I have had three training sessions with Repsych Training and Development recently on Chandler Velodrome and wondered how steep the banking angle really was. The velodrome banking angle is quite deceptive because of the curve of the track. From the grandstands, it appears quite shallow banking; when you are riding around the top of the banking, it appears very steep!

Track statistics on the internet are scarce. About the only (semi)-reliable source I could find was a one line reference in a table in Wikipedia which indicates that the banking angle is 31 degrees at the corners. With a 333.33 metre outdoor track, this seemed about right.

However, estimates in conversation referenced 42 degrees for the velodrome banking! It certainly feels like 42 degrees when you are riding around the top of the bank at slow speed!

I set out to measure, as accurately and easily as I could, the angle of the Chandler Velodrome banking. I downloaded an app for my phone and, at the end of a training session when other people were practicing track stands, I got out my phone and laid it on the track.

So how steep is the banking on Chandler Velodrome? Along the straights, I measured an angle of around 8 or 9 degrees. On the banking, I measured an angle of 28 or 29 degrees. (Why the inaccuracy? The track surface is not perfect and my phone app measurement was flicking between 8 and 9 degrees on the straight, and 28 or 29 degrees on the bank.)

In terms of international standard velodromes, this is fairly typical for 333 metre outdoor tracks. Indoor 250 metre tracks tend to be around 42 degrees, with some even steeper!

Wall of death? It is not actually. I measured the banking angle of Chandler Velodrome at only 28 or 29 degrees.

Chandler Velodrome still looks steep from this angle, but I measured it at only 28 or 29 degrees.

From this angle, the Chandler Velodrome banking looks a gentle slope and my measured angle of 28 or 29 degrees seems correct.