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One optional item on a track bike that has no analogue on a road bike is called a chain tensioner. If you tend to have problems with your wheel slipping forward in the rear dropouts, it will solve that problem. This problem would tend to arise on standing starts (chariot races, time trials, match sprint), where the effort you put into the pedals has the effect of pulling the right side of the rear axle forward, and you “pull a wheel”. This stops the bike dead, and you fall over, and you look silly. It’s embarrassing, and incredibly frustrating. The problem of pulling a wheel is most likely to arise if your rear dropouts are shiny or too rigid. Because the grip of the rear axle bolts into the rear dropout is the only thing keeping the wheel in place, the best bolts are big and grippy, and the best dropouts are of a somewhat softer metal, and painted – it grips better than chrome. That said, if you have a wheel/dropout combination that doesn’t seem to hold very well, just cranking down on the right-side axle bolt will eventually cause you to strip the axle threads, the bolt faces, or both. Don’t do that. Just get a little device called a chain tensioner, and you’ll be all set. You can’t pull a wheel with a chain tensioner on. It also may make it a little easier in general to get the right chain tension and wheel position when you’re switching gears.
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