Who here races on their 'backup' or 'training' bike?
 

they say race on what you can afford to replace. that said, I want to buy a nice tcr disc for 90% of my riding/training, but I think I'd rather race on something less nice, with rim brakes. I'm wondering if anyone else here does that, and would be willing to share their perspective.

I do. I've done it for years. I have an Argon 18 Gallium Pro that is my main bike, but I usually race my Specialized Allez Sprint, which also sits on the trainer.

do you keep your power meter on the main bike or do you have one for the race bike too?

I raced on my old race bike this season, but upgraded the components after I got my Tarmac.

It's a 2012 caad 10, but I got a donor bike with sram red 11 speed, had to pick up 2nd set of handlebars and saddle to match what I prefer. I swap the power meter over for race day, which is sort of annoying, but I can't afford two of them so

I have one on each bike.

I was going to switch back and forth, but it became annoying. So I found a used SRM, sold some old stuff I wasn't using, and set up my second bike with a PM.

I also have one on my track bike.

Trying to be helpful and not snarky... what is the availability of a replacement brain, collarbone, shoulder, wrist, elbow and etc? Speaking for me, those parts are unavailable as exact replacements or not at all. A ride in the ambulance to the ER to get checked out is expensive and many times not covered by insurance or out of network.

IMO, the race bike selection should be the bike that you are most comfortable and confident on that delivers the highest degree of margin in races. Replacement of a racing bicycle, even and expensive one, is small potatoes compared to getting you repaired.

What I do is race the best equipment I have where I have the most confidence in. Having said all that, having a great backup race bike is perfectly fine.

point taken. I've been fortunate to have not been part of a crash bad enough to be seriously injured. I think that's largely attributed to when I fall, all my processing power goes into how to protect me, not my bike. For me, having some bad stuff happen to the bike is a lot more likely.

also, disc brake has clear advantages over rim brakes in terms of rider comfort during training, but not necessarily in racing. rim brakes are still marginally faster.

Totally off topic, but are you really 1 pt away from your upgrade? Have you tried applying anyway? I know a few people who have recently upgraded a few points shy...

haha. yea, if i count the college races. i'm not eager to cat up. racing hasn't been a top priority for me lately. I'll only be a cat 1 if I can find myself in a team situation where there's effective teamwork. until then, cat 1 is suicide.

technically you can't use collegiate results for a cat 1, but i've heard of crazier things happening with c1 upgrades...
https://legacy.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=6831

wouldn't you be doing all the same races you're doing as a 2?

i see. so officially, 31/35. but yea, getting cat 1 is a joke now, compared to what it used to be..

Still racing my '06 Tarmac while the '15 Tarmac pulls occasional race duty (hilly events). The '06 survived a $1,300 crash this spring (most of that wheels, but also saddle, seat post, bars, shifter, gloves, bar tape and misc. repairs). It'll be back out racing again in the spring :)

What's the point of having an expensive bike for training rides? Just use the same inexpensive bike for both.

1st world problems right?

screw it. I'll just race on the nice tcr.. keep life simple.

I'm training and racing on my cheap supersix evo (the non-himod, w/ 105). I'm thinking about getting the allez sprint disc with 105. But part of me thinks what's the point.

I train on a 2013 Giant TCR Advanced ISP that is a very nice bike. Just handles and rides wonderfully:


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...36395cdbbb.jpg

I race on this crappy 2015 Venge Expert with 105. It has all the aero bits and is a little faster at speed in a straight line, but it's creaky, handles poorly compared to the TCR and generally pisses me off:



https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b97c86fe86.jpg

Thinking about replacing the frame with a new Allez Sprint and maybe getting some Sram on it or something.

so, like, replacing the venge with a 2013 TCR is totally out of the question :-)

honestly, I sometimes wonder why I have purchased anything since my CAAD9 from 2010. that was my all time favorite bike.

I race the Venge b/c I wanted something fast and cheap to race on - perfect. The TCR is a boutique high end carbon frame that I would hate to crash. Actually, I did once and got it repaired locally! We have a guy in SD that is a CF repair expert and on the board of directors for the San Diego Velodrome - so I have a source for that on a first-name basis :)

I also own a caad9 from 2009 at my parents house as a backup/loaner bike. Haven't ridden it in a year or so, but let a teammate finish Tour de Murrieta on it after he crashed his bike in the crit. It's a great riding bike.

I like the old school Selle Italia Flite!

Thanks, they're old-school cool and very comfortable for me :)

When you can afford a nice bike but can't/don't want to afford to replace it if you crash. I spend most of my time on the bike training, so why not do it on something that's enjoyable to ride? And risk of crashing during training is fairly low compared to racing. I don't *need* a carbon bike, and I don't *need* electronic shifting, but it's nice to have for the majority of my riding

Training bike:
https://i.imgur.com/yVI7YpN.jpg

Racing bike:
https://i.imgur.com/x04Dmrm.jpg

Training bike:

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...03fa6d4467.jpg

Racing bike:

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...03fa6d4467.jpg

@wktmeow. I love the deep section wheels on the training bike. Which bike did you race in Valley of the Sun where you won? Did you use the deep section wheels at VOS?