I realize this. It was my attempt at pithiness. I failed, clearly.

I think the cultural basis of youth racing actually has some connection to this thread. My assumption (not having grown up in Europe) is that there is less of that focus on having ''proper equipment to race.'' You ride the bike you have and you ride it fast. I recently re-read CDR's Belgian Kermesse blog and it makes that point well. Everyone laughed at the American showing up on his lightweight (at the time) bike.

Here is said post: https://sprinterdellacasa.blogspot.co...kermesses.html

Amazing read.

It is intriguing how someone has a racing bike, but doesn't want to use it for racing.

Yes. You usually see a few people like that, and they're typically dropped on the first lap or two, lapped and pulled.

I'm sure it varies by area, but around here the Cat 5 fields tend to be pretty strong riders, compared to the recreational club rider set.

You don't have to be something special to do a Cat 5 race, but following the progression set forth in the sticky thread in the Racing sub forum is a good idea. (i.e. group rides> competitive group rides> mixing it up in competitive group rides> race.)

Speed has got nothing to do with it.

I find that the most dangerous race is the one I am in.

End of thread.

In fairness though MJH2 has this tendency to test the limits of modern engineering theory. Point taken though that Matt was able to source a cheap frame and still race like he always has. Here's the takeaway people - in crits - it ain't about the bike.

- sounds great. Let me know how that works out for you.

Indeed....JKP - FWIW, your statement blatantly demonstrates that yo do not in fact race. You see - everyone who does race understands that EVERYONE was a cat 5 once (Or 4 if it was before 1993....). Including the entire list of current US domestic pro's.

Around Chicago in the last few years you could have raced as a 5 against such notables as a brother of (at the time) and Garmin Pro, multiple Ex-Polish pro or national champions, etc.

Saying Cat 5 is a joke as a gross generalization demonstrates a lack of understanding of what Cat 5 actually is. You only have to buy a license to be a cat 5 - not take a test.

clearly not an intelligence test.

Me too.............at least on paper.

Excuse me?

I hate racing against those guys. The day you didn't show up to race with me I had to suffer with those guys until I started seeing spots. They are way to fast, has to be something more than EPO

Race your Cento and HTFU.

Maybe in states other than CA, but not true here.

It's actually not uncommon around here for an unranked or registered Cat5 rider to equal or even outsplit the Cat1-4 category riders in a TT hillclimb or regular time trial. Also, if you look at the winning time for Cat5 vs Cat 1-3, it's usually pretty close.

If you were strong enough to ignore tactics and just pull away from the field on the first lap in Cat5, the avg speed of the Cat5 finishing group should be wayyy slower, which is definitely not true here in CA.

I'm not even fast enough to race against Cat2s or good Cat3s, but I've passed at least 3 guys out in the mountains here in the past 2 years who were wearing 'state champion road race' jerseys from other states, 2 of which admitted they failed to catch me despite trying on the climb. I do think these were "age-group" categories and those 2 guys may have even from sub-categories in road racing, but still, the concept of me catching any 'state champion', even if it were a pure short-track sprinter, is laughable in CA.

I am going to run out of facepalms.

When I raced crits it was on a steel bike with Ultegra. It wasn't the lightest, but it severed me well and could be fixed. In my area Cat 5 was like bumper cars, 30 would start and 10 would finish. This is was turned me off to crit racing. Now that I am much older and race with the "old" guys it is much more fun, and I don't mind using my good bike.

Nobody can crash you out if you're off the front.

I don't like the idea of being severed by my bike.

I just hope he waved and said 'hello' to Rx as he went by.

n+1. Get yourself a crit bike!

I've only done one race(road race) and I already have a 2 <17lbs race bikes. But I have a severe case of upgraditus. Always looking for excuses to get more bikes lol

that wouldn't serve any useful purpose.

Yeah, but they're still European....

that BMC from CC would be a could option...900 bones, race ready

Even in 88 Cannondales Came equipped with either Shimano 105 or DA downtube shifters. They were indexed and work incredibly well. FAR LESS tuning do to have less places for the cable to get messed up in between the shifters and the ders. Almost all index downtube/barend shifters are now indexed as well as have the friction/index option which can be switch back and forth while riding.

I agree however the big disadvantage is to HAVE to remove your hands from the handlebars in order to shift. Here in PA I see people wipe out all the time going up hills because they have stem or dowtube shifters. MUCH of this is due to user error and noob riding ability, however it does increase the odds of you not being rerady when you need to be.

Also +1 to why own a race bike if you aren't going to race on it. Get your money's worth out of it. If you are in some unfortunate turn of events where you and your bike go down. Whether your frame is damaged or not, you should be more worried about yourself. You'll find ways to replace whatever you have to, especially if you know you had fun doing it the first time around.

Yeah, but your CAAD9 is going to end up costing more than your Look.

There's a 67 page, four year-long thread on the Classic & Vintage subforum that shows how these turn out. There are some seriously sweet bikes there. Here's the thread:
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...STI-s-or-Ergos

+1
it will take a while for it to sink in.

A perfect race bike (IMO): all/mostly used parts, a good quality common aluminum frameset, take-off OEM wheels that regularly go for about $100. on CL and splurge on the tires, tubes, brake pads and cockpit (all aluminum).

I've been looking into building up a CAAD9 for riding on bad days; Something with a full 105 group and the take-off parts I have laying around or that I could pick upon on CL. I can't see why a nice solid 17lb racer can't be put together for <$1,000. with very good bits. Even if crashed, as long as the frameset is okay, it could be put back together in a matter of hours and be ready for the next day's race with relatively little monies.

Road Racing? Now that's a different beast as I understand it. "There" I'd like to have
a nice carbon rig with much better components that I'd probably benefit more from.