Maybe that's a change from the olden days. It didn't used to cost much, if anything, more to get quality help for a team from someone who could offer more objective input. It seems pretty good to have a nonracer doing the guiding.

But, yeah, it all depends on what folks want. There are downsides and risks, as the earlier post says.

It sounds like nowadays coaches costs have gone up just like bikes have! (Except you can get a lotta bike now for not that much. My 22-lb steel tank Team Miyata was $1500 list in 1982.)

I probably only paid $20 annual dues to be a Detroit Wolverine and have Mike Walden coach me in the 80's. He coached many world/natl champs, Frankie, etc. Now, I was just a peon but I still came away hugely benefited by his godfather style. (Luckee!)

Then the Ann Arbor Velo Club in the later 80's also had a very decent coach and again the dues seemed totally minimal, usual -- $40?