Vinylisbest

Hello All,

So this hipster (if I admit it, its not so bad, right?) wants to make the jump from fixed gear commuting/alleycat racing to doing a little cat 5 just-finish-the-race road cycling. I tried track racing, but that oval gets boring pretty quick.

Now, I don't have a road bike and therein lies my question. Instead of dropping a bunch of money on a new bike for road racing that I don't know if I'll love, I want to build up a classic lightweight steel frame (70's or 80's) with relatively new components. My LBS says this isn't a problem aside from long reach brakes and seat stay spacing.

Is this a bad idea for a person getting into road racing? These frames worked for a long time back in the day, why not today? I just figure if I didn't like racing then I'd still have a sweet classic bike to ride around. If I did like racing, I could upgrade later

Any opinions?

Thanks

waterrockets 

This probably belongs in the vintage forum, regarding specifics of using an older frame, so post there for those questions.

Regarding the racing, yeah, any road bike that works well is going to be fine to get your racing career going. An old steel bike won't hold you back much on flat courses until maybe the P/1/2 level racing, and probably not much there either.

waterrockets 

This probably belongs in the vintage forum, regarding specifics of using an older frame, so post there for those questions.

Regarding the racing, yeah, any road bike that works well is going to be fine to get your racing career going. An old steel bike won't hold you back much on flat courses until maybe the P/1/2 level racing, and probably not much there either.

Hida Yanra

possible - yes.
Various people on this forum including me have raced steel bikes with no problems at all.

If you get a groupset with integrated shifters/brake levers and keep it adjusted correctly - you'll be just fine.
The legs are the issue, the bike isn't.

Best of luck!

ZeCanon

You sound a lot like a buddy of mine: https://bikefag.wordpress.com/

Read through it, you might get some ideas. Or shoot him a message. He's stuck between that interesting hipster world and the bike racer world.

umd

I just spent a lot of time there... interesting blog.

GirlAnachronism

Agreed, as long as it works, just about any bike will get you started.

Fair warning though--this sport is crazy addicting and you might be surprised at how much you love it. Your story fits my own cycling history exactly (hipster d-bag running around the city on a fixed gear, spent a little time at the track, eventually picked up a cheapish road bike).

I bought my road bike to get into shape for the track, and literally have not ridden my track bikes even once since I discovered the joys of having gears. Then I thought I'd just try out a few local races here and there to see if it was any fun, and have raced every single weekend since that first one and am now certifiably addicted.

Welcome, and enjoy your new brakes and gears

ZeCanon

Yeah he's a cool guy. Former smoker (among other things), now completely clean. Got into riding with the CSU team. Stopped smoking that February (a few years ago), and won his first C race at the very end of the same season.

Great writer too.

Vinylisbest

Thanks for the responses guys. I read bikefags blog. Funny, I used to grow up in Lawrence, KS. So I know those hills that Sam kid is talking about.

Well, thanks for not laughing at me. I'll see what the bank has in store (i.e. how much my wife will let me spend on yet another bike) and start reading up on race rules and such.

acorn_user

I think your plan is a good one. Btw, not all older racing frames had long reach brakes, quite a few were short reach. If you are planning on changing the brakes, you do need to check the front fork to see whether it accepts a recessed allen nut or a bolt.

I race a mid-80's Marinoni with more modern parts last summer and loved it. Unfortunately, I had to give it back, otherwise I would still be racing it. Superb bike!

(p.s. search ebay for Columbus SL and SLX as a quick way of finding nice frames)

Vinylisbest

What do you guys think about these carbon/aluminum lugged composit frames. I've actually seen a few, even complete bikes, for around 500 on Ebay. Were they just a precursor to full carbon frames?

Grumpy McTrumpy

there was a kid racing KSR in the P12 who rode an IF steel frame. No problem racing.

jfmckenna

The thing is you may find it actually more expensive to take this route rather then just getting an entry level package. I took that route and bought a cheap Leader bike to learn on. After that frame was toasted I got a new one and moved the parts and wheels over to the new frame and went further to putting those parts on a cross bike.

So you may want to look into it. I'm one that likes to keep the vintage vintage though. And there is nothing wrong with racing a vintage bike as is either.

Frunkin

The great Sheldeeny isn't racing anymore? Thats kind of a bummer.

Hida Yanra

you know, they seem to work just fine.
I'm racing one right now, and i have another one in the basement to build up if this one dies.

i have no complaints.

Hida Yanra

at the moment my stable looks like:

2005 Raleigh Prestige (carbon w/ alum lugs, carbon cannondale premium fork, 9s - Great bike, races just fine)
2010 Raleigh Record Ace (Steel w/ lugs, steel fork, 9s - another great bike, races quite well)

unbuilt framesets:
2005 Raleigh Prestige (carbon w/ alum lugs, carbon specialized premium fork - in case the first one dies in a wreck)

previous to this, I raced a low-end aluminum Specialized Allez - the important part isn't what the bike is made of, it is what your legs are made of. If you want to race on an older steel bike, an older alum bike, a bonded bike.... whatever...
get started racing, everything else will sort itself out.
I don't know about where you are, but around here you can get a fully functional 9s groupset for under 300, PM me if you are having trouble getting a build off the ground, I may be able to help.

ericm979

If you find a deal on an 80s steel frame and parts, that would be fine. Old stuff is certainly raceable. But modern bikes have better (dual pivot) brakes and integrated shifters. The brakes work better (so your hands don't hurt on long twisty descents) and the shifters mean you don't have to take a hand off the bars to shift. That's beneficial in a tight pack and on twisty roads.

If you can find a cheap road bike (aluminium and crabon is fine, as is all aluminium) that would arguably make for a better racing bike and a better training bike as you could spend less time wrenching and more time riding.

unterhausen

you can occasionally find a deal on an old racing bike. Collectors are starting to drive up prices though. New parts will generally fit right on them, at least my 1980 racing bike fit all new parts with only a small tug on the chainstays to go from 126 spacing to 130. Newer bikes are a little lighter, probably will not make much difference in your early racing. As others have said, you might be better off with a new bike, my LBS had a very raceable aluminum bike for around $700 on clearance.

mike868y

As long as it fits, and functions well and isn't more than 25lbs, the bike is really very important in races. I've beaten guys on nicer bikes, but I've also been beaten by guys on POS bikes. The biggest thing is that it is functionally sound.

Vinylisbest

What About the Specialized Allez Steel? New, Steel, modern components (Shimano 2300). It would at least get me racing out of my fixed gear, and if I didn't like racing, I didn't drop much and have a fun steel road bike to run around.

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/...45678&eid=4350

Anybody had experience with this bike?

Hida Yanra

yep - that's a perfectly decent bike... the geometry is good and i've heard good things about it.
again - basically anything will work for this.

Vinylisbest

Thanks for all the replies guys. Sounds like the allez steel just might be my ride!

jfmckenna

I never buy that argument. Don't you eat and drink in the field? That's far more dangerous then a quick shift. Don't get me wrong I love STI but I've raced on DT's just fine and I still see people today occasionally out there with them.

ericm979

I raced with DT shifters back in the day. I practiced at it until I was really good at it- I could make lightning fast shifts and double shift the front and rear at the same time.

Integrated shifters are way better. Yes, like I pointed out earlier, you can race with DT shifters, but with integrated shifters you spend less thought on shifting, planning your shifts and deciding what gear to be in and more on racing.