1) drivetrain wear is imminent. you can wash your chain twice a week and brush the cogs and rings too, but all the road debris that gets stuck to the chain is going to eat the teeth faster than if you’re just training/racing. like i said, you can be diligent, but you’ll need new parts. i keep several different cassettes — usually of higher quality — in the tool box for race days. i also save my “good” chain rings for the race season. a brand new chain goes on the bike at the end of September too.

2) brakes break. especially if it is wet. this also makes dirt, etc. stick to the pads which in turn wears them down much faster than normal. again, you can clean the pads (and rims!) often but they’ll still wear down and effect stopping. it’s arguable that this doesn’t really make a difference in a race but, i mean, they’re your brakes… i replace the pad cartridges with sets of higher-quality ones for the first race too.

3) the same applies to rims. the braking surface gets all scratched up from that debris and the junky pads that stay on there. a race-only wheelset is pretty much a necessity if your using a ‘cross bike for double duty.

4) bearings, etc. the same little bits of grime that mess up all the above mentioned are going to work their way into all the bearings too. and, if your ever “power-wash” a bike after a muddy race or because you just commuted through monsoon season, you risk damaging them by stripping them of their lubricant. again, race-only wheels will help this but you’ll really have to break the bike down and clean/re-lube/re-adjust for racing after commuting. I’ve completely re-built a complex freehub, complete with loose needle bearings, that had been raced/commuted — no one wants to do that; trust me. it was also shocking to see what had accumulated in there…

So; you have to take the good with the bad. It is worth it due to the typical ‘cross bike’s versatility, etc. however, if you’re serious about racing use a diffrent bike during the season and get another pair of wheels. I’ll be gluing up these (pretty affordable tubulars) real soon.