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One of the items you won’t find on a road bike is a lock-ring that prevents the rear cog from loosening up as you put back-pressure on the pedals. Given that back-pressure is your only “brake”, it would seem that the lock-ring is pretty important. And in some cases, it probably is. As one person told me, if you had a problem and caused a crash, and the race official saw that you didn’t have a lock-ring on the rear wheel, you might be in trouble. And it doesn’t hurt to have a lock-ring on there; it just takes a little longer to change the rear cog. Having said all that, track racers rarely use lock-rings. Once a cog has been tightened onto the rear wheel (a few hard pedal strokes will ensure that), experienced riders seem to figure that it won’t loosen up. So, if you’re wondering whether to use a lock-ring, use one.
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