy. Imagine the possibilities of northern rednecks in skinny jeans on retro-vintage-machines hitting the hayfield circuit... it's gonna be huge!

[e-RICHIE]

Why? I'm bored and want to create a grass track hipster scene here in New Hammy. Imagine the possibilities of northern rednecks in skinny jeans on retro-vintage-machines hitting the hayfield circuit... it's gonna be huge!

can you get candy ti pedals to match timberlands atmo?

[atmo]

grass track racers reunion -

[Too Tall]

Where is the love Smith? I told you about that now drop and gimme 10!!! hehe.

FWIIW A few yrs. back someone sent me some youtube links of grass track racing in Jamaica(?) where apparently it is still going on. A few of us actually talked about this as a reality and costs were < $10 if the land was free...it involved lots of dirt, an engineer to design it properly and dirt stabilization products so that the thing won't wash away in the first rainstorm ;)

It is a great idea G.S.

[Tom Kellogg]

there were a number of grass track races going on. Phil Petric who had been quite a track and roller racer in his day got a series going. This was in the days just before the Trexlertown Velodrome got built. Ironically, the "New" velo killed the grass track scene.

[marten]

Does anyone have any historical reference for grass track racer geo? Any help is much appreciated.

try here:
http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk

and then do a search on 'grass'

[GSmith]

try here:
http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk

and then do a search on 'grass'

Thanks! Good stuff in there. I'll also be mining the UK Lightweight catalog reprints from Heine's site based on another Salonista tip.

[shand]

we're in the middle of the Highland games season over here in Scotland right now where grass track is still pretty popular. No banked curves here though!

Craig Hardie is a local racer (and shop owner) and has some good pics on his site here:http://craig-hardie.blogspot.com/.

Cheers

[suspectdevice]

I'm all for Speedway... Drifting is always better than... well, anything.

It has to be the most fun you can have with your wheels on the ground.