eskimo85

Hey der,

I'm moving to chicago in month and am looking for a team for next year. I am a cat 3, hopefully will be moving up mid next year. Are there any teams that would be good for a cat 3, maybe even offer some benefits? I'll be in the north burbs, thanks in advance.

plobby

https://www.chicagobikeracing.com/index.php/teams

take your pick

Duke of Kent

Get-a-Grip
VitaminWater/Trek
ABD
XXX
Flatlandia
Killjoy
Team MACK
Half Acre
Pegasus
Project 5
Turin
VisionQuest

I'd recommend Get-a-Grip, ABD, Project5 and VitaminWater/Trek for a guy looking to race in the 3s, personally. If you're looking to upgrade to and race with the Cat1/2 guys, ABD is the best bet. Great mixture of old and young guys who get along really well, and help each other out. Not to mention, we win more races at the Pro/1/2 level than all the rest of those teams combined. Literally.

And yes, that is shameless promotion for my team. We're one of the largest, if not the largest team in the Chicago area. We put on great events and lots of them; if you volunteer at our races you race for free. The Winfield Weekend is one of the best events in Chicago; two great crit courses in residential settings.

CrimsonKarter21

I've raced and chatted with a few riders from XXX Athletico and from what I know, they're a pretty solid team and seem to get results in the regional level.

eskimo85

ive been looking into vision quest and have heard good things about abd so ill check them out. don't know much about any of those other teams but will look into them, thanks fro the info.

Psimet2001 

All great teams. ABD is located in the far burbs though...Winfield/Batavia. Might be a stretch for our poster.

No complaints about ABD except that there are too many in the lower ranks, but the Geargrinder side is A1.

Again...didn't realize your were ABD, but I ride quite often with James Sneddon (who we call alien2) who is a 3 from ABD. We do the Penny Rd pub ride out of Barrington every Tuesday.

My team is mostly 1/2/3 (except for my sorry ass and a few others). Bicycle Heaven. Again in the far burbs.

There are a lot of great teams downtown.

xXx - I have liked a lot of their guys, but they seem pretty focused on the guys in the lower ranks. They have plenty of guys at 3 or higher, but it just seems that their focus is 4/5 so it might not be what you are looking for. IMHO.

Really can't say anything bad about any of the ones listed. Then again I wouldn't say anything if I didn't like one of them.

Duke of Kent

Well, I was wearing my ABD/GG skinsuit when I was talking to Ara after the race Sunday...

I guess I might have changed and talked to him again after that, though.

The club is ABD, our primary non-club sponsor is GG. Gear Grinder itself is another team in WI sponsored by the same guy; but we're not GG. We (the elite/PD team) are ABD/GG. Sure, it's a lame technicality, but they ARE different, and it needed to be clarified.

Psimet2001 

- man I wasn't paying attention. I was in pre-race mode. Nervous chatter...missing details...

heading out to the Tuesday Night Cross ride out of Bicycle Heaven right now....you going??

Duke of Kent

Ara invited me out, but I'm too lazy. That, and traffic on Rt. 64 is a mother f*cker, man.

eskimo85

thanks for all the tips, ill pursue a couple and see what happens.

Duke of Kent

I'd do it quickly.

I know that several of them are putting in their first clothing order VERY soon.

ABDs clothing orders, for example, are due this Saturday, I believe. They have another one later on this winter, though, and clothing will get here 4-6 weeks after that one happens.

They'll have plenty of spares, though. Not sure if that will be the case with other teams in the area.

Psimet2001 

Good point....I know some of the teams have already had their recruitment activities as well...