zhmontana

Do you race your 'expensive' bikes in the RR's and crits or do you have a 2nd bike that you race on that won't totally break your heart to lose in a crash?

Either way, what frameset and component group do you race?

Thanks!

2Rodies

I race my LOOK 481 ('04 Record 10s Campy Neutrons) in RR's

Crits will be my LOOK 381 ('04 Chorus 10s Reynolds Alta's)

Next year I will have to race the bike the shop tells me to so that will be my race bike. It will either be a Cannondale or an Orbea with our choice of Campy or Shimano components. I'm kinda glad because the 381 is CF and I'm not thrilled about racing it in crits...I'm just less thrilled about racing the 481 in crits!!!!!

my58vw

I race my ONLY road bike in crits. When I can afford a nicer lighter bike it will be for club rides and thus and not for racing. I now have seen what happens to bikes in a crit crash and I do not want a 5000 dollar bike in the situation.

Right now I race a trek 2100 with DA 10...

jfmckenna

I race my only bike too, well outside of a mountain bike a touring/cyclocross bike and a fixie.

I am waiting on an old Italian steel lugged frame that I plan on fitting 05 Centaur on for road racing. I like my tight handling al/carbon Ultegra bike for crits.

gcasillo

Hope to. Don't even have $ for another cheapy. Blew my wad on my Look.

hi565

Unless i was sponsored and if i trash it i only have to pay like 10 bucks for a new one i would ride a really nice one.

skydive69

What did I miss? You want to race the best piece of machinery that you can bring to the line. If you worry about crashing, you ought to find another pursuit (no pun intended).

The_Convert

Have you been in a crash?

Taking a $10,000 bike to a crit would be like taking a Lamborghini on a stage of World Rally.

hi565

wait were you reffering to me?

If so someone like discovery (first team that came to my head)

Trek, disco trashes a bike hey look a present a brand new madone!

catch my drift?

skydive69

No, I haven't but I have sure witnessed them and the results. My interest is in road racing and TT's - not crits, but if I did race crits, I'd bring the best I could muster up. Perhaps its an attitudinal thing - I just dropped over 2Kbucks for a set of Zipp 999's for TT's. Not that I can afford them, but cycling is simply something that is very important to me.

The_Convert

and would it make any sense to smash some pair of wheels that expensive in a crash in a lowly office park crit? Not to mention any other uber-expensive parts.

I'm pretty sure cycling is very important to alot of people here, including me.

2Rodies

Crits are crash fests, even in the higher cats, so I agree that having a good bike is important but within reason. Like I said I race my 381 in crits (which ain't no cheapy POS) and use my 481 in RR's. Same reason I bought Reynold Alta's (haven't got them yet but they are on order) instead of Cosmic Carbones or Reynolds Stratus', they are good wheels at 1/3 the price. If I really thought that the 2k+ Stratus wheels where going to help me win races then I'd buy them. All they offer is a couple of hundred grams in weight savings and that isn't going to win me a race.

Now if had the green light from the miss's I'd drop 8.5k on a Pinerrelo TT bike. If I tanked that then it would be my fault and I can live with that. I'm not going to destroy 2k+ wheels cause some nimrod in front of me can't handle his bike.

cyclingute

I have 2 bikes. 1 is a TT bike, the other is my road bike. For what it's worth, that one is an Orbea XLR8R with '03 Chorus Gruppo. My only compromise in crits is that I'll use my training wheels, not my good Zipps. I've seen more wheels trashed in crit crashes than I have frames. In fact I've seen more broken bones than broken frames.

In the past I've raced a Trek 5900 (predecessor to the Madone) in crits. It was fine. I've raced an old steel Bianchi, and it was fine.

The trick for staying out of crashes in crits it to be at/off the front or off the back. Any where else is asking for some moron to hook you into a crash.

UmneyDurak

I only have on bike, so I race/ride on it.
That said I wouldn't bring my expensive bike to a crit, especially collegian one. TT is another story ofcourse. RR maybe.

2wheeled

Wow, I really surprized at how many don't race their good bikes. So you train on your good bike and down grade to race. I don't know about you but I always wanted the best edge I could get and training 4-5 days a week only to ride a cheaper bike to race on doesn't even sound good from a psychological point. I always raced my custom bike and yes did crash a few, replaced 2 rims. Maybe compromise rims but not the whole bike

531Aussie

Yes, I always thought it was the other way 'round, but they make reasonable points, especially when talking about criteriums.

Some would then say: "why have a good bike at all if you don't wanna do criteriums with it, and you don't wanna flog it over 400 mile training weeks?"

skydive69

Fortunately, the odds of smashing my new wheels are rather slim in that they will only be used for TT's. I'm nervous enough about just putting them in the car!

jfmckenna

This thread confirms my belief once again that the middle of the road equipment is the way to go for racing and training.

If I ever win a race I am not going to give credit to my Zipps or carbons or whos-a-ma-whats. It's just all out effort and the desire to win in the spirit of competition that cuts the line.

skydive69

Well, that's extraordinarily noble of you, however the real world rears its ugly head. Sometimes, the local TT first 5 places differ by only seconds. You can have the best engine in the world, but many show up with super TT machines, skin suits, booties, aero bars, aero helmets, etc. You can bleat all day about effort and desire, but unfortunately, sometimes equipment makes the difference in this sport. I suppose that's one of the things I enjoyed about my years as a running competitor. You bring only your body to the line - not $2000 wheels. Unfortunately, if one wants to podium in higly competitive venues, you better bring some good equiment - because if you undertand the physics, then you know the difference that equipment can make - especially in time trials.

EventServices

If you're not racing your "good bike", perhaps you have too much money tied up in it.

Crashes are pandemic to the cycling world. It is a naive rider who thinks that the likelihood is greater in a race than in a club training ride. They happen everywhere.

I race the fast bike with abandon. It's an earthly possession, folks.

The_Convert

We aren't talking about TT or Road races when we are talking about all these crashes.

MacMan

As soon as I get the E5 built - DA10, AC420 wheels, CF bar, stem & seatpost, I'm going to race it in everything I can find ... that's what I built it up for! It's a race bike fer gawd's sake

berny

This is my 7.9kg, 10sp, alum/carbon race bike;
My trainer is a 10kg, 10sp, alum/carbon Orbea. The GT is an amazing bike for the money AU$2800 and I see no problem taking it to crits.

monogodo

I've only raced twice.

Once on my old Zebrakenko with misc generic components, and once on a Bianchi SLX with Ultegra. Both times I got spat out the back before the first turn, so I did one lap to get back to my truck and went home.

my58vw

As I stated above I race my 2100 will all the upgrades, I wish I had more but I do not. The reason I would not race a high dollar bike is not the cost but the fact that the bike is not right for the circumstances of crit racing.

I need a bike that is solid and will not even think of flexing. I have riden too many cf bikes that flex under hard accelartion, even some Ti bikes in my size. My 2100 is perfect for that reason. Why would I own a more expensive bike then you may ask? Because for some circumstances a cf bike would just be better (club rides, long distance rides, etc.

If the 5000 dollar bike was also super still (like maybe a cdlae cadd 8) then sure I would race it...