Starting racing (help)

crhynes

I am looking for advice on what sort of bike and gear to buy for starting out racing. I am a huge cycling fan and have always had bikes in my life so i know a small bit. Like most in our small country i dont have a bottomless pit of money so i can forget about venges, propel, c59, pinarellos..... my last bike was a tcr composite but would like to come up a grade this time to a more stiffer carbon. Such as a tcr advanced. I also started looking at the koga kimera?????? Good advice/tips would really be appreciated

The Big Lebowsky

Welcome to boards...The Giant TCR advanced is made from a higher grade of carbon than the TCR composite....therefore it will be lighter and and stiffer.

Perhaps I should nail my colours to the mast , by mentioning that I have a deep mis-trust of carbon bicycle components.

I would think nearly every local race winner, even at A4 level rides a carbon bike these days....carbon is king...but its also notoriously fragile..
I see so many newish carbon bikes damaged beyond repair- usually as a result of quite minor accidents during races.

You could be lucky....a carbon Giant TCR advanced could last many years, if you can manage to stay outta trouble and avoid crashing..
Or it could be broken in several pieces in your first race...

If you can't afford to replace the frame...(about €1200) during the course of your racing season...maybe you should consider another material...

Planet X do some lovely titanium bikes....these should be around the same money as a Giant Tcr advanced

DirkVoodoo

The Big Lebowsky wrote: »

Welcome to boards...The Giant TCR advanced is made from a higher grade of carbon than the TCR composite....therefore it will be lighter and and stiffer.

Perhaps I should nail my colours to the mast , by mentioning that I have a deep mis-trust of carbon bicycle components.

I would think nearly every local race winner, even at A4 level rides a carbon bike these days....carbon is king...but its also notoriously fragile..
I see so many newish carbon bikes damaged beyond repair- usually as a result of quite minor accidents during races.

You could be lucky....a carbon giant tcr advanced could last many years, if you are lucky and manage to stay outta trouble...Or it could be broken in several pieces in your first race...

If you can't afford to replace the frame...(about €1200) during the course of your racing season...maybe you should consider another material...

Planet X do some lovely titanium bikes....these should be around the same money as a Giant Tcr advanced

Seriously, this carbon scare mongering has to stop.

I had a 2012 TCR Advanced, lovely bike, would buy one again in a heart beat. I have yet to see one spontaneously disintegrate while being ridden, and I worked with a Giant dealer.

The Big Lebowsky

Sir- I never mentioned anything about carbon bikes spontaneously disintegrating beneth their owners. I merely suggested to the OP if he/she intends to use a carbon frame for racing, then it would be prudent to have enough money in reserve to cover the cost of a replacment frameset, should it be damaged while racing or training.

The OP also indicated that he/she doesn't have access to a endless supply of money...

Harrybelafonte

OP, what's your budget?

crhynes

Around 2500 but could push to 3k as my budget... I think carbon is the way to go if I am thinking of racing! Any thoughts about this koga kimera?????? http://www.koga.com/koga_uk/?bike=true&r=41468#5

The Big Lebowsky

Would prefer the Giant Tcr advanced myself...as it seems to enjoy an enviable reputation as an excellent racing machine.

dave_o_brien

crhynes wrote: »

Around 2500 but could push to 3k as my budget... I think carbon is the way to go if I am thinking of racing! Any thoughts about this koga kimera?????? http://www.koga.com/koga_uk/?bike=true&r=41468#5

If you crash your carbon bike, it may get damaged. What tbl ignores is that the impacts required to damage carbon would also damage titanium, steel and aluminium.

Personally, i prefer the giant to the koga, but wiggle have a few lovely Ridleys on offer, there's a nice damocles there for reasonable money. Also canyon/rose.

Harrybelafonte

dave_o_brien wrote: »

If you crash your carbon bike, it may get damaged. What tbl ignores is that the impacts required to damage carbon would also damage titanium, steel and aluminium.

Personally, i prefer the giant to the koga, but wiggle have a few lovely Ridleys on offer, there's a nice damocles there for reasonable money. Also canyon/rose.

Lots of Ridleys on CRC too.

OP I still race on an aluminum bike (restricted by finances rather than principle) and may only go Chinese carbon next year. Having come across some of the crashes in A4 and seen the damage wrecked on the carbon bikes can I suggest that staying with what you have will do you no harm and you'll still have money to upgrade after a year racing in A4 or at least have funds for a replacement if the unthinkable happens.

smurphy29

You can also get your bike insured against crashing it in a bike race with cyclesure. A friend of mine cracked his carbon frame in his first race but was able to replace it with the insurance.

joxerjohn

You might like to consider Canyon, you would get a lot of bike for your budget there and they also offer a replacement frame service for racers. You can check out the details on line.

C3PO

The Big Lebowsky wrote: »

Welcome to boards...The Giant TCR advanced is made from a higher grade of carbon than the TCR composite....therefore it will be lighter and and stiffer.

Perhaps I should nail my colours to the mast , by mentioning that I have a deep mis-trust of carbon bicycle components.

I would think nearly every local race winner, even at A4 level rides a carbon bike these days....carbon is king...but its also notoriously fragile..
I see so many newish carbon bikes damaged beyond repair- usually as a result of quite minor accidents during races.

You could be lucky....a carbon Giant TCR advanced could last many years, if you can manage to stay outta trouble and avoid crashing..
Or it could be broken in several pieces in your first race...

If you can't afford to replace the frame...(about €1200) during the course of your racing season...maybe you should consider another material...

Planet X do some lovely titanium bikes....these should be around the same money as a Giant Tcr advanced

Do you haunt other forums or is it just the Cycling one?

dave_o_brien

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

Lots of Ridleys on CRC too.

OP I still race on an aluminum bike (restricted by finances rather than principle) and may only go Chinese carbon next year. Having come across some of the crashes in A4 and seen the damage wrecked on the carbon bikes can I suggest that staying with what you have will do you no harm and you'll still have money to upgrade after a year racing in A4 or at least have funds for a replacement if the unthinkable happens.

CRC have frames only for the Ridley's, but yes, good bikes, I raced for a few years happily on one myself.

If I was to be buying a new race bike for €2500, I honestly would get this:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=104496

And spend however much I felt comfortable parting with on a good set of wheels for race days. It might be aluminium, but so what? Aluminium, done well, is great!

petethedrummer

crhynes wrote: »

Good advice/tips would really be appreciated

Just race on what you have. Unless you are pretty talented you will need time to physically adjust to the pace of racing and the tactics. Half a kilo in bike weight won't stop you from being dropped half way round. Tactical nous could save you buckets of effort in a race.

If you are contesting for wins and losing out by a few inches, then consider buying something fancy.