Originally Posted by
Cypress
I've raced literally hundreds of crits and can say that I want the fastest bike I can afford. Saving 5-10 watts on aero stuff is completely mentally worth it if you find yourself in the breakaway or solo'ing. That being said, all of the aero shiite on this planet can't help you if your tactics suck
As far as having different bikes, there's something to be said about truly knowing the limits of your race bike. Seems like a dodgy idea to hop on a somewhat unfamiliar bike and place yourself into a pack doing 35+ through 90-degree corners. Having different geometry is another issue that I could go on about. Unless you set up both bikes with identical geometries, you will spend half of your race adjusting your biomechanics to the race bike that you rarely ride. It's like when people hop on a TT bike thinking they'll crush it with their 400W FTP, then only manage 300W because their body isn't used to making power in that position.
.
Yeah I think this is something similar to what gsteinb was saying. I hadn’t even considered the potential ramifications of racing on a relatively unfamiliar bike. Maybe the gains in handling, comfort, power etc from training on one’s race bike are far more significant than any nuances from layup schedules, geometry, aerodynamics etc.
I think I’ve made my decision- as long as I’m racing, it’s probably worth the hassle to train on a race bike, whichever bike that is.