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

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

Old 10-02-18, 02:36 AM
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spectastic
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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.
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Old 10-02-18, 06:19 AM
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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.
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Old 10-02-18, 10:41 AM
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Originally Posted by topflightpro
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?
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Old 10-02-18, 12:21 PM
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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

Last edited by cb400bill; 10-02-18 at 08:36 PM. Reason: removed shruggy
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Old 10-02-18, 02:11 PM
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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.
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Old 10-02-18, 04:13 PM
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Originally Posted by spectastic;20595784[b
]they say race on what you can afford to replace.[/b] 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.
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.
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Old 10-02-18, 06:25 PM
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Originally Posted by Hermes
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.
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Old 10-02-18, 06:30 PM
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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...
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Old 10-02-18, 07:06 PM
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Originally Posted by rubiksoval
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.
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Old 10-03-18, 03:49 AM
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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
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Old 10-03-18, 06:24 AM
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Originally Posted by spectastic
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.
wouldn't you be doing all the same races you're doing as a 2?
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Old 10-03-18, 06:26 AM
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i see. so officially, 31/35. but yea, getting cat 1 is a joke now, compared to what it used to be..
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Old 10-03-18, 02:07 PM
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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
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Old 10-03-18, 07:51 PM
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What's the point of having an expensive bike for training rides? Just use the same inexpensive bike for both.
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Old 10-03-18, 08:42 PM
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1st world problems right?

screw it. I'll just race on the nice tcr.. keep life simple.
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Old 10-03-18, 09:08 PM
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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.
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Old 10-04-18, 12:18 PM
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I train on a 2013 Giant TCR Advanced ISP that is a very nice bike. Just handles and rides wonderfully:




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:





Thinking about replacing the frame with a new Allez Sprint and maybe getting some Sram on it or something.
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Old 10-04-18, 12:44 PM
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Originally Posted by TMonk
I train on a 2013 Giant TCR Advanced ISP that is a very nice bike. Just handles and rides wonderfully:




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:





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.
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Old 10-04-18, 01:29 PM
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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.
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Old 10-04-18, 05:34 PM
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I like the old school Selle Italia Flite!
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Old 10-04-18, 06:26 PM
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Thanks, they're old-school cool and very comfortable for me
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Old 10-05-18, 12:11 PM
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Originally Posted by Radish_legs
What's the point of having an expensive bike for training rides? Just use the same inexpensive bike for both.
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:


Racing bike:

Last edited by wktmeow; 10-05-18 at 12:18 PM.
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Old 10-05-18, 01:23 PM
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@tmonk. Why don’t you tell us how you really feel about your Venge.

I was considering getting one until I started to read your stuff and talked with another friend who owned an early version and hated it. Then I learned how hard it was to make fit changes and that clinched the no deal. I guess I dodged that bullet.
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Old 10-05-18, 01:26 PM
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Training bike:



Racing bike:

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Old 10-05-18, 01:28 PM
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@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?
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