Do any of you use any of those short range UHF radios on your race team?

Rule change for 2004: Race radio are no longer allowed unless the race includes Cat. 1 and 2.

Cat 1 and 2 riders don't have time to post here. ;)

I do remember racing against a team that used them. I think they were one way only. A spectator just relayed time gaps to the capt. in the race.

Where are those rules posted?

Cat 1 and 2 riders don't have time to post here. ;)


there are a few of us that lurk around here :) We are debating the race radio issue right now. Some of the guys on the team are for them and some are against. Most of the guys against, have used them in the past and don't like them. I have also heard that the range on the cheap ones really is not good enough for a road races. We might get a few to try them out. Anybody else have an opinion?

http://www.usacycling.org/rulebooks/2004_uscf_rulebook.pdf


It's on page 4. It's one of the changes for 2004.

there are a few of us that lurk around here :) We are debating the race radio issue right now. Some of the guys on the team are for them and some are against. Most of the guys against, have used them in the past and don't like them. I have also heard that the range on the cheap ones really is not good enough for a road races. We might get a few to try them out. Anybody else have an opinion?

Just a bit of advice that you can feel free to take or scoff at.... sometimes these boards can get heated. All sorts of personalities come on here from cyberspace and say some pretty outlandish things as well as some pretty lame things as well. If some knucklehead decides he wants to flame you and you have anything to say in response, keep in mind while responding what your job title is and who you represent. ie, you're handcuffed. If it were me, I might be tempted to leave my affiliation off the messageboard and take my chances as a somewhat more annonymous poster.

Just a bit of advice that you can feel free to take or scoff at.... sometimes these boards can get heated. All sorts of personalities come on here from cyberspace and say some pretty outlandish things as well as some pretty lame things as well. If some knucklehead decides he wants to flame you and you have anything to say in response, keep in mind while responding what your job title is and who you represent. ie, you're handcuffed. If it were me, I might be tempted to leave my affiliation off the messageboard and take my chances as a somewhat more annonymous poster.

What does flame war have to do with asking about using radios in racing? LG Racing said him and his team were talking about using them. I just wanted to get feedback on the radios in racing. I was not really thinking about using them anyways, I just wanted to see what other folks thought.

What does flame war have to do with asking about using radios in racing? LG Racing said him and his team were talking about using them. I just wanted to get feedback on the radios in racing. I was not really thinking about using them anyways, I just wanted to see what other folks thought.

The post had nothing to do with you and nothing to do with radios (obviously). Was there something about the post that made you think that it did? I was only trying to save LG Racing the potential for a headache down the road. When you represent a group, you are no longer just speaking for yourself or as some anonymous poster on the internet so there is a responsibility angle that wouldn't otherwise exist. If this means nothing to LG then that's fine by me as well. I could care less and was just trying to be nice.

there are a few of us that lurk around here :) We are debating the race radio issue right now. Some of the guys on the team are for them and some are against. Most of the guys against, have used them in the past and don't like them. I have also heard that the range on the cheap ones really is not good enough for a road races. We might get a few to try them out. Anybody else have an opinion?

Ole Johan M. was kvetching about the team radios not working right last week at K-B-K. Seems that the guy in the break couldn't tell the Director how he was feeling, so JM and Co. didn't chase the break, etc.

I've noticed that the teams that rely on radios to direct the race leave the thinking to the DS not the riders. Without a rider thinking, he turns into an autmaton...

Just a thought.

Mike

Ole Johan M. was kvetching about the team radios not working right last week at K-B-K. Seems that the guy in the break couldn't tell the Director how he was feeling, so JM and Co. didn't chase the break, etc.

I've noticed that the teams that rely on radios to direct the race leave the thinking to the DS not the riders. Without a rider thinking, he turns into an autmaton...

Just a thought.

Mike

On a pro team, radios are a must. You must have communications with your riders, a DS, etc. Ever ridden in a 190 rider peloton? You need radios.

That being said, anyone know a good radio? I need 10, with 2 way earpieces...

Cat 1 and 2 riders don't have time to post here. ;)

.


Geez, thanks a lot, Ben.

This article from Velonews has a discussion of the suckage of various lesser brand radios:
http://www.velonews.com/tech/report/articles/3464.0.html

there are a few of us that lurk around here :) We are debating the race radio issue right now. Some of the guys on the team are for them and some are against. Most of the guys against, have used them in the past and don't like them. I have also heard that the range on the cheap ones really is not good enough for a road races. We might get a few to try them out. Anybody else have an opinion?

In 2003 I rode for an "elite" amateur team and we used radios. Our team captain was absolutely enamoured with them to the point where it was annoying for the rest of us. Personally, I could have done without them. We were using the Motorola 2-way radios, and the range was pretty poor. Within a group, they were strong enough, but if a rider was up the road in a break by more than 500-1000 metres, then forget about it (especially in hilly areas with lots of trees). I think it would great to be able to talk to the guy in the break and have him talk back, but unless you invest some serious money for a radio that has decent range, this is not possible in my experience.

While I am generally against the race radio for all amateur racing (and on my current team we do not use them), I can see their usefulness if your team is doing a number of races where you have a caravan and a follow car that is providing service or feeding. Then, it is great to able to radio back to the car to say "I'm coming back". But if you are not quite at that level or not doing enough racing that warrants it, then I think they are overkill. I will say that if you decide to go for the radios, spend the money to get the best radios you can within reason of your budget. I know there are quite a few companies that will allow you to demo the radios if you are serious about purchase. Basically, tell them your needs and say "we are going to buy radios, but we really need to be able to test them in order to know if what we are buying works for our application."

a few of us on the 1/2 team use them. most of the team hates it but admit that it can come in handy. we have a cat 3, masters, or women teammate (sometimes one of our girlfriends will do it) sit at the start/finish and give us time checks for breaks. if one of our riders without a radio gets dropped from a move, we'll get news of it pretty quick. i can ask for the exact
make up of a break and the number of riders up the road. when you go into oxygen debt for minutes at a time you can easily forget what riders are in what positions. i think they're great, as long as the chatter is kept to a minumum!

This article from Velonews has a discussion of the suckage of various lesser brand radios:
http://www.velonews.com/tech/report/articles/3464.0.html

Best part about radios is that you CAN talk sh** to your teammates during the race. That's just fun, and funny. Although, we don't use them that much, because we're just not that good.