"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Anatomy of a Criterium Bicycle 101

I'm curious what constitutes a pure criterium racing bicycle, if you were to build one exclusively for crits?

Tighter geometry, super-light wheels (or super-light bicycle in general), all metal construction considering the higher number of crashs in crits?

Or is standard road-bike the way to go?

Even though I have no clue in terms of experience.

My best guess would be first and foremost, a bike you are comfortable on and know how to handle.

After that, I have no clue.

Crit bikes have steep seat and head tube angles, usually 74º-72º in the seat tube, and 73º-74º on the head tube, it's also got a smaller rake on the fork, maybe 43mm or 41mm.
The bottom bracket area and head tube area are reinforced with extra carbon or different shaped aluminum. They ride a lot stiffer than your average bike, and you might not want to ride it for a century.
The wheels are light, but more importantly aerodynamic for when you break away, you want to save watts of power while being fast. They also need to be incredibly stiff so all of your power gets through to the road during a sprint or break.
Most crit bikes aren't spectacularly light, stiff ness is more important.
Also, if you crash in a criterium, chances are, you're replacing your bike.


And yes, and bike, bar a TT bike or USAC illegal bike is suitable for a criterium.

Also, if you crash in a criterium, chances are, you're replacing your bike.

I've got at least 4 crit crashes on my all-carbon bike. Still going strong.

+1 The idea that a steel bike will be more durable in a crash is wrong.

Get a bike with the geometry described by Crimson above. And then practice the skills that are required in a Crit: intervals, cornering. Learn to adjust in corners without panicking, learn to read a race so you can anticipate when a crash might occur. (And don't simply say "stay at the front". That's not realistic.)

People have specific crit bikes?

Are you new here?
We have....
rain bikes
road bikes
climbing bikes
track bikes
'cross bikes
dirt road bikes
cruisers
mountain bikes (several sub-categories thereof)
fixed gear
single speed
and bikes that we never ride but never get rid of because they carry sentimental value.

Yes, we have crit-specific bikes.

You can't forget about "the rain-race bike" or the "commuter bike"

strong motor that can accelerate quickly.

XC Bike, DH Bike, All Mountain Bike, the rain XC Bike, the pratice DH bike.

Yup, that's why I only do XC MTB stuff... And I don't have a rain bike.

How can you two forget the TT bike

I think of a crit bike as the same dimensions as my road bike(can hop on it and feel the same as far as reach/saddle height etc.) stiff frame and more durable components like aluminum shift levers instead of carbon and a frame that is cheaper to replace

Crit bike = $2K Carbon Wheels that will make you cry if/when you get crashed out. Or atleast that seems to be the trend up here in NorCal. :rolleyes:

Crit bike = $2K Carbon Wheels that will make you cry if/when you get crashed out. Or atleast that seems to be the trend up here in NorCal. :rolleyes:

404's are pretty much standard equipment if you're a cat-4 in Florida.

Freudian slip to forget the TT bike.

Do any companies market a crit-specific bike these days? I think some manufacturers did back in the 80's, but I haven't seen any around recently.

Back then they had high BB's to increase pedaling clearance and short wheelbases.

A Cannondale CAAD 5/6/7/8/9, along with their crash replacement program, is hard to beat for a crit bike IMHO.

Another thought based on recent experience - a replaceable derailleur hanger is an important feature on a crit bike.

A Cannondale CAAD 5/6/7/8/9, along with their crash replacement program, is hard to beat for a crit bike IMHO.
I'd agree. Super stiff, around 1300g for the frame, cost a lot less than a Pinarello and looks good. Though I've never seen a Cadd 6 before for some reason. Pre-dating the CAAD series was the Criterium series, I actually have one with full 105 and everything, sweet ride.

And for those of you who talk about wheels like whoever has the best wins, I race and train on a set of Fulcrum 5 Evo's. They're North of 1800g, and wind up slowly, but I can school guys on 404's and 606's.

Crit racing is about the engine and a big starter helps even more.

Seems like a crit bike is basically a track bike with a rear-derailleur hanger and all the appropriate braze-ons.

I have an aluminum GT Strike road bike (triple-triangle; teeth-chattering stiff) that may fit the bill. Too bad the TIG welding is absolutely fugly beyond belief, I may have to take a file to them.

A Cannondale CAAD 5/6/7/8/9, along with their crash replacement program, is hard to beat for a crit bike IMHO.

whats the crash replacement program? on the cdale site, it says that the warranty is only for manufacturer defects

At my dealer, you trade-in your crashed frame, and get 50% off on a new one.

It's a crappy plan where if you crash, you can get a little bit of money off of a new frameset, which Cannondale thinks is worth $1000. You can get a new one on Ebay for 60% of that.



At my dealer, you trade-in your crashed frame, and get 50% off on a new one.
No way, 50% off would mean that the dealer is losing money. Dead cost isn't even half not even if you're a platinum dealer. So unless you're LBS is owned by the nicest guy in the world, then I think you've been misinformed.

And for those of you who talk about wheels like whoever has the best wins, I race and train on a set of Fulcrum 5 Evo's. They're North of 1800g, and wind up slowly, but I can school guys on 404's and 606's.

Incorrect.

For what its worth when Davis Phinney left 7/11 for Coors Light he made some minor changes to his bikes. IIRC his Coors Light Serottas were built with a slightly higher bottom bracket and he went back to 170mm cranks because the US domestic circuit was primarily crits. He may also have moved his saddle forward a few mm. The changes werent radical.

No way, 50% off would mean that the dealer is losing money. Dead cost isn't even half not even if you're a platinum dealer. So unless you're LBS is owned by the nicest guy in the world, then I think you've been misinformed.
Where did I say the dealer is the one giving the discount?

The Cervelo Sololist aluminum frame is an great crit bike...

pretty light....a little aero, and aluminum so it's a little more tossible than a full carbon bike.

Leader Al frames would be my frame of choice if i was racing, I would by 2 or 3 of these http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-LEADER-56CM-52-C-C-717R-ALUMINUM-ROAD-BIKE-FRAME-RD_W0QQitemZ7220787047QQihZ015QQcategoryZ98084QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem.

I had one for a while and it was a killer bike, I had the 735r.

I would then outfit one of the frame with Ultegra or Centaur of Rival, all work really well but dont cost out the ass, and some Ultegra or similar wheels laced to dt swiss 1.2 rims. There a bombproof crit bike and you have 2 frames in reserve.

Tom Teesdale makes a crit special in steel or alloy starting around $700..
http://www.tetcycles.com/Frames/Road/Criterium/criterium.html

See lots of Cannondales, but they are ubiquitous in collegiate cycling. My road bike has to do everything. My climbing wheels are my crit wheels are my aero tt wheels. Except they are neither aero, nor light, just strong ! I think they are slightly under 2 kilos.

Tom Teesdale makes a crit special in steel or alloy starting around $700..
http://www.tetcycles.com/Frames/Road/Criterium/criterium.html

See lots of Cannondales, but they are ubiquitous in collegiate cycling. My road bike has to do everything. My climbing wheels are my crit wheels are my aero tt wheels. Except they are neither aero, nor light, just strong ! I think they are slightly under 2 kilos.

Me too. My crit bike is my TT bike. (with clip-on bars and a forward seatpost)

On a continuim of racing bicicles, where you have a time trial bike on one extreme and a matched sprint track bike on the other, in general, a crit bike has may track bike attributes to it as criterium racing is not who is the best time trialer, but who is the smartest and has an explosive sprint.

As others have said, steep headtube and seat angle, short wheel base.

In addition, a high bottom bracket so you can pedal through the corners while leaned over more. Most crit riders are spinners, so 165-170mm cranks for a smooth spin and also added corner clearance.

Upper body position is more compact, not stretched out like pure point to point road race bikes, so shorter top tubes and stem. This gives you an advantage when you stand up and sprint, you can use your arms much more to add more power.

Don't worry about aero, there are so many other factors that completely dwarf any aero advantage in a criterium. A deep aero front wheel catches the wind and makes you squirrely in strong cross winds, and the last thing you want to do in a criterium is be squirrely.

Sew up tires run at a fairly low pressure (at least on the front). A big part of criteriums is going fast in the corners and sew ups are very sticky and inspire confidence in the corners.

On a continuim of racing bicicles, where you have a time trial bike on one extreme and a matched sprint track bike on the other, in general, a crit bike has may track bike attributes to it as criterium racing is not who is the best time trialer, but who is the smartest and has an explosive sprint.

Such a continuum is a bad way to look at bikes.

cheap, stiff, ally frame. All ally parts. Stiff box-section ally wheels. Weight should not be a real issue.
Pedals should have a lot of clearance.

I'd go Campy over Shimano, for the multi-shifting on the sprints.

Please start the flaming.

cheap, stiff, ally frame. All ally parts. Stiff box-section ally wheels. Weight should not be a real issue.
Pedals should have a lot of clearance.

I'd go Campy over Shimano, for the multi-shifting on the sprints.

Please start the flaming.

This is what I was thinking actually...

Old-School GT frame, set of affordable Velocity Aero wheels (I love the rims) and Campy Veloce. I'd have to check to see if Veloce has the "quick-shift" option though. Maybe go with a single-chainring to be "cool"? Ha! ^_^

I like three things combined, a short front center (lots of overlap), Good alignment and OS tubing into the BB. More weight on the Front Wheel, if well aligned the bike will still track well even with the short wheelbase. Best ever for me was a Davidson Stiletto, overlap almost to the ball of my foot very easy to ride.

One point about wheels. A lot of Crit racing in the Midwest is on poor pavement, or even bricks. On those courses I really like a box section rim with a soft tubular (CX), feels like my tires stay on the pavement more.