Bike Forums - View Single Post - CRIT Racing Frame Suggestions

07-07-23 | 12:15 PM

#22

Broctoon

Super-duper Genius

Joined: Aug 2016

Posts: 1,759

Likes: 1,054

From: Muskrat Springs, Utah

I'll tell you what I ride and why I think it's an ideal crit frame. Mind you, I have participated in exactly one crit race in my life (it was on this bike). I use it for road races, club rides, recreational and training rides on all kinds of surfaces including occasional gravel roads, and even the occasional steep hill climb. You may find that the two bikes mentioned above are better suited to your purposes overall, but I'm describing mine as a way to illustrate some concepts that apply.

I have a 2018? model Cinelli Vigorelli Road. Vigorelli was Cinelli's track frame that was popular for many years with the messenger/fixie crowd. For most of the model's production run, it was aluminum, but in the later years they offered a steel version as well. Then they introduced a road version, also steel. It has the same tubing (Columbus Thron) and geometry (steep) as the track model, but with rear dropouts and spacing for a road bike hub, plus rim brake mounts, cable guides/stops, and water bottle bosses.

There's some discussion above about the ease of repairing aluminum vs. carbon. Steel is more repairable than either of those and is less likely to sustain severe damage in a crash.

The steep seat tube and head tube angles make for agile handling, although the tradeoff is a bike that's not as stable as I'd like in fast descents.

It has a fairly short wheelbase--not extremely short, however. I attach a trailer for my grandson, and the hitch that hooks onto the left stays near the rear hub does not interfere with my heel as I pedal.

It has a nearly horizontal top tube, which allows for low bar position. I happen to have a 10mm spacer under my stem and a moderate 90mm stem length, as I'm not trying to get really aero. If I wanted to, I could set up this bike to let me get pretty low.

Perhaps most importantly, the BB position on this frame is quite high--it drops less than most modern road bikes, which gives more road clearance for a given crank length, so you can pedal through turns. (50mm vs. a typical 70-80mm drop, for at least 20mm of additional clearance) This of course pushes my seat higher (for optimal pedal reach), which in turn makes me more aero with all other factors the same, but again, it isn't actually necessary to set it up really low.

It's not the most comfortable frame, certainly not endurance geometry. It is surprisingly versatile, and I've enjoyed it very much since getting it four years ago. I have no plans to replace it anytime soon, and if I were a crit racer I'd probably guard it with my life.

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