"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Worst bike you race on?

I race on a Caad7 frame, but need to save some bucks. I'm considering getting a used Caad3 or worse when my original frame finally craps out. That got me thinking, how low could I go?

What's the worst bike you've ridden in a mass start race? I'm talking within the last 5 years, not back in 1982. Anybody on 36 spokes? Downtube shifters? Headtube shifters? That new Wal-Mart road bike? The Wal-Mart mountain bike??

Myself, I've only raced the Cannondale, but I did see a guy do a crit on a single speed conversion. He got dropped so fast, it was ridiculous.

Its not whats between your legs, its whats IN your legs that counts in cycling. Whats between your legs only counts in porno flicks.

I went from a cat 4 to a cat 2 (back when there were only 4 cats) in one season on a Viscount Aerospace with Shimano components, when everyone looked down on you if you didn't have a full Campy Colnago, Ciocc, Guerciotti, etc. I would have made cat 1 but that year only National Team riders were cat 1s.

old trek 1000 with suntour componets. I did pretty well until I got my new Giant.

I raced through Cat 5 and into Cat 4 with a stock Trek 1000.

not exactly the *cheapest* but....first bike was a specialized allez comp and now i'm racing a stock mericer from bikesdirect. both bikes were $1300 new and are perfect for racing around here. good enough quality and not so expensive as to cry over if i ruin them in a crash. i'll probably never go above the mid priced ultergra bikes...just too much bang for the buck.

If Tim lets me draft behind him, I'll be racing a cat 5 race with a 35 lb giant ocr touring with full fenders and disc brakes.

2000 Allez, triple, all aluminum, sora,tiagra. Oooh baby, drool!! Actually, I really like my allez. I think my next bike will be another specialized. I upgraded to bontrager race wheelset on it, which helps the cool factor. I truely hated my Alex 22's.

I did a few cyclocross races (my first season about 3 years ago) on my 1983 nashbar touring bike with Suntour DT friction shifters. I upgraded to bar cons and a single ring and it made a big improvement. I went on to win the mens c winter series. It was a bit heavy but tough as nails.

That reminds me, a guy on our team did his first season of cyclocross on a hybrid. He's very strong, and we've since talked him into upgrading.

Rossin Quatro
What a P.O.S.
But for one season in 1987, it was the fastest bike I had.

Its not whats between your legs, its whats IN your legs that counts in cycling. Whats between your legs only counts in porno flicks.


Tell that to Hincapie.

2003 Allez Pro. Damn thing fell apart on me on lap 3 of my last race :( It's actually a good frame. Dunno what happened but the chain jumped the cogs, jammed down in-between the largest cog and the hub and stopped the back wheel immediately. Usually I race the S-works but it was in the shop.

I raced my 531c Raleigh back in 1992!:)

Anyway, I've recently raced on my Taiwanese Dedacciai 7003 thingy, and I don't even know what it is -- the shop I bought it from only had it as a display frame for their own decals. The guy who resprayed it for me reckons it's a Norco! :) All I know is that it's light enough and stiff enough, and I won't really care if it cracks coz it cost about $220 US.

I also still race on 32 and 28 hole Ultegra hubs, and I seem to be the only guy in Melbourne doing so.

I'm beginning to really believe that frames are overrated; as long as the weight and stiffness is ok, the bike will be fast enough with a good groupo and good wheels, and a good fork will do a lot for the handling. In other words, a generic alu frame should be good enough in most cases to race on with the right stuff on it.

When my Superprodigy was in for a minor repair last year, I put all the 9 & 10 speed Dura-Ace stuff, and the Columbus Muscle on my 531 Raleigh, and the bike was transformed!! I couldn't believe it.

Oh yeah, and I would've glady ridden on this cheapo 1999 Allez Comp -- believe it or not, it's one of the best frames I had till it cracked :(

http://vmartin.bigpondhosting.com/photos/specialized.jpg

My first race was on a Centurion LeMans with Bio-Pace chain rings.

'04 Giant TCR 1 alum. When the going gets tough, the tough gets transmitted to my balls through straight aluminum tubes.

One time when I was a weight-weenie and tech-geek, I did the last-minute build-up of my bike and just couldn't get the paint to dry on my frame quickly enough after having brazed on some lightweight shifter-bosses and drop-outs. But I needed a bike for the UCSB road-race the next day (and crit on Sun).

So I ended using my campus commuter bike for the races. It was one of those "MATTHEWS, top-of-the-hill Daly City" specials that I got for free when you buy a $100+ stereo system. Got the boom-box for the dorm and a bike for campus, great! It was a behemoth at 38lbs, all steel parts, although the rims were some sort of Araya alloy part. I had already taken off the MTB bars and put drop-bars on to make it more like a cross-bike. Just needed to swap the tyres off for some FatBoy slicks and put the 7-speed close-ratio freewheel from the road-bike on and that was it, we're set! Ended up getting 2nd in the road-race and pack-finish in the crit... but the cornering power in the crit was insane! I could scrape & drag pedals in just about all corners and the bike wouldn't even blink! Couldn't have done that on the road-bike. :)

'04 Giant TCR 1 alum. When the going gets tough, the tough gets transmitted to my balls through straight aluminum tubes.
:roflmao: :roflmao:

I also still race on 32 and 28 hole Ultegra hubs, and I seem to be the only guy in Melbourne doing so.


The horror! God knows that talking to some riders you need deep carbon rims to race C grade club crits.;) :D

The horror! God knows that talking to some riders you need deep carbon rims to race C grade club crits.;) :D you're not wrong!! The last race I did, which was a vets race, I spent half the time drooling over all the bikes and the wheels :D

Similar to 2Rodies, I first started racing on a Centurion Ironman with downtube shifters. Raced that thing all season and even at nationals, and took top three finishes in many local races. I became a weight weenie after that (not an ounce of steel on my next 2 bikes), but my finishes were actually worse. So as they said, it's not what's in between your legs.

Most of my bikes have "take-off" framesets, by the way. You can get a decent frame for less than $100 at a shop if you're not picky.

BTW, anyone else notice that the Cat 5 riders usually have the $3000-4000 bikes while the 1s and 2s are on simpler equipment with the goodies only where it counts? All I ever used to see in Cat 5 was Lightspeed titanium, Trek carbon, and high level steel boutique bikes with Spinergy, Specialized, and Zipp wheels, everything matching and bling. Then I would look at the 1s and 2s who were riding Cannondale or Specialized aluminum, older steel frames or locally custom built steel frames, painted simple solid colors, sometimes to match their team, with lightweight box rim tubulars or mismatched aero wheels.

BTW, anyone else notice that the Cat 5 riders usually have the $3000-4000 bikes while the 1s and 2s are on simpler equipment with the goodies only where it counts? All I ever used to see in Cat 5 was Lightspeed titanium, Trek carbon, and high level steel boutique bikes with Spinergy, Specialized, and Zipp wheels, everything matching and bling. Then I would look at the 1s and 2s who were riding Cannondale or Specialized aluminum, older steel frames or locally custom built steel frames, painted simple solid colors, sometimes to match their team, with lightweight box rim tubulars or mismatched aero wheels.
There seems to be an inverse relationship between price of wheelset and skill in cat5 races.

Only have one road bike, a cannondale caad8. I've been thinking about trying out a race on my mtn. bike with some slicks thrown onto it, just for kicks.

^ If you do, please post pics.

will do, just have to find a race flat enough to not have any fast downhills.

I'll be doing my first race of the season this Saturday on my Allez Sport. The triple. Hey, it's my only road bike. I did a modest upgrade on the wheels. And the engine - I've been doing a little work on that too. We'll see how it goes.

Similar to 2Rodies, I first started racing on a Centurion Ironman with downtube shifters. Raced that thing all season and even at nationals, and took top three finishes in many local races. I became a weight weenie after that (not an ounce of steel on my next 2 bikes), but my finishes were actually worse. So as they said, it's not what's in between your legs.

Most of my bikes have "take-off" framesets, by the way. You can get a decent frame for less than $100 at a shop if you're not picky.

BTW, anyone else notice that the Cat 5 riders usually have the $3000-4000 bikes while the 1s and 2s are on simpler equipment with the goodies only where it counts? All I ever used to see in Cat 5 was Lightspeed titanium, Trek carbon, and high level steel boutique bikes with Spinergy, Specialized, and Zipp wheels, everything matching and bling. Then I would look at the 1s and 2s who were riding Cannondale or Specialized aluminum, older steel frames or locally custom built steel frames, painted simple solid colors, sometimes to match their team, with lightweight box rim tubulars or mismatched aero wheels.

Yes. If you race, and you are not sponsored or minimally sponsored, you are traveling around the country with the bikes stashed in the trunk of your car, a buddy's car, a train, and it gets beat up real quick. Your bike does not live on an altar, primped, lit and prominently displayed in your home or office. Your bike lives in pieces when you are not riding it. You also crash regularly which again beats up your bike.

Eventually you look at your bike for what it is, a machine that you use as a tool for racing. Your focus is on the race, not the machine. Sure, you take care of it, but you are worried mostly about having good wheels, the right tires and good gears and not about some new carbon fiber water bottle cage that can save you 2 grams.

After a while, you really don't care what it looks like, you may just get it painted for the next season if it looks really ratty, no decals, why worry about decals, its likely in your next crash will bend or crack the frame and you have to throw it out anyway.

I'll be doing my first race of the season this Saturday on my Allez Sport. The triple. Hey, it's my only road bike. I did a modest upgrade on the wheels. And the engine - I've been doing a little work on that too. We'll see how it goes.

How did the race go?

How did the race go?
It went okay, thanks. See the Whitnall Park Criterium 4/5 thread. :)

Bump. Just watched the Dana Point Grand Prix and looking at all the bikes around, I didn't see one bike priced less than $3000.

I've got a 08 Madone 4.5 that I paid $1769 with 105/Ultegra. Would I get laughed at if I entered a cat 5?

To expand the scope of the thread, what is the worst bike you have seen in a race?

Bump. Just watched the Dana Point Grand Prix and looking at all the bikes around, I didn't see one bike priced less than $3000.

I've got a 08 Madone 4.5 that I paid $1769 with 105/Ultegra. Would I get laughed at if I entered a cat 5?

To expand the scope of the thread, what is the worst bike you have seen in a race?

Hi,

Your problem is the Dana Point Grand Prix was also the SoCal / Nevada Masters Criterium Championships. If you've been reading some of the threads in this forum, you know that us masters are pro wannabees who have more disposable income than cycling ability. Hence the plethora of high dollar machines. :rolleyes:

Remember, no matter how expensive the bike, you still have to pedal it. One of my fastest 40K TTs in the 1980s was on a regular road bike, a Basso, with straight gauge steel tubing and similar vintage Shimano 600 components. However, I did remove the front derailleur for that particular race. ;)

1983 steel road bike (160 on ebay, nice!) with barend shifters 36 spoke wheels, 28c tires and 46-36-26 chainrings... a bike designed for randonneuring. I took off the fenders, though.

Bump. Just watched the Dana Point Grand Prix and looking at all the bikes around, I didn't see one bike priced less than $3000.

I've got a 08 Madone 4.5 that I paid $1769 with 105/Ultegra. Would I get laughed at if I entered a cat 5?

To expand the scope of the thread, what is the worst bike you have seen in a race?

Go race. I race an '06 Trek 1500 with a triple, no one laughs at me.

2000 Allez, triple, all aluminum, sora,tiagra. Oooh baby, drool!! Actually, I really like my allez. I think my next bike will be another specialized. I upgraded to bontrager race wheelset on it, which helps the cool factor. I truely hated my Alex 22's.

Ditto. And while I upgraded components, I did do a p/1/2/3 race on that bike last year and took 4th (though admittedly I was in a break of 4).

I currently race exclusively on my late 80's Univega Gran Record. This was not a terribly fancy bike even when it was new - Shimano 105 in the 80's was definitely not as respectable as the modern group, and it's a pretty heavy steel frame for a racing bike, for all that it's triple-butted cro-mo. I have made some pretty major modifications: I upgraded from 6 to 7-speed, built a new wheelset and used Kelly Take-Offs to mount the shifters up near the brake levers instead of on the downtube. Still, I'm racing a 20 year-old, 23+ lb bicycle. Out of my 11 races so far this season, I've had five top ten or better results, along with two top 20's. So maybe I'm one of those lucky whew who would see a difference with a better result. Maybe. Anyway, I do intend to get a new race bike as soon as I can, but until then I'll keep trying to place well on my 'worst' bike.

All of my races this year have been on an all-aluminum Jamis that cost $400 new and sports a full Sora 2200 group. It's the same rig I'm going to use a for a 40k time trial in two weeks.

Hopefully one day that sponsorship will come through . .

I built a 1984 trek 760 frameset up with a centaur/veloce mix and shimano chain/cassette/wheelset. Bike is 21 lbs in race trim and arguably 'worse' than my CAAD9 as many here would say, but it's the only bike I've raced. I love it!

Got 3rd on it racing a crit at bethel and have had a lot of good times on it.

Here it is.

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w298/rtc247/Trekinracerig002.jpg

DannoXYZ wins!

I can't top him, but I did begin about 3 years ago on a steel Olmo from the 80's, 36-spoke wheels, and a Mirage 9 speed group. I never weighed "the stove" but I imagine it was up close to 30 lbs.

Up here it isn't so much the Cat 4/5's that are pimped up, but the Masters' races. My god, the rides!

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o220/Bring44/n36610224_32115045_8861-1.jpg



http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o220/Bring44/n2051168_46075304_5348.jpg
..^loaned to my favorite Korean ^...
He threw some cages on there and changed seat/seat post. Oh yeah, moved the shifters, changed the bar tape, and pretty much screwed up my fit on it. C'est la vie.

This is my "worst" and first road bike. I love it to death..

I raced through Cat 5 and into Cat 4 with a stock Trek 1000.

Thank you for posting that. I have a trek 1000 with clipless pedals(just a step above stock :) ) I love the bike a lot but if I ever test ride something better my future trek rides won't be as enjoyable I'm sure.

CAAD 5 frame (close-out from GVH Bikes for $195.00)
Ultegra 9-speed
Mavic OP wheels.

Have since upgraded to Ultegra 10-speed and Zipp 404s. But that ole CAAD 5 frame is still going strong. 3 podiums in 11 races so far this season.

Bob

My son broke the frame on his Felt F55 just before the first race of the season. In the 5 weeks spent resloving the warranty issue and upgrading to a F1 frame he used my old 1999 CAAD 3 with 105's to race and train. The paint is blistering on the frame and the top tube has about 20% of bare aluminum showing. Guys on our team were joking about why the paint was coming off the frame. I told them it might be from the season I spent learning to "pee" while riding or when I "breathe fire" while in the drops. He did put his William's Wheels on the bike and in 5 races took 3 first and 2 seconds. He rode his new rig in a Crit in Columbus over the weekend and now has 2nd thoughts about riding the F1 in such close quarters and realizes how devasting a wreck would be to his pocketbook. I think the 'ole Cdale' will still be entering a few races.:D

This is my crit/training bike, Record/Centaur mix FSA SRM, race wheels Bontrager Aero X Lites Tubulars. My RR/Climbing bike is a LOOK 595 with '07 Record/FSA SRM race wheels Reynolds KOM Tubulars


http://usera.imagecave.com/bikemike/orbside.jpg

1993 Cannondale 2.8 w/8spd Ultegra on Mavic OP rims with Ultegra hubs.

http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/3126/cdaleta1.jpg

I did a crit last year on my 12 speed Panasonic dx2000, including downtube shifters. It was my first race, but I had done some fast group rides before. The course was pan flat, so I was able to hang with the pack without any problems, and ended up right in the middle of the pack. On a hillier course, the weight of the bike starts playing more of a role, but it's really the legs that count.

OP here. Since I started this thread two years ago, I actually did crash my CAAD 7 and ended up buying a used 2001 CAAD 6 off ebay. I guess it's an upgrade though, since the CAAD 6 came with those awesome proprietary ultra-stiff cranks. Everything else I buy on the bike I'm downgrading to Nashbar brand, like the stem, bars, seatpost, pedals.

If you want to see a real range of bikes, go to a track race. Some guys are on the $400 bikesdirect special, while others have the Cervelo with the $5k Mavic wheelset. Madness.

http://users.ox.ac.uk/~mans1210/photos/extras/mybike2.jpg

Tiagra/105/RX100 mix, Reynolds 531 steel frame. The only bike I've ridden in a mass-start race.

For amusement and contrast, my TT bike is a Specialized S-Works Transition. :)

This bike now has the Ksyrium Equipes that came on the Transition - one of those wheels is worth more than the rest of the bike! Also different saddle. Still has a yellow front tyre.

Shortly after buying it (for £50!), I raced it with 7-speed downtube shifters in a time trial - the first competitive cycling activity I'd ever done. I've built it up myself since then - great learn-all-about-bikes project, with a great deal of help from the good denizens of BF.

If you want to see a real range of bikes, go to a track race. Some guys are on the $400 bikesdirect special, while others have the Cervelo with the $5k Mavic wheelset. Madness.

Very true - or even Dad's 1980 track bike / hipster fixie.