metal_cowboy

You mean there are riders out there that believe that they can buy speed? I am shocked, utterly shocked!! Now excuse me as I go out to the garage and tinker with my steel lugged Rivendell with 36 spoke wheels that even Lance would stop and take a second look at. Tailwinds.

Booger

Yes. And then hopefully higher. How many watts should you be pushing before it's ok to buy a powertap? If you're so much faster and equipment makes little difference, why care?

Also remember that many of us do not pay full retail price from the LBS. My $6k bike (full retail) didn't cost half that since I pieced it together from group buys, PBK clearance sales, grey market parts, used stuff off ebay, etc.

Rowan

Sometimes, it's nice to have nice parts/bike. You don't have to be a racer to appreciate fine design and engineering. And sometimes they do actually help you ride faster and make it more enjoyable.

I can't help but think, though, that the wealthier racers could do with "coming up the ranks" a bit with their equipment to really appreciate their bikes and how they work -- why they handle the way they do, why they are so comfortable or not, why they are so responsive or not, why they stop so well or not.

Seems to me they have nothing to compare with if they start out with a top-of-the-line bike.

They might also get an insight into using some of that money to invest in a coach or quality training program to get the best out of themselves first.

By the same token, don't forums like this one encourage people to get the "best" simply because others are riding the same? For example, I've noticed a real shift towards "aero CF wheels" on this forum in the past year, for one reason or another.

And props to those who can build up an expensive bike using their wits, knowledge and contacts to keep the price within their budgets. But then, they've probably "come up through the ranks" to be able to do that.

eedwdave

You know it is posts like the OP's that discourage people from riding and racing. The arrogant attitude of saying "what do they need that xxxx for" Screw off!!! I worked hard for my money, am fat, slow, have a kick ass S-works bike w/full dura ace and a 2009 PT with velocity deep v's for my fat butt, 28 hole just for the record (no pinch flats). I love my bike it is awesome, sometimes I dream about it. I think I might just have to show up at few cat5 races in 2009 just to piss some jealous ass off. Don't like it...tough. Grow the hell up, get more education, get a better job. Or don't it really doesn't matter. Ride what you want and be happy with your stuff and don't worry about what I am riding or why. They definitively struck a nerve with me. Oh yeah this is my first post...thanks to the OP.

ridethecliche

Um. I like eating greasy ass food sometimes.
It's delicious

celticfrost

Whatever --- I've seen a bunch of 10-13 year olds racing $1,500+ wheelsets & I don't think that their paper routes are paying them enough coin for that bling. I guess it's nice to see that some parents are pushing cycling over golf, tennis & piano lessons.

Spreggy

Yay, another spending thread!!!

Folks tend to buy their way into their hobbies to the extent that they're comfortable. The good news is, the fittest, smartest, most consistent person will be in the breakaway every weekend. You can't buy that. If a great bike, or a crappy bike, is off the front and taking names, it's because of the work, not the bike.

Coyote2

I share the OP's reaction to the extravagant Cat 5 equipment, and made a similar post last summer which was met with much derision. People accused me of all kinds of motives, including envy. Funny stuff, especially considering that no one around here knows how much money I have.

I hope that our country's recent economic woes have got some people re-thinking their priorities. Contrary to what some may think, I suspect that the OP (and others who are dismayed over $10k bikes in newbie races) is not envious, but just finds it disturbing that people spend (and in some cases probably borrow) for high-zoot race bikes when they probably have barely raced. All of us - including those of us who are NOT up to our eyeballs in debt, who pay our mortgages on time, who are not in industries requiring bailouts -- all of us are paying for others' profligacy. So, yes, I do feel a bit justified in judging some people's behavior, though not everyone's. Spending tons of money on a race bike when you can't hang in a Cat 5 race is foolish, as there is always something else to do with the money. This is one of the big unspoken problems with our society: people think that, just because they can afford (or get credit to buy) something, that they should be able to have it. That attitude leads to high debt, resource depletion, overflowing garbage dumps, and posers on expensive bikes.

As for all of the mega-buck equipment scaring away potential racers...Well, anyone with any sense knows that a well-trained rider on a heavy old bike will drop the poser on the wonderbike.

tombailey

Difficult to reply without sounding defensive (as a slow guy on an expensive bike), but how many people do you actually think believe that expensive gear makes them faster (vs. people like me with an interest in building a nice bike and an, almost separate, interest in riding)?

Val23708

i love how the newbies get excited because they can keep up with me because i ride a cervelo... i dont care what you ride anymore, unless you look unhappy to be in the race because you are a junior and your dad is on the sidelines forcing you to race (ive seen it! its terrible)

i dont believe you can effectivly race cat 5 with only 200w. or at least here in norcal. you'd have to be smaller/lighter than me to get anything out of that and thats very hard to do.

anyhow, when is it ok for me to get a powertap then? my threshold is about 250w but thats 4.3ish w/kg for me...

unbelievably

It's like wearing dancing shoes and not being able to dance...

gregf83 

What an absurd argument. If you extend it to its logical conclusion we should only be buying cheap practial commuter bikes as using a bike for anything else (like racing) is a waste of money that could be otherwise better employed helping the poor kids in Africa.

You should probably sell your computer as well and use that money for something else.

mrbubbles

Or wearing surfing brands when you are 500 miles from a beach.

Or driving an SUV that never touches dirt.

Or wearing the latest outdoor clothing when you have never camped outdoor for a single night.

Point is, because you can, doesn't mean you should.

Then again, I encourage everyone to spend the money you have (I said have, not the money you can borrow from the bank), at least it gets us somewhere.

umd

Mine is 280W, does that mean I can buy carbon wheels? The whole idea of the OP's is ridiculous

mista_chewey

mine is sub 200 does that mean i have to give up the pt? this sucks i've only had it for 2months

Rowan

There's obviously going to be a flood on the market now, and you're not going to get anything for it. Send it to me and I will take care of it for you.

umd

You have to put it in storage. You can test with it once a week and you can keep it once your threshold tests over 200W. If at any point you don't do 200W for a week it will be confiscated permanantly.

spunky

I think this issue is much more relevant to the issue of time trials. Having the $$$ to spend on a full out TT rig with disc wheels can give a significant advantage over someone who doesn't have that. Therefore, at the amateur level, it seems much less fair to me to allow TT bikes. At the pro level that's something different, because every team has access to that technology. But for those on the amateur circuit that aren't as fortunate, they're automatically being placed at a competitive disadvantage simply because they can't afford all the aero equipment. Ironically, that seems to go directly against the reasons for the UCI weight limit on bikes. They're trying to keep the advantage of technology within limits and maintain the abilities of the cyclist as being the determining factor of performance/success. It seems unfair to me that there aren't similar stipulations at the amateur level for TT's as well which would level the playing field and make for more interesting stage racing.

furiousferret

You're not going to want to hear this but here goes...

Alot of those people racing Cat 5's are middle aged men who have sacrificed thier youth (i.e. commiting to an education) for a more comfortable lifestyle in the later years. Many of whom have a wife, kids, and major commitments to people other then them in life. For them, cycling is their time and passion. Most will probably admit that they aren't the most talented but racing is an escape, and since they have the income, they will use it to thier advantage.

Having the money to race with a powermeter is better than not using a powermeter in a race when you have the money. I know guys who are 20k clear each month so for them a 8k Pinarello with a SRM is more disposable than my crappy 1k Felt F70.

For the record, I am not one of those people.

Brian Ratliff

The big secret is that most of that stuff (basically everything but the aerobars) gives less advantage than people believe. There's an advantage to all the aero stuff, but it's blow away if you can only do 250W ftp and the guy you are going against can peg 300W. Put your head down, learn to do 300W, and then go after the best equipment you can comfortably afford.

Come on people: quit whining about the equipment you can't afford (but want to). Life isn't fair sometimes. Live with it.

And the UCI weight limit is not about competitive advantage; it's ostensibly about safety, in that the rule was made when bike builders were doing some pretty tricky things with metals and the bikes didn't always hold up to the rigors of racing, putting the rider and the peloton as a whole at risk. You'll probably see this rule revised in the relatively near future, now that carbon fiber composite has proven that bikes can weigh well under that and still be strong enough to race.

kaiserboy

I will be there also. I just hope it does not rain

Bnjmn

Equipment is surely overrated in terms of its efficacy, but I had the honor of getting nipped by someone this past summer who had 404s and a Cervelo SLC-SL with a full support vehicle. I am all for fancy wheels and etc., but the support vehicle was pushing it (...for Cat 5).
Yikes.

AlexTaylor

Even though I have a CF Look with Sram Red and Carbon Clincher DA wheels, my first race will be on my Winter bike, with mudguards.


As much as I don't care about what other people have, I don't want to be 'that guy' when I get dropped...

BHBiker

+1

To the OP...Boohoo...Who cares...ride your bike and take pleasure beating peeps with 10K$ machines! It makes winning even taste better isn't it?

Unless you are jealous or insecure it should not bother you any other way other than to inspire you to do better. Yes life is unfair...some posers simply just have better jobs to buy the toys they want regardless if they get dropped or not.

Rowan

I don't talk about this much, but...

Both the UMCA 24H races I have done were on my steel-framed slug of a touring bike.

I have the honour of beating a guy who finished fourth in RAAM one year, as well as the record-holder for the Boston-Montreal-Boston 1200 randonnee.

The fact they pulled out of the event at the 250-odd kilometre mark (the RAAM guy through injury and the other plus their mates in sympathy) doesn't show up in the results -- just their distance completed, which was way lower than mine.

Shame -- all that carbon fibre, aero-bars, special sports food and drinks, and a huge sign-written support RV going to waste like that...