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OT - Anyone here road race bikes


T_Shomaker

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I want to start road racing bikes but i don't really know anything about the leagues and stuff. I will be using my stepdad's old Ciocc frame and I'm gonna put Campagnolo stuff on it. Is there a youth league because I'm 14?

Any other info would be great

Thanks,

Taylor

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what do you need to know? My brother races at a pro level, I could ask him whatever you'd need to know and I could probably answer alot of the questions myself. Not too long ago he was ranked nationally as the best amature racer, and 11th nation wide overall.

About leagues....Typically you'd join a local bike club, which are plentifull around where I live, and they give you team jerseys and everything you need (and discounts on bike parts and equipment because the clubs are usually affiliated with a bike shop). Races are devided into catagories (usually just called Cats for short). There are Cat 1's, 2's, 3's, 4's, 5's, masters, and juniors. At your age you'd be put in the junior cat, and when you were old enough you'd be put into cat 5 (or higher if you were capable of it). Then over time you progressively move up in rank until you get to cat 1, which is the level that the pro's ride at.

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Road races for juniors will often only be one or two laps of the circuit. This will usually work out to around 20-30ish miles. Criteriums very depending on how the officials set up the race. If it's a timed race it depends on the pace of the riders because in this case the officials will set a time (50 minutes for example) and after they complete that time, they race 5 laps afterwords.

I'll ask my brother about the components the next time I talk to him, but I'd personally be inclined to get the shimano.

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campy has a new gruppo just above Veloce. I'd go with it. I can't remember the name just now (Centaur?). If you could swing Chorus, I'd do that. I'll be with you for years and is probably more durable than Record and 3/4 of the price.

Go to the Colorado Cyclist web site.

I have Veloce on my Cannondale. It is reliable, but coarse and high effort. I might recommend Shimano 105 over Veloce. I have Chorus on my custom Ti bike and love it! It is what I recommend over Record, Dura-Ace or Ultegra.

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Well I can't really afford much. I'll probably just stay away from campy unless I have a larger budget. How bout some Shimano Ultegra stuff with some Mavic Cosmos wheels. Although we do have two sets of campy sew up wheels layin around downstairs. If the ultegra stuff isn't much better than the 105 stuff I would rather go with 105. How would this old Ciocc compare to the frames of today?

Thanks,

Taylor

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T,

Ultegra costs almost as much as Chorus.

Frame geometries haven't changed much in 20 years. The materials and section shapes have changed. I'll guess, based on age and name, the frame is steel and has a relatively relaxed geometry. It would be a fine frame for a beginning racer and club ride frame with a great deal of Cache' at the club events.

Go to a bike store and test ride bikes with the gruppos you are considering and choose the one you like.

in the 80's Bianchi steel bikes with Chorus and Record gruppos weighed just over 18 pounds. My Ti/Chorus "Suck Creek" bike with heavy Brooks saddle weighs 19.25 pounds. Time marches on?

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Is the Shimano 105 stuff junk or is it halfway decent? Maybe I could start off with a cheap groupo until my parents see that I'm serious about racing and they buy me something like a chorus or record group and a carbon or aluminum frame. I just can't afford anything really nice right now. I have about $800 or $900 and I need all parts except the pedals (I'm using some really old campy pedals right now but I need to get clipless sometime soon). We have two sets of old campy record wheels but they are tubular11.gif and I don't think I want to mess with that.

Thanks,

Taylor

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