zzzwillzzz

if you total your frame (highly unlikely), just buy a scattante frame and fork at performance for $200. at least you'll have something to ride for a while

txvintage

That or one of the Bike Island Motobecanes for $274 shipped to your door. Just add parts.

carpediemracing 

It's a good point. Usually, in tight situations, the riders afraid of the group naturally drift back. If I know someone's a bit sketchy, I just get cozy with them in the field. In 2-3 laps they're closer to the back than I am, and usually unwilling to move up.

The folks I'm afraid of are the ones that have no idea what they're doing but they think they do. They won't back off and get themselves into serious trouble. For those riders I tend to stay either slightly in front of them (say they're 4 rows to my left, I try and hang out 1/4 bike length in front). This way, when they cause a huge stack up, the domino effect will hit my rear wheel. That's fine, versus my front wheel or bars or frame, which is not fine.

I'll also ride at the back, this in crits with free lap rules in effect. I figure I can avoid the crash given enough time/space. Not ideal, but I'm not strong enough to stay at the front, so this is the other alternative. Given enough space I can navigate around all but the biggest crashes without losing contact with the field.

cdr

San Rensho 

Then don't do it. It seems to me you really don't have the desire to race anyway, that you are more a bike parts geek. Theres nothing wrong with liking high end bikes and parts for the engineering marvels they are. Don't feel obligated to race just because you have a race bike.

mobike_moexcite

I thought I had the same problem a few months ago, I just bought a carbon bike two days before the race that weekend. I decided to break the new one in instead of racing my old schwinn for that race. And break it in I did... I went down on the 3rd or 4th lap of a crit and I wasn't sure if I should check the bike or my body first. I was fine and so was the bike just a scratched up r. der. and right brifter(which by the way makes for terrible shifting performance). Frame damage is unlikely and I AM glad I raced it. Go for it.

Bobby Lex

The line of guys who are afraid to race crits, on carbon bikes orotherwise, is very, very long.

...but so is the line of guys who are afraid to race at all.

...and the line of guys who are afraid to ride in the rain.

...and the line of guys who are afraid to ride in packs.

...and the line of guys who are afraid to ride on open roads.

...and on and on and on.

Do you want us to tell you not to be afraid?

Bob

Racer Ex 

I was going to say the same thing. I wish you didn't have a personal example.

I'll add that I've raced/trained the bejesus out of carbon stuff for years and have only replaced one frame 5 years ago after a nasty crash.

hammy56

Tool.




The bike I mean.

grolby

I broke a steel frame in a road race last year. The frame was probably rideable (large-ish dent on top of the top tube), but why take chances? My sample size is pretty small, but I haven't so much as crashed in a crit yet.

But that's just the stupid anecdotal stuff. Broadly speaking, you are probably no more likely to wreck a bike in a crit than any other type of race. This is not the sort of thing that scientific data exists on, unfortunately, but chances of your frame buying it are pretty small, and lots of the kinds of crashes that would wreck a carbon frame would wreck any other frame. The tubes are more vulnerable to crushing, but that's about it. The parts likely to get damaged are basically shifters, handlebars, wheels, derailers. After that, forks, and then everything else is way down the list. If you're that scared, than you shouldn't race, but I would worry less about the bike and more about the other things that crop up in racing.

zzzwillzzz

grolby's answer should be cut and pasted into any further thread that comes up about this as soon as it's asked since it comes up every 4-6 weeks or so it seems.