I'm not necessarily talking about "the best equipment", I'm talking about mid-level and used equipment that doesn't immediately put someone at a disadvantage. The vast majority of Cat 5 and junior crit racers at my local races are on carbon wheels, for example. I guess we could argue about how much advantage that really gives them, but the reality is that anyone who shows up for one of these entry-level races and isn't on carbon wheels is immediately at some level of a disadvantage. Plenty of people see that and make the upgrade before they even try their first race, so that's a "cost of entry" for most.