On paper, Shanghai looks remarkably like Izu.
Both tracks are around 7.5 metres wide and reach 45 degrees in the bends, giving teams with Tokyo 2020 experience an obvious starting point. The comparison becomes less convincing once the radius is considered. Shanghai is quoted at 20 metres, whereas Paris uses a constant 23-metre radius and reaches 43 degrees.
Shanghai therefore combines substantial banking with a noticeably tighter bend.
Its designers also describe a track that does not follow a conventional symmetrical oval. The outer sections of the bends become wider and steeper, producing two pronounced high points through the transitions.
That profile is likely to define Shanghai more than the headline 45-degree figure. What matters at race speed is how the curvature develops, how quickly the bicycle is taken into the bend and how cleanly the track releases back towards the straight. Research into velodrome geometry confirms that these changes influence steering, roll, acceleration and power demand.
Izu is the closest dimensional reference, but probably not the best guide to how Shanghai will feel.
Glasgow offers a more useful comparison in that respect. It is often regarded as a slightly strange velodrome to ride, with long straights feeding into very tight turns, steep banking and relatively harsh transitions between the two.
Shanghai should not be described as another Glasgow without the complete transition geometry, but its 20-metre radius points towards some of the same characteristics. Compared with a more open track such as Paris, the change from straight to bend should be a more significant part of how Shanghai rides.
That transition is one of the first things teams will need to establish at race speed: how quickly the banking develops underneath the rider and, more importantly, how cleanly speed can be carried through it.
For sprint, Konya provides another clue.
Konya is wider at eight metres and marginally steeper at 45.5 degrees. Matthew Richardson found that its width and banking allowed enormous speed to be generated high on the track, but the transition out of the bend became a technical problem at more than 70km/h. The track effectively fell away beneath him, forcing changes to the trajectory.
The relevance to Shanghai is not Konya's altitude but the relationship between height and transition. A high, steep banking can help create speed while making the exit from it harder to manage.
Shanghai's maximum banking is almost identical, and its designers' description of higher, steeper outer sections suggests that sprinters will need to establish how much of that height is genuinely usable. An aggressive descent from the high point is of little value if it leaves the rider badly positioned through the following transition.
The recent five-metre movement of Shanghai's finish line adds to that work. The line was moved to provide the required 15 metres from the centre line, forcing the competition markings to be recalibrated around the circuit. The flying-200 sector consequently sits differently against Shanghai's transition geometry, another reason to establish the trajectory on the finished Worlds layout rather than rely on previous track data.
For team sprint and the kilo, the 20-metre radius is likely to matter more than the available height. Riders repeatedly cross the same bends and transitions at very high speed, so any pronounced change in curvature or banking returns every half lap.
Glasgow demonstrates that tight turns and aggressive transitions do not automatically make a track slow. The issue is whether riders can carry speed through them without unnecessary steering, cadence disruption or line correction.
For pursuit, the question is how cleanly the lower line carries through Shanghai's transitions. Any steering or speed correction is repeated across 16 laps, making repeatability more important than the maximum banking figure itself.
These are more useful questions than trying to decide in advance whether Shanghai is simply a "fast track".
The World Championships will effectively provide the first serious international test of this version of the velodrome. The surface has been repaired and sanded, the markings recalibrated and the finish moved, while the measuring line has been checked again around the complete lap. Temperature and humidity have also been kept stable during the work to protect the timber.
Shanghai has hosted domestic racing, but there is little elite international evidence from which to judge it. Previous performances were recorded before the current work and on a slightly different competition layout.
Most teams will therefore arrive with geometry, rider experience and data from other velodromes rather than a meaningful body of Shanghai results.
Taken together, those comparisons point towards a track that looks Izu-like on the specification sheet but should be prepared for as something tighter and more transition-sensitive.
The first training sessions should quickly establish whether the high line works as expected, how aggressively riders can cross the transitions and whether the lower line remains clean and repeatable at race pace.
For many programmes, almost everything else in October will already be familiar.
The track underneath them will not be.