Seeing as my knees have said “no mas” to running right now, I’ve decided that this season can be better spent on the bike so I’ve been focusing on riding and to keep my butt on the saddle and not in front of the tv I’ve signed up for a crit on May 17. I have two possible options of bikes to ride:
The bike I have been riding the last 3 months is a 1980’s Schwinn 7sp (I think its an 80’s, I came to own it when my father pulled it out of a bush in the “woods” near my house. I had seen it before but doubted it could be salvaged so I left it alone. He saw it, thought of me and brought it to my house.) It turned out to not be in that bad a shape and seeing as I had been looking for a project bike and it was the right size I went to work on it. Using fall sales at Nashbar and Performance I put about 250 bucks into it and it rides just fine. However, it weights close to 24 pounds and has down tube shifters. I have no real problem using it in the race except that my now aging but much more expenseive tri bike is sitting at home doing nothing.
or
I could swap the handle bars from the Schwinn to my Litespeed Saber, the problem is I don’t have shifters and don’t feeling like dumping money on a set of STI shifters as I may pick up a new road bike next winter. This means my only option for shifters would be to put the bar end shifters onto the drop bars, however I’m not sure if that is legal. The race I am in is USCF sanctioned so I went and pulled up the rules and found the following:
(d) The **handlebar **ends shall be solidly plugged and attachments thereto shall be fashioned in such a way as to minimize danger without impairing steering. Handlebars used for steering with ends, features, or attachments that extend forward or upward or that provide support for other than the rider’s hands are permitted only in time trial and pursuit events (not in Team Sprint); however, attachments that point upward on the brakehoods of road bicycles are allowed if the distance between them is greater than 25 cm (9.8 inches).
So does this mean no bar end shifters? Also do I need to worry about someone breaking my chops about the seat tube angle, or it that something that will depend on the race, race director, participants, etc?
I’ve seen worse. I see cat 5’s in full US Postal kits, which are not allowed by USACyling rules. I see “yellow” jerseys too.
I don’t think your bike is an infraction, as I’ve seen cross-type bikes with bar end shifters on drop bars as a standard. The plugged handlebar rule is so you don’t impale someone or yourself with an open bar end. That’s super dangerous.
Only riders with a real chip on their shoulder give a crap about someone else’s bike. My very first race I had someone comment about my purple tires. I finished ahead of him.
It’s legal and I see a few bikes set up with bar end shifters racing each year here in FL. Remember you’ll need different brake levers as well. Nobody will care about the bar ends or the seat tube angle of the bike, especially in a Cat 5 crit. Ride whichever bike you think you won’t miss if you crash.
Just for fun, here’s a pic of one of my relics set up this way:
Either is legal. Before STI, there were crit specialists who used a cyclocross lever so they could shift while keeping both hands on the drops, so these levers have been used in crits for decades.
ride the schwinn - have fun - and please please for your own safety stay near the front. Cat 5’s are crazy. Lots of newbs who cant ride a straight line to save their lives.
Thanks everyone. That is good to know. I think for this first race I will ride the Schwinn as I won’t miss it if I wreck (and there may be a good chance of that because I can see about 40 - 50 newbs on this 1-ish mile long circuit as being a blood bath). I have a bunch more races planned for this year but they will be probably less than 10 or 15 guys on a 2+ mile circuit so maybe I’ll get the Litespeed out for that. Thanks again.
I think your question has been answered…yet will toss out that building a “crit bike” is rather cheap. IMO, start with a used CAAD 9 frame and toss on Rival.
If you have take your hands off the bars to shift you are presenting a danger to yourself and your other riders. I can tell you that in the NCNCA, if people see you with bar end shifters the least they’ll do is refuse to ride anywhere near you; and may work to force you off the back of the pack. Even if you’re riding in the drops the whole race; (do you normally), - you still may be forced to move your hands away from the brake levers and shift the back of your base of your palm. This is dangerous IMO. Safety in crits and most RRs comes from doing what everybody else does.
