Racing on a Van Nicholas Euros.
TheDrunkMonk
Posts: 181
I want to start racing this season. I know fitness is the most important thing, probably closely followed by skill and awareness, but is my bike fit for purpose?
I've got a titanium Euros, and its seen me round a few sportives and on my club rides very comfortably. But my riding position is very upright, it seems small even though I was fitted for it, and I'm not experienced enough to know what makes a difference. My previous bike was a cheapy Halfords aluminium frame (but with pretty much all the same components my Euros has) it was stiffer than a stiff thing and I remember when I switched how I thought the Euros was slow. If I slap it in a big gear and try to sprint out of the saddle the back wheel doesn't want to stay on the ground and flaps from side to side. Is this entirely my lack of understanding/skills or does the geometry of proper race bikes help with this?
I'm also sure I can't get as much power down as I think I should be able to when seated. Is this a geometry thing or again my lack of understanding?
I've got a titanium Euros, and its seen me round a few sportives and on my club rides very comfortably. But my riding position is very upright, it seems small even though I was fitted for it, and I'm not experienced enough to know what makes a difference. My previous bike was a cheapy Halfords aluminium frame (but with pretty much all the same components my Euros has) it was stiffer than a stiff thing and I remember when I switched how I thought the Euros was slow. If I slap it in a big gear and try to sprint out of the saddle the back wheel doesn't want to stay on the ground and flaps from side to side. Is this entirely my lack of understanding/skills or does the geometry of proper race bikes help with this?
I'm also sure I can't get as much power down as I think I should be able to when seated. Is this a geometry thing or again my lack of understanding?
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Comments
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I can only comment on the upright position - drop your front end so you can get a bit aero. as for bouncing your rear wheel about, I'd keep that quiet until race day and watch them disappear behind you
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cant see a problem .. as mentioned ensure stem is not flipped and perhaps remove some spacers to drop the bars lower and practise a more aggressive riding position than you would normally on long slow runs. Even racing you are still using the hoods a lot just to cover the brakes within a bunch0
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Upright position isn't really a problem - aero doesn't make much difference in a pack, as long as you can keep up. Only difference is you plan one of those completely futile solo-attacks that fails 99.9% of time! Regarding rear wheel skip, I find it a problem with stiff frames, my light weight and rough roads - keeping power delivery smooth rather than stomping on the pedals helps. I race on a ti frame rather than a carbon frame solely for this reason. Your VN should be more than adequate for the job - it's not the bike that wins races, but the rider's legs, heart, lungs and head.Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..0
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Monty Dog wrote:Upright position isn't really a problem - aero doesn't make much difference in a pack, as long as you can keep up. Only difference is you plan one of those completely futile solo-attacks that fails 99.9% of time! Regarding rear wheel skip, I find it a problem with stiff frames, my light weight and rough roads - keeping power delivery smooth rather than stomping on the pedals helps. I race on a ti frame rather than a carbon frame solely for this reason. Your VN should be more than adequate for the job - it's not the bike that wins races, but the rider's legs, heart, lungs and head.
The devil is in the detail! 0
