On Jun 26, 9:11*pm, "David L. Johnson"
wrote:
landotter wrote:
It has very "twitchy" steering when I'm in a descending tight corner.
I tend to oversteer in those situations. *

Well, don't do that...

The bike feels like it pulls
into the turn to a point where I'm about to loose control.

To compare I have a Trek 5200 (new in 2000, 60cm frame) that I use the
same wheels on and has almost the same fit. *The only major difference
I can find with my tape measure is the IF has 42cm handlebars while the
Trek has 44cm. *I never notice my cornering problem when I'm on the
Trek.

Anyone have opinions on how I can "smooth out" (or slow down, or make
it less responsive) the high speed cornering on the IF bike? *

I think that you will become accustomed to the way the IF bike handles.
* Think about what you are asking. *Why would you want a bike which is
_less_ responsive? *Ride it for a while, and see if you become more
comfortable with it.

Track bikes have less trail usually and are inherently less stable
because they're meant to be ridden differently than road bikes.

BS. *Track bikes have shorter fork rake, thus more trail, than road
bikes. *But they also do not handle badly just because they are track
bikes. *My track bike has always been the best-handling bike I ever
owned. *I can ride it for long periods no hands, and it is as responsive
as any bike can be.

But this nonsense of track bikes being ridden "differently" than road
bikes. *How different? *Why would you want poorer handling with a track
bike? *You wouldn't.


Track bikes have less trail because of the steeper head angle, thus
needing less rake or offset to dial in the trail.I've had a bike with
very quick handling from a really curvy fork with tons of rake--which
isn't poor handling--but it can feel "nervous" to someone that's not
used to it. It's supposedly good for when you're doing a lot of
standing and muscling around and want very little caster effect, and
just want point and squirt. My setup was said to be more "crit" from a
guy that was more expert than I am--but still in the same idea of
close quarters riding of laps on a circuit, but with a bike that has
gears and brakes.

At any rate, my current fixed gear is set up as classic as a road bike
can get with 72.5 angles, etc--and it's a different creature
altogether. It feels slower, but a lot more secure due to the longer
trail. On long sweeps you can really just pick a line instead of
feeling like you're being sucked down like with a shorter trail bike
that demands to be steered.