Is your race bike your best bike?

neeb
neeb Posts: 4,467
edited January 2014 in Amateur race
Just wondering how many of you who do road races regularly do so on your best bike, or if you have a better/more bling bike that you never race on because it's too good to crash. Not counting wheels - I assume that most people use their best wheels for racing, at least some of the time.

Comments

  • alihisgreat
    alihisgreat Posts: 3,872
    You can get insurance... which from memory was ~£100 for my £1k bike so would obviously be more for a more expensive bike.
  • VamP
    VamP Posts: 674
    All my bikes are chosen with the thought of being raced, so no the very concept of a bike that's too good to be raced is alien to me.
  • bigmat
    bigmat Posts: 5,134
    I toyed with the idea of doing crits on my alloy commuter, but in the end I mainly ride my best carbon bike. Always carbon bike in road races. I'm not planning to fall off*. It hurts and its expensive regardless of which bike you're on.

    *I did get taken out in my first proper road race (I was probably going to win as well - honest!) but damage wasn't too bad - needed new bars, new tape and a few touch ups to rear mech, right pedal and saddle but the carbon frame and forks were absolutely fine.
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  • racingcondor
    racingcondor Posts: 1,434
    I just race the bike that works best at the time. Always seems to be something slightly off on one (of two) and I've never been one to spend hours cleaning the bike straight before race day.

    Pop on the best wheels and get stuck in.
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 8,744
    Yes, but it is 6 years old ow so not too worried. When I got it I did do a cople of races on my Winter bike without mudguards but then thought sod it what's a race bike for if not racing. My limit now for a new bike is probably about 2k, maybe some nicer wheels extra, simply because I wouldn't want to risk more than that.
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  • neeb
    neeb Posts: 4,467
    Thanks for the replies. Reason for asking is that I'm planning to do more racing next year and I already managed to crash in a race-cum-sportive this year. I live in Finland, where the scene isn't nearly as developed as in the UK and most of the races are ridiculously early in the season (the Finns all disappear off to their country cottages in the summer to drink beer and fish, bless 'em...).

    I had a Trigon RQC-29 with Super Record, but after damaging the frame in the crash I bought a Scott Foil Team Issue frameset on impulse. The SR is now on the Foil, but the Trigon frame is repairable and I have enough bits lying around to build it up again with half-decent stuff for a minimal outlay. In fact it's a really good frame, as stiff as the Foil, just a little bit heavier and less aero (and less bling of course). I reckon it would be practically as good as the Foil for racing and it wouldn't be such a disaster if it got totalled. Also it'd be really embarrassing to get dropped on a team issue Foil with SR.. :wink:
  • bigdaveskinnytyre
    bigdaveskinnytyre Posts: 218
    When I came back to racing I deliberately downgraded my frame, I had been riding an S-Works SL-2 Roubaix but couldn't face the prospect of smashing in a nearly £2000 frame in a 4th Cat race so I sold it and got a Ribble R872 to race on (I actually think the Ribble is a better race bike). OK it still has Dura Ace on it so is a bit excessive for my level of racing (now a 3rd Cat) but I'm not nearly so worried about crashing it. I personally now only race on what I can reasonably afford to replace; so if I smash in any of the Dura Ace kit it will probably be replaced with Ultegra. My training bike now has a more expensive frame than my race bike (£1000 custom Ti Vs £600 Ribble).
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  • buckles
    buckles Posts: 694
    VamP wrote:
    All my bikes are chosen with the thought of being raced, so no the very concept of a bike that's too good to be raced is alien to me.
    This.

    I've considered getting a nice 'bling' bike but I'm not sure what the point would be....
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  • ozzzyosborn206
    ozzzyosborn206 Posts: 1,340
    i always race my best bike which is a specialized sl4, if you think your bike is 'too expensive to race' then why did you buy it? to look good on a coffee ride?. Admittedly i own a set of zipp 404s but often just race on my ksyriums, this is mainly because if i puncture it will only cost me £5 not £50 , but i will use the zipps for higher priority races.

    Also i am way past the point where i would back off in a corner because i didn't want to trash my bike, i wouldn't even think about my bike if i thought i may crash i would much sooner worry about face planting the tarmac or breaking a collarbone, i don't think anyone genuinely thinks about their bike before themselves they just think it sounds cool to say that.
  • neeb
    neeb Posts: 4,467
    ozzzyosborn206 wrote:
    i always race my best bike which is a specialized sl4, if you think your bike is 'too expensive to race' then why did you buy it? to look good on a coffee ride?.
    Well, unless you are a pro (even if you are a pro) the chances are you spend much more time riding your bike when you are training or riding for some other reason than when you are racing. At least where I am, even if I entered every race I could it wouldn't amount to a big percentage of the total number of hours and miles I spend on the bike. I enjoy all of my riding, otherwise I wouldn't do it.
  • ozzzyosborn206
    ozzzyosborn206 Posts: 1,340
    neeb wrote:
    ozzzyosborn206 wrote:
    i always race my best bike which is a specialized sl4, if you think your bike is 'too expensive to race' then why did you buy it? to look good on a coffee ride?.
    Well, unless you are a pro (even if you are a pro) the chances are you spend much more time riding your bike when you are training or riding for some other reason than when you are racing. At least where I am, even if I entered every race I could it wouldn't amount to a big percentage of the total number of hours and miles I spend on the bike. I enjoy all of my riding, otherwise I wouldn't do it.


    yeah i get that but if all your training is to help to get better at racing why put yourself at a disadvantage by not using your best bike, i understand that you are in a different situation to most where your 'second bike' is still top notch whereas for my i have my sl4 and a allez sport so its a no brainer
  • neeb
    neeb Posts: 4,467
    ozzzyosborn206 wrote:
    yeah i get that but if all your training is to help to get better at racing why put yourself at a disadvantage by not using your best bike, i understand that you are in a different situation to most where your 'second bike' is still top notch whereas for my i have my sl4 and a allez sport so its a no brainer
    Yup, point taken, I wouldn't want to avoid using the best bike if it put me at any disadvantage. But Chorus vs. SR isn't going to make the slightest bit of difference, especially if I can still get the weight down to around 6.8kg. The Foil has a slight aero advantage (which is just, but barely, quantifiable looking at the averages of my times over the same routes), but in a bunch it's not going to make any difference at all.
  • racingcondor
    racingcondor Posts: 1,434
    If it's working the disadvantage will be pretty much nil so as long as you like the bike (i.e. don't hate the ride compared to your £4k dream bike) ride whatever you like.

    I know one someone who does fine racing crits on his Ribble Alu with 9 speed Sora. Never held him back.
  • macroadie
    macroadie Posts: 172
    My bike mechanic advised me to use my less expensive bike (Felt F5) for racing and not Giant propel advanced since Cat5/4 have higher chances of crashing.
  • buckles
    buckles Posts: 694
    That's why people say "don't race what you can't replace"

    I'm sure very few people would actually race a bike that's so expensive they couldn't afford a new one, but you get the gist.
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  • ianeire
    ianeire Posts: 14
    My best bike is my default race bike - Storck Absolutist.
    My other bike is a Planet X Sl Pro carbon, and that gets used for everything else - including the early season races where the fields can be huge and nervous.
  • glasgowbhoy
    glasgowbhoy Posts: 1,341
    ianeire wrote:
    My best bike is my default race bike - Storck Absolutist.
    My other bike is a Planet X Sl Pro carbon, and that gets used for everything else - including the early season races where the fields can be huge and nervous.

    This is a good point. Early season the roads can still be bad, the standard of riding can be dodgy especially if you are riding APR events. I try to avoid 2/3/4 events at the start of the season and prefer to ride the E/1/2/3 where the general standard of riding in the bunch is better. I'd still race on a training bike until the end of April although it is still a carbon frame.
  • milese
    milese Posts: 1,233
    It is a tricky one.

    I've got a £4k BMC (that I bought used for considerably less than that), and whilst I'll happily race it in road races I'll be a bit nervous about riding it in crits. But my next best bike is fairly abused Alloy Giant SCR which I would feel disadvantaged on, so I'll forget about the worse case, and get on with it.

    It it gets broken I'll be annoyed but get on with it.

    I'd rather take the risk with the good bike, than go out and spend another £1k on a Planet X or something that would just be used for crits.

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