Racing a Fierte IT

[kgreene10]

I have been riding pretty intensively for a little over a year now and I want to try my hand at racing. I have a Fierte IT that sports a relaxed geometry to put the rider in a somewhat more upright position. Obviously, I'll need to be in a lower position to race efficiently, but other than that, are there any drawbacks to the Fierte's geo for racing? For instance, what are the effects of its wheelbase and BB height?

[Der_Kruscher]

This may not be the answer you're looking for because I have no experience with the Fierte and can't speak knowledgeably about geo but if you're thinking about road racing (vs. crits) I wouldn't overthink the bike. Just go out and do some races on what you've got and you'll be fine.

I have been riding pretty intensively for a little over a year now and I want to try my hand at racing. I have a Fierte IT that sports a relaxed geometry to put the rider in a somewhat more upright position. Obviously, I'll need to be in a lower position to race efficiently, but other than that, are there any drawbacks to the Fierte's geo for racing? For instance, what are the effects of its wheelbase and BB height?

[soulspinner]

For a criterium you might want a cheap fast turning(geo wise) alu frame. For a road race, the fierte would be fine. Your legs and lungs are what matters.

[Ti Designs]

I have a Fierte IT that sports a relaxed geometry to put the rider in a somewhat more upright position. Obviously, I'll need to be in a lower position to race efficiently

What we don't here:

1) How upright is this upright position?
2) What kind of lower back and hip flexability you have
3) What the weight balance is on the bike (ratio of arm/leg lengths to torso length)
4) If you have a gut that's gonna get in the way of a more agressive position

Basicly, you've bought into the hype of "this is what you need to look like to race" BS. I've seen a lot of racers try to fold themselves in half in the name of aerodynamics or that agressive position. If you want hip and back problems that bad, take up budget base jumping, it's quicker. As for your position on the bike, you need to find a good fitter who knows racing - that gives them both an understanding of the requirments of racing (the need to get more agressive) and the limitations of YOUR body - it's not something you can get out of a book or on the internet (unless there's a book about your position - that would be kinda weird...)

Just as an example, I'll use one of the riders I coached. Michael was 59 when I started working with him, he had all sorts of back, hip and neck issues and got dropped on group rides. He also had a Merlin, which was a "great deal" when he bought it, but it really didn't fit. I sold him a La Corsa, the custom version of the Fierte at the time (which is now looking like a great deal - bring back my bike!!!!) Anyway, Michael has no lower back flexability to speak of, so on his old bike he was spending a third of his power pushing one foot over the top with the other, which also caused the hip problems. On any ride beyond the end of his driveway his lower back would give out and he would gain this hump in the mid back, his weight would all be on his handlebars and his neck would hurt. His La Corsa has a longer head tube, but I refuse to call his position more or less agressive, it's within his range of motion. He's heard me say "just sit up and pedal the bike" a zillion times. He's also the fastest one in the group he rides with - the same people who were always dropping him.

As for corners, there's an old saying in autocross - run what you brung. (autocross drivers ain's so good with grammer) If you're just getting into racing, don't read anything into the equipment. If the brakes don't rub and the gears work, race the bike.

[Tom]

My nephew crashed out his good bike and while it was getting fixed he raced ECCC on his school's A group with an old Lemond Buenos Aires with a triple in the front and he still did extremely well. It really used to piss people off. Ride hard and you'll do well.

[Ti Designs]

My nephew crashed out his good bike and while it was getting fixed he raced ECCC on his school's A group with an old Lemond Buenos Aires with a triple in the front and he still did extremely well. It really used to piss people off. Ride hard and you'll do well.

The ECCC is dominated by riders who train in bad conditions and don't pay that much attention to the equipment. It's a race season that starts in March in the northeast, Rutgers is always an icefest, it snowed on easterns three years in a row a few years back, and training happens in the dead of winter. If you look out the windown and say to yourself "I don't want to do that to my bike", you're probably not winning anything in the ECCC.

Two years ago Anna joined the Harvard team, her Bianchi somewhat new and shiny. As tough as she is, she didn't want to abuse her bike. The combination of too few miles and the new rules about upgrades kept her from doing well. Last year her bike was looking kinda beat up, her bottom bracket was making all sorts of noise, she put on some serious winter miles and won most of the races in the ECCC. She got a shot at riding with the Colavita pro women's team this year, still with the same Bianchi.

[fierte_poser]

I have been riding pretty intensively for a little over a year now and I want to try my hand at racing. I have a Fierte IT that sports a relaxed geometry to put the rider in a somewhat more upright position. Obviously, I'll need to be in a lower position to race efficiently, but other than that, are there any drawbacks to the Fierte's geo for racing? For instance, what are the effects of its wheelbase and BB height?

How many spacers and what stem are you using?

I have a Fierte and I could get significant saddle to bar drop if I wanted it.

Do me a favor...go to the Cannondale website and look at the geometry tables for a CAAD 9 and compare it to your Fierte IT geometry. You will find you have an extra cm of BB drop, a 1 cm shorter top tube, and a 1.5 cm taller head tube. Those are the only differences. Thus, don't worry about the bike not being the right one for racing. You should be able to get into an efficient race position on the Fierte IT for the price of a new stem.

You state, "Obviously, I'll need to be in a lower position to race efficiently".

That is not obvious to me. As Ti Designs says, you're drinking someone elses kool-aid.

[kgreene10]

Thanks for the great advice. I might be buying into the hype -- I'm certainly not immune -- but I'm also responding to the guys on group rides who claim that I'm the best person to draft behind.

I currently have 5cm of saddle to bar drop while running 2.5cm of spacers and a -6 stem. So, there's room to get lower. The limiting factor has less to do with the back and hips -- though I could stand to loosen up some more -- than with combating nether-region numbness. I have a Selle SMP saddle and the more leg strength I gain, the less it affects me, but it's still a concern.

I have an expert fitter in mind and will make an appointment after the holidays.