GamJams.net: Where Mid-Atlantic bike racers roll: GamJams Tech: Pete Lindeman's Cannondale CAAD9

Gas is $3.39 a gallon. The NASDAQ is off some 15% in the last 3 months alone. That $4 coffee you can buy here will suddenly cost you $8 in Canada. My 401K is tanking, and is now little more than a 200.5K. What does any of this have to do with bike racing? In times of economic turmoil, Value is the new Gold Standard. And since we're not about to buy cycling gear any less frequently, we need to look instead at stretching out our greenbacks all the way past the red kite and to the line. Yes, you can spend $5K on a racing bike without even trying. But what if you could spend only about $1K, and still get a competitive mixture of speed and style?

Turns out you can, and Pete Lindeman has. Pete contacted me last week and offered up his NCVC Team Issue Cannondale CAAD9 as an example, and I'm happy to profile it here in this week's GamJams Tech. It's smart, snappy, svelte - all for under a grand.

Peter's budget ride, artfully disguised as a competitive racing machine.

To be fair, this precise bike would be well above a grand if bought at retail. No small part of Pete's secret is to rely on pro deals from sponsors, choosing what's an insane value over an ideal spare-no-expense setup. What of brand loyalty, you ask? For my money, the brand that sponsors my club is the one to get my loyalty every time.

The frame is Cannondale's ubiquitous CAAD9, spiffed up with the custom NCVC colors. You've all seen the CAAD9, and a lot of you have owned one. It's a fine frame - full aluminum, light, stiff, responsive, perhaps lacking in some vertical compliance, but more than making up for it in power transfer. You can buy faster frames, for sure. But nothing about this one is a liability. If you're fast, this bike will let you prove it.

Budget smudget. The CAAD9 is no stranger to amateur podiums. Not because it's affordable and lots of folks have them, but simply because it's fast.

NCVC is sponsored by both Reynolds and MAXXIS, relieving Pete of the burden of decision making for his hoops and rubber. The wheels are Reynolds Solitude, which Pete describes as "light, stiff, aero and quite inexpensive." Give me that combination all day long. The tires are MAXXIS. I don't know much about them but as sponsors go they sound excellent. Says Pete, "It's amazing how much you can spend on tires through a full season of racing. Luckily we are sponsored by Maxxis, which also gives us a steep discount on their products (for road, mtb, cyclocross, even car tires!)."

The Reynolds hoops and Maxxis rubber are worthy choices even without pro deals.

You can shave some serious grams with a superlight crankset today, but the price-to-weight ratio there is usually among the steepest of any component. Instead, Pete rolls with the Truvativ Rouleur crankset, which is also marketed as SRAM Rival. Respectable in all ways, including weight and its conventional styling. And exceptional in value. Chain and sprockets are also by SRAM.

A Truvative by any other name would be a SRAM.

The fastest way to value is by shifting down one gear - from a 10-speed drivetrain to a 9-speed. 9 is still a lot of gears, and 9-speed components can usually be had at fire sale prices. Pete turns the shifting and braking chores over to Ultegra 9-speed, ample for anyone's needs.

If you can win on Dura-Ace 10, you can win on Ultegra 9. And if you're pack fodder with Ultegra 9, Dura-Ace 10 ain't gonna do much for you.

We simply can't talk about value-to-weight ratios without bolting on something by Ritchey somewhere. Pete goes with the Ritchey Pro cockpit. Aluminum bars and stem are plenty light and stiff and (I know, I repeat myself) an incredible value. In fact, any of the Ritchey lines are a great value, though if you're aiming for absolute cost the Pro can't be beat.

Look - carbon fiber! Right there in the headset spacers. And still under a grand.

Another secret to incredible value is not to replace parts that continue to work perfectly and don't yield a disadvantage due to technology advancements since their inception. Carbon fiber water bottle cages are cool, and they round out the look of more than a handful of contemporary rigs. But in truth, the number of grams they shave off of older plastic/nylon/fiberglass models you can count on the gears in your cassette. In Pete's cassette, in fact. Since 1999, Pete has been wedging water bottles into these Profile Design cages. In 1999, they were awesome. Then at some point since then, they lost much of their awesomeness. But now they're 9 years old, lightweight, retro, unneeding of repair or upgrade and, once again, awesome. I love them.

9 years of hydration and counting.

So what are we looking at here - about 18 lbs total? Sure 15 would be better, but at what price? Pete weighs in at about 170 pounds and we all know 98% of all the racing terrain around here is big ring, so 3 lbs for 3 grand isn't a deal Pete's willing to make.

Thanks Pete for helping make an important point. If the cost of entry for bike racing were actually $3K or more for a pro quality bike on top-shelf components, this sport wouldn't grow very quickly at all. So next time you see a bike that's long on value but short on bling, maybe it's worth thinking about what you'd do with an extra couple grand you didn't have to put into your rig.

Know of another bike that wants to be profiled in GamJams Tech? Do tell.