Good enough?

KillerMetre
KillerMetre Posts: 199
edited July 2010 in Amateur race
Basically I bought a Giant defy a year ago with my heart firmly set on purely doing sportives,however I am now looking to start racing next season.My main concern is that my bike wont be up to the job of racing,especially looking at the bikes that the racers in my club have,which seem pretty high end.

I have a SRAM rival group set with fulcrum racing 5's.Will I be at a significant disadvantage on the defy frame?

Comments

  • LJAR
    LJAR Posts: 128
    Simply put - no,

    I race on a kinesis aluminium frame, rival and handbuilt 32 spoke wheelset. (105 on Open pro)

    Your setup will be fine.
  • andyxm
    andyxm Posts: 132
    You'll probably get replies suggesting you get better wheels etc...., that fact is that in amateur cycling the limiting factor is generally the rider not the bike
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,589
    andyxm wrote:
    You'll probably get replies suggesting you get better wheels etc...., that fact is that in amateur cycling the limiting factor is generally the rider not the bike

    +1 I did my first race on a chromoly frame with ridiculously heavy wheels. The bike isn't that far away from what others will ride in any case. No point splashing out and then finding you don't like racing and you may find that witha shiny new bike you are more nervous and get dropped as you're too worried to ride close to the others.
  • sheffsimon
    sheffsimon Posts: 1,282
    KillerMetre wrote:
    Basically I bought a Giant defy a year ago with my heart firmly set on purely doing sportives,however I am now looking to start racing next season.My main concern is that my bike wont be up to the job of racing,especially looking at the bikes that the racers in my club have,which seem pretty high end.

    I have a SRAM rival group set with fulcrum racing 5's.Will I be at a significant disadvantage on the defy frame?

    Nowt at all wrong with that for racing on, I raced on road on Fulcrum 5's last year, on a Kinesis ally cross frame, with some old mix and match campag, and cinelli bars from the year dot.
  • racingcondor
    racingcondor Posts: 1,434
    That'll be fine. All the races I've taken points in I've been riding my winter bike (1500g alu frame, 105 and Fulcrum 7's) while my racing bike is in need of a tune up. It feels nice to be riding one of the better bikes at a race but makes little difference as long as everything works properly.

    Skipping gears, dropped chains and bad brake rub however will cost you...
  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    Race with what you've got. See how you get on. If you are losing races by a few seconds then it's time to upgrade (yes - probably the wheels first). If you're losing by minutes - the bike won't make that much difference.

    And hey - if you're winning.... even better!
  • sampurnell
    sampurnell Posts: 126
    Pokerface wrote:
    Race with what you've got. See how you get on. If you are losing races by a few seconds then it's time to upgrade

    tbh if your losing by a few seconds work on your sprint rather then upgrading the bike
    as someone who has ridden 1 season of a few sportives there are leaps and bounds to be made through a bit of hard training.
  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    sampurnell wrote:
    Pokerface wrote:
    Race with what you've got. See how you get on. If you are losing races by a few seconds then it's time to upgrade

    tbh if your losing by a few seconds work on your sprint rather then upgrading the bike
    as someone who has ridden 1 season of a few sportives there are leaps and bounds to be made through a bit of hard training.

    ^--- What he said.
  • grahamcp
    grahamcp Posts: 323
    ...and unless you've got a very good reason not to, enter some events this year instead of putting it off until next.
  • richk
    richk Posts: 564
    In the real world, nobody I've met seems at all bothered about what equipment others may or may not have.
    There is no secret ingredient...
  • Slimbods
    Slimbods Posts: 321
    Apart from the guy sat on it :)
  • Mike400
    Mike400 Posts: 226
    Thats kinda been whats been putting me off looking into my local club.

    Ive only a B'twin sport 1, so pretty entry level spec, shimano 2300 etc.

    But I dont see the point spending more until I know I want to commit to a club, and try racing.......

    Besides im (still) waiting on C2W and my commuter bike is starting to get a bit long in the tooth too........
    twitter @fat_cyclist
  • freehub
    freehub Posts: 4,257
    If you've only just started cycling, just go on club rides, commit to the club if you want, and then do club rides and train this year, and perhaps next, then go into racing next year or the year after.
  • Slimbods
    Slimbods Posts: 321
    Really, the only person who cares is you. The lower category races are designed for beginners, no point doing those on serious kit. Try it, see if you like it, and if it sticks spend the money if you think you need to.

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