DSW Allez looks the ideal crit bike

http://www.bikeradar.com/...l-comp-review-51048/

Yep. I have a carbon road bike I love. It has light wheels, and I built it for riding in the mountains. It is glorious. But, if I were going to race a crit, I would ride my 30 YO steel bike, or buy an Allez and treat it like a rally car. In my experience, criteriums are where bike racers go to learn how to crash.

I really don't have any experience with Felts except for helping my sister rent an AR5 when we both did a HITS race a couple years ago. I test rode it the day before and after the race and was impressed.....light....solid. She rode it to an overall female win in the Sprint event. Can't remember the components but it was an "off the rack model". For whatever its worth....good luck with your selection.

I've owned maybe 20 road bikes over the years, and hands down the best so far is my current giant tcr. Just such a good bike. Rides so well.

More so, this is where triathletes that want to try bike racing go crash. Leave bike racers out of this.

I was a cyclist racer in my youth. Criteriums were my absolutely favorite for the adrenaline factor. We were fortunate in my area that we had a local, informal practice race every week. I did those along with every real race I could find. I had a crapton of experience. I was an aggressive and successful criterium racer. I raced short cranks and found pedals with the steepest cornering angle, because I sprinted through the corners. If you did not crash occasionally (frequently?), you weren't trying hard enough. I liken criteriums to short course speed skating, except the criterium crashes are bloodier.

Now, I would strongly discourage a triathlon rider from even thinking about entering a criterium. They are absolute mayhem.

I sent you a private message.

I did get a Giant Propel with Di2 for $3000 after some shopping on Ebay, but I consider that a better than average deal.

Another vote for Giant TCR. Phenomenal bike all by itself (frame). But they also come with a great spec for the money.

Smell's like an "n+2" situation to me; a slickery carbon aero road bike for DL triathlons, and a "disposable" race geometry aluminum road bike for crit racing. With that budget, you could walk into Performance Bike and walk out with both a (lower spec'd) Fuji Transonic to fill the former role, and a Fuji Roubaix for the latter... and still have some jingle left for customization.

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"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

I race crits, and I love my Allez Sprint(s). I loved the 1x model enough that I bought a Red Hook frameset to go to the Mtns with. Most of the guys I race with have either already gotten an Allez Sprint for racing, or are seriously considering it. Some of them have even come from S-Works Tarmacs and race the Allez.

The handling is terrific, the bottom bracket is stiff, and it is surprisingly forgiving (comfortable is to far) for an aluminum bike.

A lot more input than I expected. Thanks to everyone.

IÂ’m heavily leaning Allez Sprint frameset and building it up. HavenÂ’t had a chance to check out the Giant or Fuji, but I will before i make a final purchase.

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just your average age grouper . no one special . no scientific knowledge . just having fun.