Road Cycling - Is Tiagra Good Enough For Racing?

Ey Guys. I'm heading off to college next month and planning to join the UCSD cycling team. I'm wondering if the Redline conquest i have now, with tiagra components, would be good enough to race with. I also heard that the team gets pretty good discounts from their sponsors, so i don't know if i should just wait. Is there really a huge difference betweeen tiagra and the other upper level components. I'm scared that when i get to San Diego, i'll be competing against lance clones with calves the size of my thighs.

-Thanks :)

You will be amazed at how fast some riders are.

I don't think you will be satisfied with Tiagra once you get into serious competition. Not so much because of weight, but because of dependability with shifting. Missing a shift or dropping a chain while crusing in a group at 30mph is not much fun....

you could prolly get away with upgrading your rear derailer..that will improve shift quality a bit. then follow up with a cassette, then crankset/chainrings, and ifnally if you even think it's a weakness the front derailer. In many bikes the front derailer is a grade lower than the rest, that's normal...only so many ways you can make a device that simple..so often people would rather spend the difference elsewhere on the bike.

Somehow I have an odd feeling that any one of the riders in the TDF can mop the floor with us if he had tiagra and we all had dura-ace.

I would wait, what can it hurt? Unless your going to a race in the first few days your there. I'm sure they have bike shops there and like you said you may get discounts. Besides teams usually have mechanics (or a mechanicaly inclined members) that can check what is mis-adjusted, worn out, or just plain junk. :)


Somehow I have an odd feeling that any one of the riders in the TDF can mop the floor with us if he had tiagra and we all had dura-ace.
My thoughts exactly.


you could prolly get away with upgrading your rear derailer..that will improve shift quality a bit. then follow up with a cassette, then crankset/chainrings, and ifnally if you even think it's a weakness the front derailer. In many bikes the front derailer is a grade lower than the rest, that's normal...only so many ways you can make a device that simple..so often people would rather spend the difference elsewhere on the bike.

The cassette has the most berring on shifting, next is adjustment of things like B-line and quality of shifters, last is the derailer.
All the derailer does is move back and forth(at an angle of course and wear will cause slop) nothing more, the adjustment of the B-line(if available) will help quickness of the shift a little. The shifters have all the indexing notches but beyond that they just pull on the cable, thats it. (quality makes a difference in the levers- cheap flimsy sloppy verses snappy precision- and longevity of internal bits and manufacter tolerances). The cassette has all the ramps and tooth alignments that allow the chain to be quickly grabbed by the next cog and then quickly seated in the teeth ready for power.