Race-worthy components?
 

I know I've asked something similar in the past, but:

My components are:

Ultegra BB, Rear derailleur, Front derailleur, cassette
105 Shifters, crankset
HG-73 Chain
Sora brake calipers

Is that set of components good enough to race on, or should I have spent the extra $25 to get all ultegra (Yeah I know I should have), but is that alright? If I plan on racing, will I find myself upgrading my shifters and crank to ultegra? Basically, does that setup seem ok for racing?

Hate to sound like a scratched CD (broken record for those as old as I), but my cut off is 105 and up. Everything you name is cool to race on. Sora brakes, you'll want to change them, but they'll stop you.

BTW, I'm not even asking about that $25 decision. I can hear you kicking yourself from here. :p

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.

http://img16.exs.cx/img16/3672/break1.jpg

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..............

http://img16.exs.cx/img16/723/dekker.jpg

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

http://img16.exs.cx/img16/8349/tourdefrance.jpg

Yes you are stupid for not spending the $25 ;) But you sound good to go.

As for advocating a drastic bike position change, that's the dumbest comment I've ever heard- especially since you have never even seen the guy on a bike!

Position is relative to the body type, flexibility and comfort level.
When you can push a 53x12 for 100km, than you can "do what the pros do"

You haven't seen him on one either, but I'm willing to bet he could get more aerodynamic. I mentioned that it may take time to get comfortable, ie develop more flexibility etc. I forgot to mention that any changes should be made in small increments, You know that, I know that, thats my mistake, as he may not.


But surely you agree that his position is more important in regards to speed, than his components. And while he can't "push a 53x12 for 100K", there's no reason why he should be riding around like he's on a highwheeler, or at the very least, try and get a little more aero.

again, you have no idea what his position is on the bike besides the fact he asked about components.

I personally think the guy should lower his bars, raise his seat and get better pedals. The way he is positioned now is probably like being on a surfboard. Based on his question it's very obvious that he is not airo enough.

That's an amazing trick, can you tell me how aero I am if I give you the parts list of my bike too?

Huzah for unwanted advice!

I can, but only if you give them to me at solar noon in Bonney Lake, WA the day of a full moon, Then I must wait for the autumnal equinox and reply in a riddle. :D

For both shifters, cogs and rear derailer, anything 105 and better shifts very well and is plenty durable for training and light enough for any lower level racing; front derailer could be tiagra but 105 is a good step up; cranks and bb tiagra and better; brakes what ever works; pedals what ever fits your shoe system. Dura ace is built so light it is less durable than ultegra and 105 but it is a little better while it lasts. Sora generaly sucks but brakes are so simple sora is acceptable.

The only thing I'd change would be the brakes. You'll get lighter equipment and better actuation with an upgraded component.

Sometimes it's easier than others. But for you I'd also need to know your birthsign, and age. :eek:

But I can tell, with my psycotic abillities, that the coler sceme of your bike is holding back your true potential. ;)

i have not found this to be the case at all.

for some reason, i always associate Ultegra with touring. have since they changed the name from 600. i guess it just looks like something i'd find on a sweet high-end touring bike, rather than a race bike. the crank arms especially, how the chainring spider arms are all rounded, and just the whole look of the group. maybe it's just the name..."Ultegra" just sounds more heavy duty/durable than dura-ace or 105. (i'm going to be upgrading my bike to either ultagra or chorus sometime soon, probably ultegra).

?? That's odd. I've always thought the DURA-ACE name sounded more DURA-ble (DURA-able ACE -i.e. the best, ace pilot, etc). Ultegra sounds like ULT-imate GR-ouppo or something.

Don't smile and put white cloth tape on the handlebars............you'll be fine. The white tape is hard to find though so you could use black but probably won't be getting any yellow jerseys. I'd take the reflectors off of the spokes too <g>.

Tony

I race on a bike with Tiagra shifters, 105 cranks, 600 rear derailleur, ultegra front, old dura ace cassette and RX100 brakes, and am moderately competitive (also weighs in at 23lbs w/ pedals) as long as the stuff is reliable and well tuned and maintained it doesnt matter a whole lot what you are riding on.

i dunno why that's the association that gets called up in my head when i think about ultegra...i think a lot of it has to do with how the word sounds when it's spoken, as opposed to the root words. ULTEGRA!!! just sounds like some big burly guy with his fist in the air and then going HUH!@!! the -TEG- i think is what does it. hard T sound, with the hard G...i dunno...my brain works funny.

dude. chorus.

heh...chorus is great, but i dig shimano for the fact that i can put their shifters on bullhorns (which are at the moment, my favorite style of handlebar). although, i like the shape and feel of ergo shifters a lot better than the STIs. MY HANDS ARE SMALL, DAMMIT! MAKE A SHIFTER/LEVER DESIGNED FOR SMALL HANDS!!! ;) campy shifters fit my hands a lot better than the wide, square shimano shifters. if i can afford it, chorus for sure, but in the name of getting wheels (because i desperately need new wheels) AND a group, it'll probably end up being ultegra and either american classic or FSA wheels, or something i build myself.

the other thing about chorus is the cranks. while i'm a big fan of square tapered bottom brackets (two track bikes, both with squareds), i wish they'd just go with ISIS, because really, i'm all about the '04 alloy chorus cranks...they're the exact same thing as the '03 record cranks, except they say chorus on them. but i got octalink with an alloy FSA gossamer 48/38 crank on the bike now, and i feel like going back to squared would be a downgrade...but i hate octalink with a passion that burns brighter than the sun itself...stupid non-tapered can't tell if the splines are lined up until you tighten it down piece of crap, different standards for road and mountain, 5mm of contact, built to strip out junk.

although everything else in my 105 group has been working wonderfully. the only reason i'm upgrading is so my buddy can have parts for his recently acquired old school lugged steel specialized sirrus frame.

mmm...chorus.....i'll have to see what i can work out in terms of deals for campy stuff...i'm also really tempted to just wait until the '05 10 speed ultegra comes out so i can get 9 speed stuff on sale through QBP...campy isn't going through another total re-vamp for probably another three years.

forgive me, i'm drunk...i ramble.

You can buy bar-ends for Campy. Now on the wheels you have a bit more of an issue, but you can buy a shimano cassette with campy sized spacers in it to make it compatible with the Campy drivetrain and the Shimano wheel hubs.