Your components are not going to make a difference in your racing, but your training, or lack thereof will certainly will.

Will your components handle 200 training miles or more a week? Sure they will, so as long as everything works, its all up to you dude.

Your fitness level, and ability to suffer will determine how you place in your first few races. Then experience will start to creep in to the picture, work on having a good aero, power producing position on the bike. The proper stem and set up will make you faster than any crankset,brakes!?!, BB, or even wheelset.

Get your head down and your ass up, don't sit on your race bike like a MTB'er or commuter. We have a few super fit guys down here in our training series who found themselves unable to hold 26-28 plus in a pace line, despite killing everyone on the inclines. They couldn't figure it out.

Looking at the group from the side, these guys were in the drops like everyone else, but their set up was so bad, that their head and shoulders are sticking up above everyone else backs, and catching a ton of wind.

I only helped the guys on our team, had them flip their stems, lower the bars etc. The guys on the other teams? I told them they looked great! HA!

Watch the guys in the Tour when the break is really cooking, everyones back is flat, allowing the air to go over them, and not hit them in the chest. Check De Groot (rabobank), he has a great position on the bike.



It may take a while to get comfortable, but it is so worth it in the long run.

Learning to sit on the bike like this..............



Makes it easier to sit on the bike like this......