Entry level race bike

[schred]

Seeking opinions from the RB brains trust, I'm thinking about racing and local race scene seems to be mainly weekly criteriums on what appears to be pretty uneventful oval tracks.

What sort of a bike would cut the mustard? I don't have a road bike atm so was looking at some 2017 Di2/Disc/CF bikes, but after watching some races I'm thinking a pretty basic alu bike until I've got some crashes out of my system.

Thoughts?

 

[notime]

Seeking opinions from the RB brains trust, I'm thinking about racing and local race scene seems to be mainly weekly criteriums on what appears to be pretty uneventful oval tracks.

What sort of a bike would cut the mustard? I don't have a road bike atm so was looking at some 2017 Di2/Disc/CF bikes, but after watching some races I'm thinking a pretty basic alu bike until I've got some crashes out of my system.

Thoughts?

I did some crits last year on my early 90's 64cm steel roadie commuter. Comfortably finished top 5-10 or so in B grade for the 4 races with quite a few off the fronts for fun, would have held the A group ok, never felt worried about being dropped.

It's a death trap racing though, last race I was leading my son in on the final sprint and I heard a massive crash of carbon to the side behind us and a dude face planted the road so hard plus other injuries to people. My son also crashed out in his first race after being taken out by 2 riders going down in front and he broke a carbon fork. Called it quits, CA license is so stupidly priced that it's not feasible anyway.

Bottom line is anything with 2 wheels that fit's in with their rules, the amount of money you spend on the bike will only make a bee's dick of difference.

 

[schred]

Thanks mate, sounds like you made it look easy and had a good-ish time.

Some of the road-biased forums were saying how important xyz type bike is and it was getting a bit cult-ish. I wish I had a nice steel rig to shake things up, but alas I've got nothing so will need to get started at whatever level.

From what I keep reading I am right to be more concerned with injuries than anything else in cri's but I'm looking for a 2 wheel racing fix and have no inclinations or time for endurance road racing, so cri's seem to fit the bill from a lifestyle perspective.

 

[RB 24]

Hey mate.

Don't get caught up in xyz bike. To be honest in crits if you don't want it damaged don't race it. There is ways a chance you will bin it. But in saying that don't scrimp if you don't need. I love the caad10's. can pick them up second hand for less than a grand now. Good crit mobile with good geometry. Also can't go wrong with a giant tcr. A solid unit also. Just make sure it fits and is comfortable to stay in the drops for 45+ min . Don't get caught up being a hood position rider. As an old timer yelled at me ' protect ya effin hooks'.

Get out there and have fun. Love my crits. Tight fast close awesome.

 

[spikenet]

I raced a TCR alloy for 3 years up until I got wiped out by a car. Just remember, it's not about the bike!

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[schred]

Sweet, thanks guys. I'll see what's available locally.

 

[Alo661]

Cannondale CAAD12. Frames just as light as low-mid end carbon. Will be stiffer than any carbon frame for the same price. Only downside of them is BB30.

 

[beardi]

A few things to think about here.....

Firstly, not all clubs have approved disc brakes for use. So don't assume that you'll be able to race should you buy a disc roady. In any case for crits a disc framed bike is not needed and likely will just cost more and be a lot heavier than a standard road frame.

Geometry - Before buying something I'd realistically assess your flexibility and fitness level. Many pure racing frames (like the caad 10/12 above) are very aggressive and if you're not doing bikram yoga 3 times a week will likely be pretty uncomfortable and in the end will decrease enjoyment. The vast majority of road riders want to ride a pro level bike and in reality they should check their ego and ride something a little more upright and forgiving. This is especially true of mountain bikers used to sitting 'in' their bikes rather than on it.

Some bikes to look out for

Endurance/sportive geometry - Giant defy, specialized roubaix, cannondale synapse, trek domane,

Agressive race frames - giant tcr and propel, specialized allez and tarmac, cannondale caad and supersix evo, trek emonda (somehwere in between) and trek madone


If i were you i'd be buying a used bike until you get a feel for what sort of bike you should be dropping big coin on. Plenty of talk of road bikes all moving over to discs soon enough so seems a risky time to be dropping $10k before standards are settled etc. Having said that I just bought a brand new emonda ALR which was half price and for $1300 I cannot fault it. Phenomenal bike for the cash and would be a superb crit bike.