Originally Posted by roadgator

This is bike racing, not formula 1. As long as your bike is mechanically sound and you know how to ride it, an amateur race WILL NOT be won or lost on a basis of how expensive, or technologically advanced ones bike is. Sure racers like to spend money or their bikes which might make an outsider think its necessary, but in reality it doesn't take much of a bike to get yourself on to an essentially level playing field.

The only place were big money can buy you a big edge is in elite time trailing.

No wonder few people transition into sanctioned racing with misconceptions like these floating around.