kevinabbot

So now onto bike recommendations. I am not heavy (I am 5'3" and weigh 114lbs). I need a bike that would cost me 2000 or less with my discount applied and I would wait for a trek sale to do anything anyways to save more. I need a bike that is fast and will help with decents and flats (I can climb fine). I was looking at the Madone SL6 or SL6 disc (Under the perfect circumstances I calculated that I could get it at sub 1900 maybe) but I don't know if that's really what I want. I was thinking about emonda but I think I might get more out of a Madone when it comes to flats because of its aero design.

Let me know your thoughts!

TMonk

My thoughts are that you should pinch your pennies and buy a cheap used bike on craigslist. How new are you to cycling? And then training and racing? I'll bet you have a ways to go by just training and riding consistently for a few years.

I started racing in college at ~19 in 2008 on a steel bike with downtube shifters. Surf craigslist and save your money!

cmh

I disagree with tmonk on the craigslist suggestion. If your discount working at the shop is what you suggest, then you can always sell the bike later without losing much money. However, part of Tmonk's advice is to not feel like you have to go with a high end bike to race and that is spot on. With your discount you can get something well under your $2k budget that works great to start racing.

Doge

Find the races. Go to the races. Meet people.
See what your college offers. Lots of colleges have spare/trial bikes. Not great, but OK - sometimes. I was involved getting those going at my kid's college.

Descents and flats are more about your body position (aero) which is much more significant than the bike. If you have a bike that can climb fine now, sounds like a good bike.

Save your money till you know more.

TMonk

+1 to the above two comments. Study the used market, and if you think you can sell the bike later used without taking too much of a hit, then buying new could be a smarter decision.

gsteinb

My wife runs a marketing department. It's always fun to watch real world examples of marketing working.

kevinabbot

Oh yeah I forgot to mention. I am currently riding a Domane ALR4 disc and I have put over 5000 miles on it in the past 9 months and I am addicted (hence why I worked at a bike shop)

TMonk

So you're 9 months in? You've got a few years of newbie gains before you will be limited by your equipment. Welcome to cycling, and keep riding!!!

Doge

What conference will you race in? It matters a bit. Downhills are not generally a big collegiate thing.

topflightpro

Your Domane is perfectly fine for racing at that level.

kevinabbot

Collegiate I think. It's good to know that downhill isn't a big thing, but I want to do distance races. Crits don't seem like my race because my opitimal race would be really hilly terrain and most crits are just laps in a city.

burnthesheep

That is a big discount if true.

I'd figure out if the discount also applies to other things like a smart trainer.

Not sure where you live, but if you're in college you might not have space to have a bike rodeo like some of us do of a house or shed full of 3 to 4 different bikes: road, cross, TT, etc.........

Meaning, you'd be limited to training outdoors on the road. Increase your training opportunities by looking into that discount towards a smart trainer.

I don't own one, but if I had more time on my hands I'd be all over some Zwift and a smart trainer.

FWIW, I'd get something around $2500 before your discount of 60%. That'd be like $1250 with tax. You'd probably not lose much money selling it later.

Then take the rest towards a smart trainer, Zwift, TP subscription.

Also, you're in college. Go do the crits anyway. It's 30min of priceless tactics and education in racing that as a dad and family man I don't have time for attending all the time. But those lessons, even for someone liking road race, could be super valuable.

Also, lots of your college racing buddies will probably be doing the crits anyway. And if on their team, they may FORCE you to attend some amount of them as a team member.

Doge

Why I asked is schools and conferences are different. Some schools are really into the points competition. Points are more based on participation than racing (they are both), but they will go many places deep and even finishing gets points for your school. There IS participation awarding.
So if you are at a school with a cycling team, you will likely do both, and maybe a TT, or TTT - for the good of the team.


From https://www.usacycling.org/college

"Collegiate cycling is organized into eleven geographic conferences, each of which organizes local racing seasons, manages results and rankings, and makes collegiate cycling happen on the ground. "


I can't speak for the other conferences but the RMCCC ? Home of the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Cycling Conference kids even have a gravel race (road bikes on dirt), and depends what you mean by city https://www.strava.com/segments/20439906?filter=overall, but yes, crits have laps. Some quite tough.

If you want to do extra work qet on the sites and find the races on Strava.


Of note is that the collegiate road racing season is a few months long at best and may have races canceled by snow in some areas - esp this year.

The MTB is fall is very big. Cross and track also, but less big. It takes bikes.


I would be the first to say select your college for what it will get you in your life (most prestigious schools tend to be weak on the cycling side), but the cycling part is very different between schools.

kevinabbot

I will be racing with Penn State (idk if they have tryouts or not). They have like 40-50 riders so at least a few have to be road even though I know Mountian/cyclocross will be more popular.

Also I was looking into the Emonda SL6 Pro and I really like that bike.

topflightpro

Doge is correct about Collegiate Cycling.

Collegiate Cycling covers all four disciplines - Track, Mountain, Cross and Road over the course of a school year. Each season is pretty compressed, and many schools do not do all disciplines - Track probably has the lowest participation rate, but there are schools that only focus on Mountain and Cross or just do Road. Depending on where you are located, you might find different focus areas.

OP, given that you already have a road bike, I suggest you save your money and see if you want to add a bike for a different discipline to your stable, such as a cross or mountain bike. You do not need a fancy bike to race collegiate.

echappist

I raced in the ECCC back when I participated in collegiate cycling as a grad student.

There's likely no tryout, as it's a club sport, not a varsity sport. In my mind, the culture is better for it, as you can be as serious as you want.

In terms of racing, there are very few hilly races in the ECCC. Back when I did it, they were your home race (Black Moshanon), Shippensburg, USMA, MIT, and maybe Vermont/UNH. Of those, only Black Moshanon has climbs that take more than 15 minutes; all others have a 4-8 min-long hill, though the climb at USMA is slightly longer in duration.

Ride whatever you can afford to replace. Actual equipment isn't going to make a big difference.

gsteinb

Fixed that for you. Classic error.

I upgraded to cat one on a mid range giant with out dated 10 speed components. I'm still riding the same bike. Winning hill climbs on it now. Winning road races and crits in prior years, in both age group and open races.

It isn't about the bicycle.

caloso

This.

The bike you have now is perfectly cromulent for racing. Save your money for reg fees, pizza, and beer.

rubiksoval

Ha! Same! But 9 speed. But then I did Athens Twilight and had a crash and flat and they only had 10 speed neutral wheels. I took the wheel anyway but every gear I tried jumped around so much... I went to 10 speed the next season.

gsteinb

just wait it's going to get worse! 10s, 11s, disc brake, rim brake...to a certain extent it's a blessing the sport is virtually dead!

Ttoc6

Enjoy collegiate racing, totally made my college experience. All my friends came from the club and it has lead to post-college life in much the same way.

ECCC is super competitive, but make friends and be conservative in your upgrades. Stay in a category until you are winning, not just finishing!

Your bike is fine. Save your money and use it on things that will further your training (better clothes or a nice trainer!). Take advantage of the shop discount. You'll miss it once you have to get a "real person" job and realize how much the basics (tubes, co2 etc) cost. I raced all 4 years in college (including working for our team to win the NWCCC and drivingout to nationals) on a caad10, upgrading components as they broke or I crashed on them. Hell, that frame is hanging on my wall still and I'm considering building it up again for a couple of local crits I don't want to do on my tarmac.

Hit me up if you have any questions about collegiate racing.

PepeM

Don't buy anything until you get there. You might not have a place to store the bike. Do you want to leave your expensive bike on a bike rack? You don't need anything fancy. Use what you have for at least the first year, then you will be in a better position to decide what you might need in terms of upgrades. Right now you are just guessing. Most of your teammates will be on cheap bikes, so don't worry.

Flatballer

Agree with those saying you don't need a new bike.

I raced my collegiate on first a mid level Fuji with 9 speed and then a knockoff Chinese no name frame with 10 speed.

It's not about the bike, certainly not in collegiate non-TT non national stuff.

Buy a cross or mountain bike instead, find out which you'd rather try and which they do more of there.