I have to add my "go for it," and can attest to excellent results on an identical (size, color, etc) bike upgraded to STI shifting and with the OEM wheels modified to accept an 8-sp freehub and cassette.

Properly lubed, hubs packed well, and fit right, I had no problem finding my bike split to be in the top 10, against many younger "motors" and almost all younger bikes. Top 2 bikes splits were a steel framed Brew and a 1993 Paramount, so go figure.

I promply bought another frame, same size, in black, and upgraded it heavily, got it under 20 lbs, and cut 3:45 off of that 15mile time, no aeros, either. The weight wasn't much of a factor, but shifting smarter and keeping revs up made the difference.

If there are not a lot of hills, and you keep up your momentum, that bike will race just fine.

Oh, and that purple bike? Sold to a guy with a $4000 Scott. He says "once you get it up to speed, it stays there." He's learned from his Ironman what his plastic fantastic (and it is really nice) bike can't teach: how to ride fast. Get it going, then keep it going, and on the downhills, a little weight and properly packed hubs will give you 3 lengths.