I recently got into road cycling. I'm curious as to the different styles of cycling. What's the difference between touring, racing and crit races. I'm considering to get a new bike in the near future but when I went to my LBS and mentioned that I kind of liked the geometry of the Trek Pilot but he told me that it was more for touring and that for racing it would not be as good. SO it made me wonder where the heck I fall into. I like riding for long distances and I'm training to do a century by the end of the year. A little info here would be appreciated.

I think touring bikes are designed to put the rider a little more upright for comfort, their geometry is a little different. It may be to adjust for handling under load. They might be geared a little wider to facilitate varying terrain changes. I think a lot of touring bikes might even be made of steel as well. Primarily though, they are designed to take you and your stuff all around town, or the world. Don't take that as gospel, though. As you can tell, I'm hedging here.

Other "road" bikes (ie"race") are designed more for getting you from A to B as quickly as possible. They put the rider in a more aggressive, aerodynamic position, are generally lighter in weight.

The type of bike you use should be dictated by the type of racing you want to do. Again, many different types of racing exist, but get narrowed down to a few generalities. Open course racing (think start at A go to B) Crits, which are closed, short loop courses. And distance racing, which falls into open course, I would say.For what you are doing and want to do I would agree with your LBS and avoid the touring bike.


oops, forgot. Poke around the relevant forums here, and you'll find all the abswers you seek. Heck, even ones you don't.

you can think about it this way...

longer time in the saddle (ie. touring) = relaxed geometry = more comfortable bike
shorter time in the saddle (ie. crit/time trial) = aggresive geometry = less comfortable bike

as Sasquatchula said, the gearing will be different too. many touring bikes will be set up with triple chainrings. by contrast, most road racing bikes will have a double chainrings, because you never really need the small ring.

Funny thing is when I look for a touring bike like for example on Trek's website, they only have one model and it has some attachements on the bike. I'm not sure that's the kind of touring bike I would want or even like. Right now I have a Trek 1000 and I really like the way it feels. Well maybe except for the saddle that I want to upgrade, but that's another issue. But the Trek Pilot is supposed to be more upright yet it still looks very racy and aerodynamic. Oh well. I guess I'll do more research in other areas of the forum as well. Thanks for the info.

Touring bikes come is several styles:
Light touring, for day rides, supported tours, and carrying light luggage (Trek Pilot/Specialized Sequoia)
Medium tourer, handles well without luggage and good for a few weeks of light camping (Trek 520/Fuji).
Expedition tourer: rugged load-carrier for extended self-supported expeditions but can feel sluggish unladen (Bruce Gordon BLT/Thorn EXP)

For a century and general fitness training, the light tourer makes sense. You can use them for commuting and shopping as well. Do note the tyre clearance at the frame, forks and brakes. This should be more generous than on a racer.
The big manufacturers often misunderstand touring and give inappropriate gearing/tyre clearance and riding position. Touring is really a niche market best served by smaller companies.

you could always look at a cyclocross bike. this would give you many options as they are very versatile (you can run all kinds of tires), durable, they have space for racks and fenders if you want them, and you can take it out to a road race and/or hammer in a group ride if that's what suits you.