Horrible news for junior racers, apparently USA cycling has now decided that juniors must use blocked gears in ALL races. This makes it very hard to win for a junior in any cat except junior ones where the playing field will be level.
http://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=2705
Matt

Good. I'm tired of getting beaten by these brats...

Lol, the max speed for the restrictive gearing is 34.8 @ 120rpms in a 52x14.
Matt

Good. I'm tired of getting beaten by these brats...

Now, instead of being able to beat you in a sprint, they have to break away and make the defeat all the more humiliating. I bet the entire gearing thing is a ploy to make all the juniors get a really fast and smooth cadence and take over international track racing.

It isn't too bad for me because I am not a sprinter and cannot sprint much past 34.8 on myt own and have to rely on breakaways, but still it is a bummer that I am going to be doing 29 @ 100rpm in my largest gear, which can make some fast breaks difficult. I guess I am going to be spinning quite a bit this year lol.
Matt

Max of 48X15 for a 16 year old. Am I interpreting this right?

No the max gear is a 52x14. I used to race a 53/15, but that was back in the days of freewheels and it was easy to get that gear. If the reason for the restriction was to prevent juniors from damaging growing bodies, then it would make sense to put this restriction on them for all racing. Seems like it will be pretty hard to enforce in a field of with 70+ racers. I never really thought the restriction was very smart. Teach these guys to race with one max gear, then scratch their heads as to why the Euro kids eat their lunch.

[QUOTE=spookyload]No the max gear is a 52x14.QUOTE]

I see it now. 48X15 for 15-16's track.

No the max gear is a 52x14. I used to race a 53/15, but that was back in the days of freewheels and it was easy to get that gear. If the reason for the restriction was to prevent juniors from damaging growing bodies, then it would make sense to put this restriction on them for all racing. Seems like it will be pretty hard to enforce in a field of with 70+ racers. I never really thought the restriction was very smart. Teach these guys to race with one max gear, then scratch their heads as to why the Euro kids eat their lunch.
because Euro kids have no gear restrictions? Or do they actually follow UCI rules?

I have never understood the rationale--- WHY do they have this restriction?

No the max gear is a 52x14. I used to race a 53/15, but that was back in the days of freewheels and it was easy to get that gear. If the reason for the restriction was to prevent juniors from damaging growing bodies, then it would make sense to put this restriction on them for all racing. Seems like it will be pretty hard to enforce in a field of with 70+ racers. I never really thought the restriction was very smart. Teach these guys to race with one max gear, then scratch their heads as to why the Euro kids eat their lunch.

I have never understood the rationale--- WHY do they have this restriction?
An attempt to avoid having them blow out their knees when they are 16.

An attempt to avoid having them blow out their knees when they are 16.

Referencing 20+ years of alpine racing, does this mean tearing the ACL or MCL? The stationary bike was in the first line of rehab for something like this. I've heard it's to protect the knees, but from what specifically?

An attempt to avoid having them blow out their knees when they are 16.


That sounds like total crap. Biking is one of the most knee friendly sports there is. I have bone chips in my knees from playing American football and basketball all through school--- which is WHY I bike (can't run without my knees swelling up).

That sounds like total crap. Biking is one of the most knee friendly sports there is. I have bone chips in my knees from playing American football and basketball all through school--- which is WHY I bike (can't run without my knees swelling up).
just quoting their reasoning, I'm not a knee surgeon. I do know whether my own prefer 40 or 100 rpms though.

An attempt to avoid having them blow out their knees when they are 16.

That's what I've heard but if you think about it makes very little sense. Even if we accept that producing higher forces damages the knees (so "strong" riders hurt their knees a lot more than "weak" riders, right?), juniors aren't restricted to what gears they train with, which would constitute the vast majority of their riding. And most importantly, having a bigger gear would only affect your force when you're spinning that gear out and could select a bigger gear. Force can be very (relatively) high even in your smallest gear if the resistance is high (i.e. head wind or climbing). It's a dumb rule.

Yea, it really hurts my chances of making it to cat 3 nexty season, since at 100 rpms in max gear I go 29, and 35 at 120.

I have never understood the rationale--- WHY do they have this restriction?

Long ago I was told that these restrictions were created to level the playing field. Kids don't mature on a timetable, but in a non-linear and unpredictable fashion. According to the then prevailing wisdom, that often put juniors who were already able to push a huge gear into the same race with juniors who hadn't grown their "power legs" yet.

I don't know whether any of this made a lot of sense then, or does now.

Let's make it even more difficult for kids to get into racing and put an even greater financial burden on mom and dad who are usually the chief sponsors.

1) If 52x14 is a safe gear for the juniors then why not add a few more inches to the rollout and allow a 53x14 gear. This would mean that kids could use the stock chainrings that come with their bikes and only need to block a couple of cogs at no additional costs. By time they are competing at national level races where blocking is not allowed it wont matter.

2) There are not that many times where a kid would be in a 52x14 gear that he would not be mashing along and damaging his knees. Everybody always seems to focus on sprinting speed when they go on and on about gearing (see some discussions about 11t cogs). Instead it is that screaming downhill in a race where those with a higher gear leave the spinners behind or the times when you have that hurricane speed tailwind that you need the big stuff. If a kid is stupid enough to spend all his time in the big ring he will damage his knees even without gear restrictions.

3) The alternative argument I have heard to Junior gearing in Junior races which makes more sense is that the restriction is designed to level the playing field for those kids that do not have the power to push a bigger gear. With the restricted gears the power riders will spin out before they can really leave a weaker kid in the dust. This argument makes you wonder why the gear restrictions apply in all races.

4) The reason that USA Cycling cannot allow a 53x14 and probably the reason that they are enforcing the restriction in all races is to mimic UCI rules. Just a trickle down rule that they follow blindly like a sheep.

5) If you read the old rule book literally this restriction was previously in place and just never enforced. In four years of junior racing my kid only had one rollout done in a senior race by an official. The official was getting even with my kid because my kid has a bit of a mouth on him. Funny thing is the official rolled out his bike in the small ring so it cleared with plenty of room.

6) Unless there is a junior category at a race it is not likely that the official will even think about doing a rollout. Just keep your mouth shut and race hard in the senior categories. Act like a man and the field will treat you like a man. Just think about the crap the guy would get who protest so he can pick up that 6th place money because a kid beat him. Same guy that gets his panties in a wad if a woman enters a mens field.

7) The ideal solution to all this is for USA Cycling to spend some grass roots money to get the old geezers to train and teach the kids how to spin. Then the kids would choose the right gear and the restrictions would not really matter.

8) If I were subject to junior gears and competing in a senior field I would use some of the sneaky ways to get around rollout. It is really easy to run a 52x13t combo and never get caught. If you are really creative you can even run a 12t cog in everything but national races. Most juniors do not figure this out until they are 19 if they ever do. And for you juniors on the board - I am not going to tell you how to do it - I did not tell my kid until after he got too old.

8) If I were subject to junior gears and competing in a senior field I would use some of the sneaky ways to get around rollout. It is really easy to run a 52x13t combo and never get caught. If you are really creative you can even run a 12t cog in everything but national races. Most juniors do not figure this out until they are 19 if they ever do. And for you juniors on the board - I am not going to tell you how to do it - I did not tell my kid until after he got too old.

Crank arm size? I doubt wheel size would be the trick.

As for this rule - I doubt it would be enforced in anything but juniors races. They would probably only check the podium finishers' bikes.

This really blows. The only guy on our cat3 team with potential is 16.

I've always thought the rollout rule was dumb.

Here's an amusing anecdote: About 10 years ago I did a couple races when I was technically a junior. The people that got me started in cycling told me not to enter the "junior" race because it was far too competitive and small. There were well fewer than 10 juniors and I was told the top riders would decimate that field. They instead had me do the Cat5 race which had 50+ riders. Of course I wasn't fast or experienced enough to ride with the leaders, but I found a nice group to ride/race with and had a good time. I later learned the other reason my friends didn't want me to do the junior race was because they didn't want to mess with my derailleur trying to meet this stupid rule. I never ended up doing a junior race before entering college and I don't think I missed much.

Here's a hilarious thought - what if the national running organizations took advice from cycling. They'd have maximum stride length during races to either control for the juniors who grew faster than their peers or to prevent juniors from straining their knees with long strides. They'd have stride controls where the juniors would be funneled through specific 100m stretches where the officials would count their strides and disqualify anyone who took too few steps.

In my business what's legal isn't always safe and what is safe isn't always legal. Kind of germane for this situation as this rule goes out the window when climbing.

Anyone figure out how these kids will hurt themselves yet? I honestly don't know. Tendon?

It would appear I'm about the only person on this thread who agrees with Junior restrictions.
I started out racing on my sub 7.93m rollout and wasn't too happy about it. I feared getting dropped in descents etc due to being spun out, but the restriction was just what I needed. As I moved up in racing over the past 2 years, I taught myself to spin. I used to be a masher pushing out 75-80rpm pretty consistently, dropping my chain into the 14T cog when we weren't riding near fast enough to warrant it.
Now, as I enter my last season as a Junior, having upgraded to Cat 2 at the end of last season, my cadence tendency has bumped up to around 105rpm and I can comfortably spin 115-120 steadily.
As far as the advantages it gave me go, accelerating for sprints, coming out of crit corners, responding to attacks is all much easier. You get a better jump and waste less energy going from 100rpm to 125 than having to shift becuase you aren't smooth enough once you get to speed. It's also prepared me for UCI races such as Nationals and the infamous Tour De L' Abitibi. Abitibi will be faster than any local Cat 3 race you enter, so you had better get used to it. That rule's not going to change. Most road stages at Abitibi you spend the majority of your time about 35mph, almost always spinning your 52x14. In addition to that, if you ever have plans of racing track, you're at a huge disadvantage if you need to throw on a massive 94" gear for a points race because you can't spin your 88" gear up to 140rpm in a sprint.

The restrictions probably won't be enforced much in local senior races, but at all the big races, you'll be required to do rollout before and if you place well, after the race as well. Even if you can get away with it, I wouldn't. Learn to spin

Matt

Horrible news for junior racers, apparently USA cycling has now decided that juniors must use blocked gears in ALL races. This makes it very hard to win for a junior in any cat except junior ones where the playing field will be level.
http://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=2705
Matt

Its like those silly silly kids at the collegiate crits who don't know how to shift into their big ring.

The announcer goes... "There he goes... spinning like a FREAK!"

It would appear I'm about the only person on this thread who agrees with Junior restrictions...

Well your post is well written. I have nothing wrong with the idea of gear restrictions in junior races but really question the application when racing in senior categories.

...having upgraded to Cat 2 at the end of last season...

So as you were racing and moving up through the ranks to Cat 2 were you using junior gears in those senior races? My kid would race the junior race with junior gearing and then change cassettes to suit the course for the senior race.

...The restrictions probably won't be enforced much in local senior races...

I agree here but it would be no fun to podium in a senior race and then get DQ'ed because you were using the same gears as all the rest the old guys in the race instead of restricted gears. Senior races are where juniors really learn to race as the junior fields are often small and have such a wide ability range that you dont get the pack racing skills you need to move up.

Juniors race with gear restrictions. UCI rules also apply to U17 and U15.

It works. It is the rule.

All junior races must have gear checks and rollouts before and after every race. We train spinning and suppleness from an early age. Retailers know that to sell a kid a bike they have to get the right gears and shorter crankarms on the bike. We also give fixies and rollers to the kids to work on legspeed over the winter.

Retailers know that to sell a kid a bike they have to get the right gears and shorter crankarms on the bike.

I doubt most retailers even know that junior gear restrictions exist at all, and probably know next to nothing about other USCF/USAC equipment restrictions. Sure, there are a few well informed bicycle retailers out there, but they are the exception rather than the norm.

I think it's a good rule
As a coach I have worked with many JR's over the years(as team manager, team coach and as a personal coach). All the JR's Ive worked with have used JR gears not only in JR races but in Cat123 races too. As llvllatt has said racing at TourLAbitibi(JR World cup) these guys are going 35+ in JR gears that's not much faster then a PRO 1,2 race. Some of my guys have won and placed in these(pro1,2,3races ) on JR gears. It also put the US on the same page as most European countries and the UCI.
As far as cost goes thats a non issue, Half of these kids are riding Record and Dura-ace anyway. Some are riding better bikes than some of the Pros. Campy makes a JR cassette(14-25) so where's the cost issue.
CoachT

Horrible news for junior racers, apparently USA cycling has now decided that juniors must use blocked gears in ALL races. This makes it very hard to win for a junior in any cat except junior ones where the playing field will be level.
http://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=2705
Matt
First: Matt, before you read this, all the "you"s in this article are NOT specific to you. They're a general you, for any junior reading this. Just FYI, I'm not going to attack you or anything anywhere in this.

Whoopdeedoo.
Spin. Learn to hit 150, and learn to hit it quickly. Learn to hit 180, and hold it for a few seconds. The 52x14 wont hold you back.
Sprinting's all about cadence, anyways - try and wind it up in your 52x14 from 30, and then try it in a 53x11. The 14 accelerates a lot faster. You put the bike in your 14, and jump, and spin. Problem solved, you'll hit a high speed.
Or just go on a breakaway a mile away. Hit 30mph, and just go like a time trial.
It's not that hard.

And I don't really understand when people complain about the junior gears. How many times have you maxed out? If you do it with any regularity it's a sign that you're mashing too much. I do around 30 with a 52x15, and when I hit 32-33 I click into my 52x14. Maybe. More often I'll just keep on spinning, saving a gear in case we speed up more. Spinning 120's not that hard.

And okay, 34.8mph sprint. If that's all you can hit with a 52x14, I'm sorry but you wouldn't be winning no matter what your gears are. I've hit 37 in my 52x14, with my elbows on the handlebars, and my hands holding the shift cables (Shimano)... I've also done it with my hands just open, not holding onto anything, basically steering with my elbows. I'd say most sprinters should be able to do that.

And seriously, teaching you to spin's not a bad thing. Accelerating out of crit corners, you leave people in the dust. You can run people out of gears on their cassette (Don't you love that feeling when the guy next to you can't shift up cuz he's outta gears, and you have 3 on your bike left?). And seriously, a smooth, smooth pedal stroke is a good thing.

I race with Junior gears quite happily. And if you want to go anywhere big, like L'Abitibi, you might as well learn to use them.
To the person who said no wonder the europeans beat us, they have gears and we don't, dude, I'm pretty sure the Europeans have to race on either a 45-12 or a 52-14. It's not like we're any more blocked than they are. It's just a bigger sport over there, with more participants, so more naturally talented kids, and they're used to riding in packs. The same can't be said for juniors in the US. I remember one really big pack I raced in this year... After people were dropped, it was an 8 person pack! HUGE!
Gears dont have anything to do with why we get screwed.
-estone2

That sounds like total crap. Biking is one of the most knee friendly sports there is. I have bone chips in my knees from playing American football and basketball all through school--- which is WHY I bike (can't run without my knees swelling up).
Eh. It's real. You can do it with a 52x14 too. First race of the year I was mashing like an idiot and feeling crappy, so I did 22 miles at 20mph avg, in my 13 and 14Ts. Dumb move. Next 3 weeks my left knee was in agony.
I'm quite thankful I didn't have a 12, god knows what I would have done to myself. I hope I wouldnt have gone into the ring... but I probably woulda.
-estone2

So as you were racing and moving up through the ranks to Cat 2 were you using junior gears in those senior races? My kid would race the junior race with junior gearing and then change cassettes to suit the course for the senior race.



Yup, all blocked out. I've got a 12-25 cassette sitting in a box at home which I took off about a month after I got my road bike; once I found out about Junior restrictions and my new cassette came in. Since then, I have never had a cog smaller than 14T on my bike.

@estone - I totally agree with everything you said there. You said a lot of what I was trying to, but couldn't say quite right.
Semi OT, but did you ever go to worlds? And, if so, did you have to spin like mad to stay in the RR pack?

It's not like we're any more blocked than they are

Don't know the details in other European countries, but as of last year, juniors from U 11 to U 15 in Germany are looking at these limits:

- no fewer than 28 spokes,
- same diameter wheels only,
- no disc wheels, no "Spinergy" wheels,
- no triathlon bars, time trial is no exception
- no clip-ons, time trial is no exception

The gear limits from U 11 to U 17 in meter of development (rollout) are:

U 11: 5.66 road, 5.66 track
U 13: 5.66 road, 6.10 track
U 15: 6.10 road, 6.45 track
U 17: 7.01 road, 7.01 track

Enforcement is another matter.

So what happens when a few high school guys show up to race the local Cat5 race? Are the race organizers going to be prepared to show them how to restrict their RD to only reach "acceptable" gears. When I first got my road bike I certainly knew none of this. I was a varsity XC and Track athelete who rode on the side during the summer months.

This just seems to further cycling as a niche sport only accessible to the priveldged few. I can only imagine how I would have felt showing up to my first race during the summer at the impressionable age of 16 being told: sorry you're gears are no good - you can't race in any race even though we advertised this as a Beginner/Citizens Cat5 race (after paying the exorbitant entry fee of $25 + $10 1-day license).

Good point quattrotom!

So someone has determined a 13 is too much. How did they determine this? Is there a document that exists explaining the rational?

A race is a race boys. Not that you can't win a pro1, 2 or 3 race with being restricted but this is a back a$$ward way to keep the kids safe isn't it? Should the U17's be restricted from climbing mountains and hill with compacts as well? If the rulemakers are that worried about safety and injury should the jr's be racing with the sr's at all? Further, a U17 could overstress knees/back/hips/tendons...keeping up with the pack or off the front until they reach their rpm limit in the 14. How do we keep them safe from this?

I think this is a training issue. Sorry. A race is a race. Same rules, period.

In response to what Lvllatt and Estone have said;
You guys are certainly correct in that learning to spin is great, but it still seems like bad news somewhat not to get to use full gearing, also I dont know if it interests you guys, but I found out that 45x12 is also within legal range, and is actually slightly higher top speed (35.1mph @120rpm) than 52x14, also it requires no cassette mods, only a different chainring if you have a 12/25. So, I'll try and look on this in a positive light and hope to reap these benefits, increased ease of acceleration would be great for me, as I do many crits in FL. It seems crazy to spin 140 though, and 180 seems downright impossible, but if you say that they can be down I will have to try.
Thanks for putting things in a better frame of mind,
Matt

Yes, I'm aware of the fact that 45x12 is fine, although wouldn't run it myself.
I've got 52/39 with 14-23 in the rear. That makes a 1tooth jump in my cassette each shift (which is awesome), and I don't have a huge amount of overlap in my gearing (52x19 = 39x14), meaning I've got a larger range.
With a 12-25 cassette, the upper half is 2 gear jumps (not all that big of a deal, I suppose) and you get more overlap between rings up front. If you keep a 39T, 45x12=39x14 which sucks.. even getting a 34T on compact, your 34x12=45x16, sitll more overlap than 52/39.

One biiig problem you have; bigger gear does not equal higher top speed!! A good, fast Junior sprint will rarely break 40mph/65km/h (without a descent). With a 7.9m rollout (7.93 is the max), that's a cadence of 137rpm which is certainly attainable. Hitting a cadence that high will hinder your power, but not be the limiting factor for speed in a sprint, as long as you train yourself to be able to spin properly. Getting the right frame of mind is a big part of the battle.

The natural progression of thought is to now wonder how to spin faster.
Bottom line - practice riding at a high cadence. But that's obvious.
More specifically, do drills where you sprint in 39x14, practicing both standing and seated. After a while you should be breaking 35mph like this, which is just over 140rpm. The max speed I've reached like this was 56km/h which is 156rpm.
Another drill; put it in 39x21 or 39x23 on a varying climb (about 5% +/- 3% works best, I find). Stay standing and don't coast! Keep putting pressure on the pedals. Eventually you will be spinning pretty fast, even trying to slow your legs down, but DON"T COAST. The part of your quad just above and to the inside of your knee will get a sharp pain in it, but try and push through that.
Something to keep in mind in general is, when you're in training to ride 1 gear easier than you're comfortable with. If you have cadenc on your computer, figure out what you naturally ride at, and go 10rpm faster than that. This will help keep you smoother, stop bouncing in your seat and be a big help in hitting those crazy high rpm's

First: Matt, before you read this, all the "you"s in this article are NOT specific to you. They're a general you, for any junior reading this. Just FYI, I'm not going to attack you or anything anywhere in this.

Whoopdeedoo.
Spin. Learn to hit 150, and learn to hit it quickly. Learn to hit 180, and hold it for a few seconds. The 52x14 wont hold you back.
Sprinting's all about cadence, anyways - try and wind it up in your 52x14 from 30, and then try it in a 53x11. The 14 accelerates a lot faster. You put the bike in your 14, and jump, and spin. Problem solved, you'll hit a high speed.
Or just go on a breakaway a mile away. Hit 30mph, and just go like a time trial.
It's not that hard.

And I don't really understand when people complain about the junior gears. How many times have you maxed out? If you do it with any regularity it's a sign that you're mashing too much. I do around 30 with a 52x15, and when I hit 32-33 I click into my 52x14. Maybe. More often I'll just keep on spinning, saving a gear in case we speed up more. Spinning 120's not that hard.

And okay, 34.8mph sprint. If that's all you can hit with a 52x14, I'm sorry but you wouldn't be winning no matter what your gears are. I've hit 37 in my 52x14, with my elbows on the handlebars, and my hands holding the shift cables (Shimano)... I've also done it with my hands just open, not holding onto anything, basically steering with my elbows. I'd say most sprinters should be able to do that.

And seriously, teaching you to spin's not a bad thing. Accelerating out of crit corners, you leave people in the dust. You can run people out of gears on their cassette (Don't you love that feeling when the guy next to you can't shift up cuz he's outta gears, and you have 3 on your bike left?). And seriously, a smooth, smooth pedal stroke is a good thing.

I race with Junior gears quite happily. And if you want to go anywhere big, like L'Abitibi, you might as well learn to use them.
To the person who said no wonder the europeans beat us, they have gears and we don't, dude, I'm pretty sure the Europeans have to race on either a 45-12 or a 52-14. It's not like we're any more blocked than they are. It's just a bigger sport over there, with more participants, so more naturally talented kids, and they're used to riding in packs. The same can't be said for juniors in the US. I remember one really big pack I raced in this year... After people were dropped, it was an 8 person pack! HUGE!
Gears dont have anything to do with why we get screwed.
-estone2


Nice account estone :thumbsup:

FWIW, I ride at 25mph using the what, 53-19/18 gear or so. I typically spin anyway and I'm not a junior :) Even if I sprint at 38mph or more, I still spin a LOT and reach cadences of 150+ or so. I don't see the gear limitations posing much of a problem but yeah, I guess sme people need to get used to spinning more and all that. I personally think it'll be more of an adjustment/riding style issue than a problem.

In response to what Lvllatt and Estone have said;
You guys are certainly correct in that learning to spin is great, but it still seems like bad news somewhat not to get to use full gearing, also I dont know if it interests you guys, but I found out that 45x12 is also within legal range, and is actually slightly higher top speed (35.1mph @120rpm) than 52x14, also it requires no cassette mods, only a different chainring if you have a 12/25. So, I'll try and look on this in a positive light and hope to reap these benefits, increased ease of acceleration would be great for me, as I do many crits in FL. It seems crazy to spin 140 though, and 180 seems downright impossible, but if you say that they can be down I will have to try.
Thanks for putting things in a better frame of mind,
Matt
I wouldn't do the 45x12, personal recommendation.
My reason is because the 52x14 comes very close to the rollout limit often. I know some people who've had legal 52x14's, 25c tires, and left their tires pumped up over the winter, and had them expand just enough to roll them over.
Getting a 45x12 would make it even easier for that to happen - I wouldn't want that to happen to me. Also, I don't know about your area, but our officials are retarded sometimes, and several times ive had to challenge them to reroll my bike - with a 52x14.

180s definitely doable. I've hit 200 a couple times. THATS scary. Just practice, and you'll be able to hit 140 pretty easily by the end of the season, and 180 will be only a bit faster than you like :thumbsup:
-estone2

It would appear I'm about the only person on this thread who agrees with Junior restrictions.
Now, as I enter my last season as a Junior, having upgraded to Cat 2 at the end of last season
Matt

This rule is ridiculous, if you want to limit the juniors who do junior races thats fine, but I dont race junior, and its gonna be really hard racing elite men with a 14. At NRC races it will be out the back as soon as we hit a descent or sprint

And the only restriction for 18yrs is on road; track, where gearing is most important and you HAVE to ride your biggest gear, is unrestricted, and so is cross.

Its fine to restrict young kids or lower category racers, but for a cat1 junior trying to race for teammates at national level races, its an unfair disadvantage to us, USAC is supposed to help us develop and support our racing, but instead they are placing us at an unfair disadvantage.

This rule is ridiculous, if you want to limit the juniors who do junior races thats fine, but I dont race junior, and its gonna be really hard racing elite men with a 14. At NRC races it will be out the back as soon as we hit a descent or sprint

And the only restriction for 18yrs is on road; track, where gearing is most important and you HAVE to ride your biggest gear, is unrestricted, and so is cross.

Its fine to restrict young kids or lower category racers, but for a cat1 junior trying to race for teammates at national level races, its an unfair disadvantage to us, USAC is supposed to help us develop and support our racing, but instead they are placing us at an unfair disadvantage.

I think they figure that by 18 years old a junior has graduated high school and is technically an adult. I'm surprised they limit gears for 18yr olds at all. Thank god I'm 20 this year...wait, I'm getting old.

Already started trying to up my cadence, rode in one gear lower today when riding at base, was spinning around 110-120, its a friggin pain in the A, but if it must/should be done, then I'll do it.
Matt

Semi OT, but did you ever go to worlds? And, if so, did you have to spin like mad to stay in the RR pack?
last year was my first year actually racing, and not just riding. i 'settled' for state champ.
This year, I have to go to Japan for 3 weeks, so I lose that training, so I'll be aiming for nationals, top ten in the TT or similar.
Worlds year after this one, definitely a goal. (2007 season, racing age is 17, so 2008 I can still do worlds.)
If by worlds you mean L'Abitibi, I was SUPPOSED to do it this year, but my parents spazzed out and decided that I wouldn't have fun if I didn't win, so I shouldn't go... :confused:
They're weird, whatever. L'Abitibi's definitely on the roster for 2008 though.
-estone2

the best thing about junior cassettes is that they are straight block, so you never are missing a cog. Shimano 10 sp. goes: 25-23-21-20-19-18-17-16-15-14. Yeah, there are some times that I wish I had a 12, but you will almost never need it in a crit. Around here in NorCal most of the RRs are relatively flat w/o many high speed descents. And if you are a good descender, chances are you'll be able to keep up anyway. I don't have a problem with them.

In the nanny state of Western Europe I think you can count on strict enforecment of the rule.

Any ethical parent or coach would never equip their kids with anything for training or racing that wasn't within the rules. I'm sure if someone was interested enough that an e-mail to USA Cycling would answer the questions about whether this rule change was done for health reasons or to keep the category competitive. Without having asked USA Cycling I think the answer will be nuanced. Placing the restriction on Juniors racing in Cat 5 races makes no sense if it is not for health.

I don't see anything wrong with helping to level the playing field a bit for Juniors. The adults on here complaining remind me of the proverbial poorly behaved soccer and hockey dads who seem to forget that having fun is much more important than winning or losing. If the kids want to win that is great. Parents should help them figure out how to win within the rules and if the kids aren't out to win should simply make sure they have fun Those encouraging their kids or others to cheat are setting a pitiful example. What's next? Will they be injecting their kids with testosterone or EPO?

Why similar restrictions aren't in place for cross and mountain biking is a good question. The ratios would be different for the application as most cross and mountain bikes don't have gears that big anyway. However, to argue that kids can hurt themselves by pushing to big a gear on a hill so why restrict them at all doesn't make sense. If they are less likely to hurt themselves with the lighter gearing then that can only be good for the kids involved and the sport.

As far as the high school kids showing up to race goes there are a number of rules that they are expected to abide by in order to race. Helmets are expensive. Should that rule be waived? Why not encourage your race organizer to keep a couple of extra blocks on hand with the required gearing? Switching a cassette is very easy and only takes a few minutes.

Already started trying to up my cadence, rode in one gear lower today when riding at base, was spinning around 110-120, its a friggin pain in the A, but if it must/should be done, then I'll do it.
Matt
Some tips to make it easier:
Once every couple of rides, try just spinning as fast as you can, without bouncing in the saddle. Do this for ~20 minutes, and then allow yourself to go back to a more normal feeling cadence. You'll find that you're spinning higher than usual, and whatnot, feeling comfortable; this will slowly raise your comfortable spinning level.
I would work on 100-115 more than anything else; 115-125 is often not the best thing to go into, unless you have to (although I'm guilty of often doing 120-130 for long stretches... I like to have an extra gear on the cassette available).

Also, get a physioball
Do pushups on it, with your hands on it. Once you've gotten comfortable doing those, have someone start tapping the ball. Also, do the pushups with your feet on the ball and your hands on the ground. This will improve core stability, which helps when your legs are spinning at stupid high speeds.

Another exercise with the physioball, try getting on it, and balancing on your hands and knees. Then, work on raising up so that you're kneeling on the physioball, no hands, balancing. Also, try staying on all fours and raising a leg. Once you get the physioball stuff relatively mastered, pump up the ball more - the harder the ball is the harder it is to balance, the more core stability to get.
Once you get to the point where the ball is really hard, and you dont think you can put more air into it, get someone to start throwing you a medicine ball - ~5kg. Have them throw it to you directly, up high, to your right, to your left, etc.

There are a few other exercises, PM me if you want me to tell you some more, and I can give you pictures of what I mean if you need/want them.
-estone2

So we spin, whats the big deal???
I'm also a junior state champion, most juniors have a hard time spinning though, I've been racing junior gears in both junior races and senior races. It's easy.
Spinning is easy for me, there is no big deal, its a congenital thing i guess
I'm realy looking forward to doing Cat 1 2 3 races in junior gears :)

So we spin, whats the big deal???

Good question :p
I do Jr gears in Srs too. The change won't affect me any... hm
I guess the other Jrs freak cuz they don't spin. I really cant go beneath 95 without feeling weird in the first place. I doubt having an 11 or 12T would do me much good.

FWIW, I emailed USAcycling and asked the following:

To Whom It May Concern:

Why the rule 1J6? Specifically, U17 road gear restrictions? Not upset, just wondering and want to help others understand. Can you help me with some findings and/or links used to determine:

1. What is the reason for the restrictions, specifically? Physiological? If so, what specifically?
2.. What study(s) were used to determine the restriction?
3. What study(s) were used to determine the ratio?

Best regards,

XXXXXXX


There is no separate U17 road restriction. On the road there is only one gear restriction. It is the 26' rollout and is either a 52 x 14 or a 45 x 12. That is the restriction that juniors have had for decades both here an in europe. The change is that now they have to use them even if riding in senior races. That was the only change to the rule in 2007.

The logic is as follows:

1) restricting junior gears levels the playing field for those riders that are slow maturers compared to those that have an adult body at 18. Power increase would be a much bigger diffference than spinning ability would be

2) supposedly protects their knees against pounding a big gear. Of course nobody can stop them from doing that uphill, but more races are on the flat than uphill

3) some have suggested it slows them down on descents too.

We changed the rule at the request of our coaches who note that our juniors get shelled in races outside of the USA because they cannot spin. Every other country uses this same gear restriction and makes juniors always ride them. Even the really big gear mashers like Bernard Hinault and Jan Ullrich did very well on junior gears when they were young.
Shawn

I couldn't believe the fast reply from Shawn Farrell. However, I was really hoping for some study to flip through, but it is what it is.

Good luck to all the juniors out there!

Horrible news for junior racers, apparently USA cycling has now decided that juniors must use blocked gears in ALL races. This makes it very hard to win for a junior in any cat except junior ones where the playing field will be level.
http://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=2705
Matt


It's not really that bad. I agree it's a stupid rule but it really won't hurt juniors that much in category races. I've won cat 3 races on junior gears and have friends and teammates who have done the same. If you go to any of the big junior races you will be racing at pro/1/2 level speeds even in the field sprints on junior gearing.

last year was my first year actually racing, and not just riding. i 'settled' for state champ.
This year, I have to go to Japan for 3 weeks, so I lose that training, so I'll be aiming for nationals, top ten in the TT or similar.
Worlds year after this one, definitely a goal. (2007 season, racing age is 17, so 2008 I can still do worlds.)
If by worlds you mean L'Abitibi, I was SUPPOSED to do it this year, but my parents spazzed out and decided that I wouldn't have fun if I didn't win, so I shouldn't go... :confused:
They're weird, whatever. L'Abitibi's definitely on the roster for 2008 though.
-estone2
Cool, I always thought you were a year older than me, but it's the other way around. You're not allowed to race Abitibi while still a Cadet, no matter how fast you are, so you couldn't have done it this past year. Put Abitibi on the roster for 2007 ;) It's after Nat's and will show you more about what racing your bike really means. If you can TT and ride crits well, you'll do fine, although be careful than you don't go in with expectations too high, it may surprise you.


NRC's/UCI races present a different problem. People actually do push their gears at 60+km/h. I might look into an exemption for 2.2, 2.3 etc races, rules may not apply for me the same as I'm Canadian. I'm not sure if anything could be worked out at 2.whatevers like Nature Valley GP. With the exception of races like Mt Hood's downhill TT, you should be fine in 1/2.5 races

So...if I turn 18 in March, do I still have to race with junior gears? I read the email, but don't remember it saying specifically when we can start with regular gears. For the record, I don't have a problem with junior gears, but I'd rather race unrestricted if I can.

So...if I turn 18 in March, do I still have to race with junior gears? I read the email, but don't remember it saying specifically when we can start with regular gears. For the record, I don't have a problem with junior gears, but I'd rather race unrestricted if I can.

Your racing age is how old you are on December 31st. If you turn 18 in March you will be 18 on December 31 and therefor still a junior and therefor subject to restricted gears.

ok, thanks. One more season of junior gears I guess.

My son is a junior. He has 9 speed Ultegra. What's the best way to build a 9 speed 14-25 or whatever cassette?

ScubaD

...What's the best way to build a 9 speed 14-25 or whatever cassette?

www.ExcelSports.com

Shimano Tiagra Cassette 14-25 junior gear $29

You don't need Ultegra, just any Shimano 9 speed. You will also need a 52t max front chainring. Note that there are other ways to meet the junior gear limits and whatever you do, make sure you test it with an actual rollout. Note that juniors on 650c wheels can meet the rollout with a different gear combination.