Doge

I'm not so sure how many are sold to junior racers. These days - if you are a junior and can race - well, you may not be buying so much bike.


Junior racer bikes from last two weeks:
LUX Bikes.jpg

miyata man

Doge, the LUX kids and any of these other junior teams sporting team RV's and million dollar budgets are the utmost representation of an exception. The 10-12 year olds junior team I help coach is not. Your average 14 y/o kid who hates ball sports needs a slew of reasons to get his parents to agree to a new bike much less travel and other expenses. A fact you may have forgotten if it ever permeated your boutique labels mindset dead set on assuming a quixotic vantage point.

hack

Jr's should all ride steel bikes and box wheels with 105/Rival group sets. Lower barrier to entry, more level playing field, etc.

miyata man

That isn't what I was asserting. Doge is right to be proud of his kid and the level of equipment afforded kids at that level. There is no reason for living in one of the richest countries in the world and not being competitive at national/international level competition because of archaic reliance on 50 year old ideas.

Doge

Your budget is an order of magnitude - 10X off. Budgets/kid are about what they are for the top % soccer and volleyball kids.

Kids willing to spend 15-25 hours a week training have a good opportunity to get things paid for. Keep that in mind when your 12 year old's get older. I've found many very willing to help the juniors - as I have been.

Hmm, that is a weird one. Boutique - likely. Labels? Maybe you know the brand of the hubs, rims and tires. If you do - good. I assure you nobody in the U23 or pros were riding as light or as high performance. They have no labels for a reason.
Louisville RR Viki.jpg

miyata man

We need to stop meeting like this.

Ygduf

I mean, it could be because cycling is not popular here. Just thinking out loud.

When was the last cycling story on the news that didn't involve drugs, cheating, or someone dying due to a crash.

Doge

GELU is not on that bike. Extralite is in some places.
GELU is not a label - it is boutique.

But really - why not have a 40g saddle? Pretty simple. 40g is lighter than 100g - and it feels better.

Note the 500+g of lead on the BB.

Doge

The guy behind the LUX kid above / on the 2nd step below...
ValleyOfTheSun VOS 2014TTPodium.jpg

Ygduf

@mattm

I don't know who those kids are, but the winner has a ridiculously wide pelvis! that's all I see.

Ygduf

what saddle is 40gs?

globecanvas

He looks like spongebob

Ygduf

racing a goddamn caveman

Doge

I would start fixing that by allowing feeding in crits (race like Euros - it is a Euro sport).

Our "problem" is our kids have a lot of other opportunity. And they know it, and parents know it.
While the way to NFL and other sports is via college, that is not the case with cycling. Kids need choose relativity early. Within 6 months of that podium pic above my kid went to rowing -for getting into a better college. That was a major fork. I knew it, he knew it. It was pretty much off the pro path at at age 16. The focus became being a professional person. USAC smelled it, @Ygduf even asked a USAC coach about it and posted about it. USA kids have too much BETTER opportunity.

If you want USA kids in it - stop the USAC early recruiting and pull from colleges. Not because college is better, but because making someone have to choose at 16 is too early. If USA were like Belgium, it would be different. But we are not like Belgium.

Doge

Proof it is not a LABEL.

GELU. Seat and Post < 145g

GeluSeat.jpg

Ygduf

those gelu saddles list weights of ~60g though.

my s-works toupe sans the padding looks just like that minus the drill holes and weighs ~75g. cheap too.

Doge

That one is 40g.
The saddle on the Venge is the one on this without the cover. I paid $20 - used 10 years - so far.
Those wheels ... pretty boutique for an 8 year old.
Dana Point GP 2007.jpg

Ygduf

8 year-olds probably are about the right weight for those wheels.

Doge

They were tandem hand-me-downs.
Just used 2-3 times on the tandem - front only. They were used many times by me.
I don't know if they ever went to market.

hack

Let's be realistic though. While McNulty is doing really well, outside of the smallest of small racing circles, no one could pick him out of a high school line up let alone reference him as a driver to get kids into the sport.

Locally mountain bike is all the rage for the Jr's. There is a high school league and the coaches make it fun. So, more kids come out and it's growing. I don't think there is a realistic career path there now, but it's moving in the right direction for growth.

Radish_legs

Ha, they don't care about me as a person. They want positive publicity for supporting racing, and especially successful racing.

Radish_legs

Nerds like you don't understand why the public can't get interested in this sport. And why it's dying.

miyata man

3 is an interesting number. For some reason most people stop at it and never look further. Lest we forget, this is a PROFESSIONAL CYCLING thread even on days with dull and flat stages. Die with your sport elsewhere.




Former man to beat in any world tour race Alberto Contador has been promoting some fan art in the past week. I'm partial to the team coffee cup caricature but the map is possessed of a more enduring humor.

Doge

I agree. But how many parents/mentors/coaches would encourage that path? The risk/s are too high for the rewards. I see no driver for USA generating pros other than 1 every few years or so, just because. I think Brandon was helped by the programs of USAC and LUX.

Professional (earn a living) cycling is a European sport. You kinda/sorta can live in the USA and race there, but I think that is tough. So the USA pro needs to want to live in Europe. That, to me, is a bigger factor than talent.
Justin Oien made the jump last year. Costa speaks fluent French, I'm told is a dual citizen - France and USA. Brandon certainly has enough talent, but we won't really know until we see him living in Europe a couple years. The jump to becoming a European (even if remaining a USA citizen) is a bigger variable than the ability.

The good part about USAC youth and junior program is some kids see they don't want to live in Europe early. That kinda helps settle things.

mattm

I can't quite tell what you guys are fighting about.

All I know is the tour seems the same as it just about always has, except more sprint stages. Which is way more exciting for someone like me who just wants to watch all sprint stages.

The GC goal is not the only goal in the Tour, and there are thousands of stories/mini-stories/races within the race. Just enjoy the show, it's only once a year.

I've been trying to watch the full stage as much as I can - from the neutral rollout, km 0, to the finish. The start ("km 0") is actually one of the best parts. Most days the break just rides away and nobody chases. One day (so far this year) it took 30 km for the break to establish, which is much more like what all amateur races are like.