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Upgrade or new bike?

by I am a human
Fri, Aug 21, 2015 09:46
8

Hi everyone.

I'm in quite a conundrum.

I've got just one road bike, which I enjoy riding very much. (It's road.cc's favourite budget bike, the B'Twin Triban 500SE.) I got some nice wheels from Superstar which both look nice and make a noticeable improvement to the way the bike rides.

Now, I've only been riding seriously for about a year but I'm getting to the stage where I'd like to treat myself to something new. I feel that it'd be a bit of a false economy to upgrade the Triban too much when £1500 to £2000 gets an awful lot of bike, especially with 2016 bikes coming in.

So, in my position, would you:

a) upgrade the existing bike
b) get a nice new bike in the £1.5k-£2k range
c) get another very different bike like a TT (I do triathlons as well) or mountain bike?

WWTRCCFD?

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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8 comments

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I am a human | 8 years ago
0 likes

Oof! Thanks for all your good comments. No worthless opinions here, it's all good!

I think an extended period of riding things in my price range would be the most useful thing to do. In addition to riding the one I've already got plenty as well. It's my first club run tomorrow, so that should be fun / daunting.

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Colin Peyresourde | 8 years ago
0 likes

Why not try some of the bikes in the price bracket? You'll get a feel for the improvement you would get and what you would like, or dislike about a new bike. The choice about TT or road should probably be about usage. Getting a good road bike would be more important to me as I would get more use out of it. But if you TT and train for TT regularly then you'd be in sore need of a TT bike - I'm guessing since the point over road/TT is in evidence that you do not have a dire need for the TT and so would eschew it for a road bike.

I think getting a bike which you feel gives you everything you need is important. Little need to upgrade and few regrets.

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Derny | 8 years ago
0 likes

Since you asked for my worthless opinion, I think the choice is between:

1. Ride the bike you have, and don't upgrade it except as stuff wears out or some other real reason why a component needs to be replaced; or

2. Get a new bike which is substantially better than the bike you have. Stay on the current bike until you find the one.

Also, enjoy shopping! You have a perfectly fine bike so you are in no hurry at all. Ride everything. Ride really expensive bikes. Ride Di2. Ride disc brakes. Check out all the shops and ask about demo events. You can take as long as you want to save up for a great bike.

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Redvee | 8 years ago
0 likes

N+1 41

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Simon E | 8 years ago
0 likes

What would I do?

Ride the bike more and put the money aside until you find something you really want.

It's not about the bike.

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dangoscomb | 8 years ago
0 likes

all of the above 3

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Kadinkski | 8 years ago
0 likes

If i was in your position i'd go with option b. One that makes your heart flutter. One that you can't stop looking at when you're not riding it.

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700c | 8 years ago
0 likes

IMO if you like the bike, you're getting faster and you're enjoying it, don't bother upgrading!

This is in the absence of any other info on why you want to change in the first place

But if you're set on this course of action, first establish your priorities: If you want to do TT's, then a TT-specific bike for £1500-2000 would definitely benefit your performance in TT's. You could then keep the B'Twin as a general purpose machine. Alternatively a 'best bike' for summer would make some sense alongside the BTwin as a winter/ training bike - swap the wheels over etc.

The bike is probably not limiting your performance, (given that you've already improved the wheels), but if a better bike gets you out riding more, then that in itself would be beneficial.

The feel of knowing you have a high quality machine that you can rely upon is probably worth some speed alone from a psychological perspective!

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