merlinextraligh

The old saw, that you want a cheap crit fame because you’re inevitably going to brake it, is way overstated IMHO. I’ve raced a 100 plus crits, had several crashes, and never broke a frame. In that time, I’ve seen a few frames of various materials destroyed, but it’s a pretty small fraction of the total number of bikes raced.

Keefusb

It really depends. If you are racing in Cat 5 and even Cat 4 crits, there are going to be wrecks. It wasn't until I turned 35 and qualified for Masters level crits did I see the number of wrecks level out considerably.

Psimet2001 

For years I have seen way more wrecks in cat 3 racing than cat 4 or 5. The reality is there is such a huge talent discrepancy in 4/5 racing that most of those that are going to cause an issue can't hang long enough to make it an issue. Crash 3's (cat 3) all think their poop doesn't stink. Enough speed to be a problem and an unwillingness to realize or admit when they don't have the talent to do it safely.

Case in point - Cat 3 Superweek in Evanston.
Guy who wrecks at 10 seconds in is an old bikeforums member

So no...racing cat 5 or cat 4 doesn't necessarily mandate there will be wrecks.

msu2001la

I haven’t seen that one yet. Guy in blue playing through. Wow.

You are absolutely correct about the Crash-3’s.

Bob Ross

Thread Drift: In the cooperative group cycling skills program I used to coach we would refer to riders with ^^^that combination of (ahem) talents as "weaponized" ...and note, that was over a decade before anyone was using that term to describe the Justice Department!

Psimet2001 

That was recursive if I recall his screen name correctly. He has a thread/post on here or in the racing forum that covered all the parts and pieces he had to replace that year during Superweek. Included a couple of helmets - many rolls of bar tape, a wheel or two, etc. In contrast I am pretty sure I raced a few of the Cat 4/5 races that year in Superweek and didn't get involved in any crash. Hard to do when you get dropped.

merlinextraligh

So a few years ago raced a crit in downtown Tampa that was highly technical. Lots of cobbled corners, and some horrible traffic calming devices. The Cat 5 race was last. Bunch of my teammates grabbed beers and headed t the worst spot, expecting to witness mass carnage. The race split up so fast, it was just groups of 2 and 3 going through the pinch points, and no crashes.

We were highly disappointed.