Can An Upgraded $250 Bike Win An Elite Race?

Alex bought a £200 ($250) bike off eBay and has been upgrading it on @gcntech over the past few weeks. He set himself a budget of £1000 ($1250) to see whether an upgraded cheap bike can challenge bikes worth $10,000+ in a race. He has entered the hotly contested elite race at Castle Combe and is not just out to finish, he wants to win! Can he do it?

00:00 Intro
00:31 Race info
01:47 Bike patrol
03:54 Alex’s bike
05:41 The race
08:41 Summary

Useful Links:

Have you ever upgraded a budget bike? 🧑‍🔧 Let us know in the comments below! 💬

If you liked this video, be sure to give it a thumbs up 👍 and share it with your friends!

Watch more on GCN...

🎵 Music - licensed by Epidemic Sound 🎵
Kids Kids Kids - Ooyy
No One Anyone - Far Orange
Violet Sky (Sped Up Version) (Instrumental Version) - Phello
Monologue - Splasher!
Odd Shaped Face - Ava Low

#gcn #cycling #roadcycling #roadbike #bike #bikes #bikelife #budgetbike #bikerace

📸 Photos - © Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images & © Sprint Cycling Agency

The Global Cycling Network (GCN) is the largest online cycling channel in the world, bringing together a global community of road cyclists to celebrate everything that’s great about the world of cycling.

Our videos bring fans compelling daily content including expert tutorials, techniques, training, racing, cutting-edge bike tech, unparalleled behind the scenes event coverage, humour, entertainment, and more.

Presented by ex-pro riders, GCN offers a uniquely qualified insight into the world of cycling, and most importantly it’s fuelled by our passionate and enthusiastic fans – everyone who makes up the GCN community. We also bring the latest and greatest tech to your attention, showcase the best places in the world to ride and get exclusive access to events and races.

Welcome to the Global Cycling Network | Inside Cycling

Thanks to our sponsors:

Watch our sister channels:

[gcn]

Share your top budget racing tips in the comments 💸

[AlbertBuckinghamEllison]

The kid on the 9-Speed Sora - Someone make a note of that man's bravery.

Chapeau Alex for picking up the budget challenge.

[jonburnell]

6:42 Whoever was waving to the camera in a race scenario.... Legend! 👍

[trevejenkyn]

Alex, You did well a great video, but what I really liked was off camera how friendly you were to some young riders before the start of the race, your enthusiasm and the way you spoke to them was nothing short of wonderful you made them feel special.
Hard luck missing the break

[mikeymike]

That Orro Venturi is a bloody masterpiece. Beautiful, and ridiculously good value compared to its rivals. Want, want, want.

[johnjohannesjuan]

Liked the guy with the 9 speed Sora setup. It's plenty for a flat race. Maybe you'd need to swap out the cassette for Alpine climbs but that's still not gonna break the bank.

[kevin._.farren]

Would love to see all the GCN presenters enter a race together.

[taxi]

Still some rim brakes in the group. And good to see at least one cheaper bike from other riders

[nickpatten]

Another great video. Love Alex's enthusiasm and loved how he got involved with everyone before the race. Kudos to Liam with his "never let me down" Sora groupset and adding the head unit to make up the total cost of his bike. Just shows it's not all about the (price of the) bike. If you're happy with the bike you're riding that's all that matters.

[Oggymandias]

I did a 20km time trial last year on a 800€ Decathlon-Bike. Came in 5th to last, still had a blast.

[cb]

Thanks Andy...it's not the bike, it's the rider .

[boscoboys]

I am on an old Tiagra 10 speed Ribble R872 and sometimes this old lad can hold up pretty well against the multi £££ bikes. It was just £1k at the time of purchase.
Great video . Loved it.

[g_y.rtz]

This is the content i love the most from gcn, highlighting and elevating lower end bikes and components that most of us regular folks can actually afford. Also love how you touched upon how while your bike isnt aero, your position is. Great presentation overall too, i loved how comfortable the other riders were during the interview. Thanks お疲れ様でした!!

[roarman]

absolutely stunning. and the best part was that you were having fun and still completing evening if not the first rider over the line. I guess you were first over the line within the low cost bicycle category.

[phoneindustrydesign]

2:44 the challenge you were doing in this video series - someone is already living that life 😏
and he ain't got the dura ace hidden in the basement 😉

[gpersonaltrainer]

What a great performance using the Sora groupset. Next time, if you choose an used 105, it will make your life much, much easier and you'll stay in the budget, anyway.

[Kim_Miller]

I think the handlebar tape moved you up one or two places. Good choice there. 🙂

[adccars]

@ 8:52 Crusing pass Top spec aero bikes with all those exposed cables. 😂 Its really about riders capabilities. Top spec from 2015 can still win a stage in tour de france.

[stevengagnon]

Nice work ... proving that the race isn't all about equipment. I was friends with Bob Mionske in Madison Wisconsin. Knew him from the dorms when he injured his knee as an Olympic hopeful down hill skiing. Well he bought a bike for recovery from surgery and got into racing it soon after . His first race bike was a used Miyata Pro . Madison had a very active race scene going at the time so he was competing against a lot of people on high end stuff (Apple's, Colnago's ...ect...). He did well became a professional and eventually made the Olympics(USA i think "96" those medalists were pretty big guns in the road race that day) and placed forth pretty much all by himself. Now he's a successful bicycle advocate lawer. It's all about determination at that top level . Glad you gave it everything and finish in the top twenty. It took that same kind of determination to try and bridge that gap and sprint to the finish, good work! ps he was always running a couple gears higher and didn't have a lot of team support during a race but always did well. Seeing that guy climb with that low cadence ( dissing the peliiton on the way) was just amazing. He didn't start riding a bicycle until he was twentyish and started competing soon after . Thanks for the forum to tell his story. Me just one road race ate steak and eggs for breakfast paid heavily at the beginning recovered and did okay on my Vicount areo space got into a small group to chase the front did quite get there but was a good ride for a hundred kilo guy riding a wet noodle of a bicycle. Yeah eventually snapped that Areo Space in half sprinting out of a rush hour intersection. Sounded like a gun shot and went airborne. Should have seen the looks on the drvers faces when I stood up and picked my bike up folded in half(down tube sheared at the head tube and top at the seat tube clean through). Never road straight guage tubing again either.

[Velographer]

Loved the effort and commentary. Always enjoy your videos both the tech stuff and the non techie stuff! Keep riding and long love the Giant OCR 🎉😂