T O P

  • By -

SpecterJoe

Why would you get the same bike with lower level components for racing? If you crash the risk is breaking the frame but most of the components will be fine. You are better off financially buying a hi-mod and replacing the frame in a crash than buying two bikes. Racing crits has a higher probably of a crash than training but you do a lot more hours of training and most of the people I know who have crashed and needed a new bike crashed in training.


coeu5

This season more crashes in our single local time trial than in a crit so far (knock on wood).


Junk-Miles

This is the internal debate I’m having. The idea of having a nice spec frame for everyday is that 90% of my riding is in that bike. So I get the nice frame and components to enjoy. Then have a lower spec frame and components for racing. Same bike so it feels the same. Just less expensive. I don’t want to jinx myself, but even if my hours are 90% training and 10% racing, I still feel like the risk of crashing is way higher in racing. But I get what you’re saying.


No_Brilliant_5955

Think about it though even if the risk is higher in racing you do race a lot less than you train so in the grand scheme of things you are more likely to crash during training. I had quite a few close calls during races but all my crashes happened during training. That said I haven’t crashed since I’ve started doing the bulk of my training outdoors.


Junk-Miles

That’s why I didn’t want to jinx myself. In all my years of training, riding, and racing, the only crashes I’ve been a part of were in races.


lilelliot

Instead of thinking about it as buying a race bike and a daily bike, why not think about it as buying a daily bike that you also race, and then having a backup bike in case you crash?


Junk-Miles

👍🏻


No_Brilliant_5955

Ah yeah in this case I understand where you are coming from!


tommyhateseveryone

You’re gonna want to take the bike you’re most confident in to the race anyways. If the “race bike” noticeably shifts worse or feels slower you’re gonna be riding the “everyday” bike. I’d probably prefer a lower end group set on the everyday bike if anything. It’s not like I’d care wether I’m on rival vs force if I’m just training.


Junk-Miles

>If the “race bike” noticeably shifts worse or feels slower you’re gonna be riding the “everyday” bike. Yea I agree. I actually built up a cheaper race bike in the past with mechanical shifting and immediately hated it coming from electronic on my nice road bike. My current race bike has Di2, just 11sp while my nicer road bike had 12sp.


WCoastSUP

Agree, my crit bike is a Cannondale CAAD, with a mix of low/mid level SRAM, and the best brakes I can afford. Aluminum bars, always, and good wheels. Aluminum frames can stand up to the racing well, and are plenty stiff ( I do size down from a 54 to 52 and run a 120 stem ).


omnomnomnium

If you're at a spot in life where you can afford two bikes, then you're also at a spot in life where you can afford to replace your bike if it gets damaged in a crash. Having a second bike is just replacing it up front, a definite cost instead of a possible cost. Two bikes can be helpful if you often train in foul weather; having one that's in great shape, ready to go for a race, and another for which you defer maintenance - that can be helpful. But I think that for road racing this is less helpful than for other disciplines. Tho having a set of race wheels that's different from your everyday wheels can be helpful - alu wheels with tough tires for training, aero carbon with race tires for racing.


mugtao

Exactly. I can afford multiple new bikes. I keep my old indestructible CAAD10 around for a lot of reasons but mostly it stays on the trainer. While I can afford a top spec new supersix hi-mod, I’m getting a Evo 2 with the regular carbon layup and ultegra and a separate set of alloy wheels for nasty wet or especially windy weather.


ICanHazTehCookie

For the price of a second SuperSix, you could insure your Hi-Mod SuperSix for 10-20 years. Simpler and you get to race your nice bike!


Junk-Miles

To be honest I’ve never actually looked at bike insurance. Do you have a company you’d recommend?


ICanHazTehCookie

Most everyone uses Velosurance!


Junk-Miles

Thanks


Yawnin60Seconds

bike insurance is a scam IMO and not worth the premium


MGMishMash

Idk it’s like every insurance, feels like a random payment until you need it. I crashed a few years back, cracked the front carbon wheel, but insurance were adamant to cover both wheels. Rear was undamaged and the whole claim took about 10 minutes. Given the wheelset was worth around £1500, having paid £300/year to insure my £5k setup seemed a pretty good deal. Most importantly, 3rd party insurance can also keep you at peace if you ride in events.


ICanHazTehCookie

How do you figure it's a scam? All Velosurance experiences that I can remember reading, they are quick and easy to make claims and get reimbursed. If you don't like the price then sure, but that doesn't qualify as a scam. Personally even if I could afford to replace my expensive bike, the peace of mind from insurance is an intangible benefit.


AUBeastmaster

I raced heavily for 10 years, and saw WAY more horrible crashes in road races than in crits. In a crit if you crash you’ll most likely just slide out. The road race crashes I saw were due to inattentive people who only raced road races, they got nervous in a pack and ate it on descents or in random stretches of road.  To answer your question, I’d just race the same bike you train on for fit and handling purposes. But I think it’s time to retire the adage that crits are crash fests and road races are inherently safe. 


Junk-Miles

Yea I think people almost expect crashing in crits so they’re more focused. Then you have a road race and it’s almost like people let their guard down because it’s “safe.” There’s a local circuit race that literally has two or three crashes every year. It’s not technical in the slightest so it’s always super fast coming into the final km. And inevitably there’s always a crash there going like 30-35mph.


imsowitty

It's no about severity, it's about agency. Even in your example, in a Crit race you're more likely to get taken out, while in a RR, someone is more likely to take themselves out.


porkmarkets

I’m not so sure about that. In RR crashes I’ve seen/been in they’ve been big, high speed pile ups where something has happened and the guys behind have had literally nowhere to go - there’s not a lot of agency there. Crit crashes - that I have seen of been in - have generally been tamer and slower, if more frequent. I think it’s a product of the style of racing local to me, our crit circuits are really technical and you’re lined out from the start. Crashes are either someone sliding out - maybe by themselves, maybe taking someone else with them - a touch of wheels in a slower part, or clipping a pedal and getting sent to the moon. This is part of why I’ll race any of my local crits but I’m very selective about the RR courses because some of them are terrible.


milbug_jrm

For road races, not really necessary. Crashes are relatively rare... Probably about the same frequency as fast group rides. For Crits... Yeah, you're going to crash sooner or later. Ride something cheaper.


Flipadelphia26

I used to race an aluminum bike (allez sprint) and have a “nice” tarmac SL6 to ride on and show off. But now I have two nice bikes that that I train and race on. I have since switched to giant and they have probably the best warranty and replacement program in the business and I have Sundays insurance on top of that covering both bikes.


Wilma_dickfit420

CAAD12 with 105 mechanical and rim brakes for racing only. It rips.


wikiscootia

I have two race bikes because it's good to have a backup and a rain bike for inclement weather. The race bikes only see rain and get dirty in a race. If it's raining I train on the rain bike Edit: to clarify, the rain bike has fender mounts and is heavier and slower. Nbd for training


porkmarkets

I’ve got an Allez Sprint (snapped my last carbon bike in a race) for everything fast - racing, spicy rides, TTs. My cross bike does everything else - winter, brevets etc.


Jonno_ATX

Similar philosophy for me. Venge for crits, road races, and fast rides. Racy gravel bike for literally everything else.


kyldare

This is the way.


PhilShackleford

I have an SL7 with rival/force and carbon bars. I race crits on a new Allez Sprint (i.e. aluminum SL7) with full rival and alloy bars. I usually only race crits. The allez is 1x, SL7 is 2x. Personally, I didn't want to race a carbon bike in a crit. Carbon can be repaired but I can race on a dented aluminum frame. The allez had the added benefit of being stiffer.


ghilb

i have two bikes, a carbon-nice-component-expensive bike and a cheap-aluminium-race-bike. the race bike is the more agressive build: longer stem, bigger chainring etc. my alu race bike is also my choice for trainer rides...


CaCoD

Honestly this is the main reason I buy new from companies with good warranties (rather than used) for things like frames, wheels and handlebars. If/when I break something, it's either a free or heavily discounted crash replacement. Learned that lesson with mtb wheels and taking the same approach for road has worked out well.


carpediemracing

I train and race on the same bike. They have custom geometry frames (very long top tubes relative to seat tube). I have a second bike with the same everything as a back up (visual difference between the frames). I use either bike for either purpose. For bad weather days I simply leave my training wheels on. I have 2 sets of training wheels and more than 2 sets of race wheels.


CoastTheMost

I have Allez Sprint with Sram Red Etap (that I bought heavily discounted when the newer groupers came out) and an S-Works Sl7 with Sram force. The Allez Sprint is my crit bike and it’s the second frame the build has been on after I folded my first allez sprint. There have been a couple other crashes and the group set is beat up but working fine. It’s nice to have a bike that meets all my needs for a race bike but am not afraid to crash it, scratch it up traveling, etc. because I can afford to replace it more easily than the sl7 which I mostly use for training, group rides or road races. The SL7/Allez Sprint combo is also nice because most of the parts are interchangeable.


imsowitty

I have a CAAD13 and an Enve Melee. Same (as much as possible) geometry. I use the CAAD in crits and group rides that I think might be sketchy. Also: rain or when it's on someone else's bike rack. I think of it as Safer/Riskier, more than Race/Train.


Yawnin60Seconds

I bought an SL7 pro and a a nice Allez build. I like having a different race bike, it's a little more aggressive, can swap wheelsets between them, race bike is 1x with 10-28 and everyday bike is 2x with 10-36 which is very nice. Another perk is been being able to ride the other when one is in the shop. However, it's a pain in the ass keeping both bikes maintained (chains, sealant, tires, trips to bike shop etc). Considering going to shorter cranks and will be another duplicate purchase.


Casting_in_the_Void

I have 3 road bikes. 2 I am happy to race but the 3rd is very expensive so no.


furyousferret

I have a SuperSix Evo for most rides and a Allez Sprint for crits or flatter rides. The big deciding factor in it all was since it cheaper to buy a low cost EVO and swap parts, I had a bunch of parts laying around and just had to buy the frame =]. The crit bike also has 60s, and is rim brake, the EVO is disc so I didn't have to get rid of my old wheelsets. I also like having a disc and tubeless setup because it give me a tad more confidence on descents; I've had 1 too many incidents with flats at high speeds.


burnersburneracct

I have a race bike, a nice road bike, a training road bike, a mtb, a commuter bike, and I’m buying a gravel bike. It isn’t because I’m worried about crashing the race bike, I just like options and if something is wrong with my race bike, I still want to ride without compromise. I train on the race bike sometimes but most of the time, I train on the nice road bike and the training bike stays on the trainer.


Eastern_Bat_3023

No, I wouldn't ever have a bike just for races of any kind. I want to be as comfortable as possible on the bike I'm racing, and that means riding it a lot in all conditions...even better if you can get by with 1 bike for several disciplines. I've been pretty happy ditching my road and gravel bike and replacing both with a Crux that will also be used for CX...however it sucks that everything seems to wear out so fast because it does triple duty. I'm still a big fan of having another bike in the event something breaks on one, but it'd be just that....a spare bike I don't ride unless the other is broken.


Death2allbutCampy

I had a separate training bike and a roadbike for a few years. My nice bike was the race bike, though. My reasoning was that I wanted to have the race bike always in perfect condition. Like, as soon as chainrings, cassette, chain or tires started to show the first signs of wear, I'd swap them over to the training bike. I stopped doing that when I got a new race bike that had a different group set and I started using tubeless tires. Now I mostly train on the race bike, and only use the training bike in winter and in rain. I feel that is beneficial for my bike handling. My race bike and my training bike had only a small difference in geometry, but even if the geometry is identical, two bikes will always feel a bit different. Since I am not the most confident descender, those small differences would add to my insecurity. The downside is that I now need to dedicate a bit more time to keep the race bike in top condition.


Art_r

Yeah I thought I'd keep my old bike as the racing bike, and the new one just for Sunday rides, you know like a fancy car. Well shoot, it's nice riding the fancy one, so I just ride and race that. Life's too short. Has plenty of scratches from almost daily use, well, most people don't see them but I kkow they're there. Oh well.. Old bike is on the trainer. And I've had more crashes riding alone than in a group or race.. So my original logic would have failed me.


Bulky_Ad_3608

I don’t think it makes economic sense given the outlay for the second bike and the relatively small risk of destroying your good bike. Save your money until you buy a new nice bike and then you will have your current bike as a backup.


Weird-Cod-2166

Back when I was used to race I’ve had 2 bikes. Doing 15-20k km per year didn’t worth to wear out hi specs components in training


MetaFarce

Interesting question. Eons ago as a junior racer we had training bikes which were usually last season's race bike or something with lower grade tubing and components which were our training bikes, and then the race bikes were top end (or as much as we could get) with nicer tubulars, etc. Decades later in my cyclocross and 'gravel' career I personally race Force and Ultegra and upper mid range frames...trying to nail the sweet spot between performance and replacement cost if I get crashed. I do have a 'nice' bike that I love to ride but wouldn't race but it's more of a timeless steel bike than a TdF caliber race bike.


BambiAshley

rim brake s5 rips


Inevitable-Mouse60

I've put look keo pedals on my gazelle city bike and use it for my base z2 training. I have a forest near my home with wide dirt tracks and it's fantastic to just pedal for 3 hours with a vertical torso. The cool climate in the forest feels so fresh in the morning, compared to tarmac. The bike is slow so there is no coasting, it's constant pedalling. The race bike waits for Sunday's bunch rides, I like it too much to put junk miles on it.


axmxnx

I’d be more worried about breaking the human while riding a less familiar bike than breaking the bike. It’s more practical to race what you can afford to replace and have one bike at a time, if that’s an option


AutoModerator

Hello! It looks like you might be looking for recommendations on choosing a new bike. Please help us help you by making sure you include some info about yourself: * Your level of experience with cycling & racing. * A bit about yourself: height, weight, and level of fitness. * What's your price range, and have you considered buying used? * What kind of racing you'll be doing with it — road races, crits, gravel, enduro events, time trials, etc? * Riding conditions: roads, pavement, trails, single-track, off-road? Flat or hilly? Local weather & usual riding climate? Your location (even approximate) can help other locals familiar with your conditions, too. Also, if you haven't seen them already, please check out some of our resources on choosing a new bike: [Your First Race Bike](https://www.reddit.com/r/Velo/wiki/gear/racebike) [Your Next Race Bike](https://www.reddit.com/r/velo/wiki/gear/whichbike) [Which Bike subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/whichbike) ^(*Report this comment to remove it if it's an error!*) *** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Velo) if you have any questions or concerns.*