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Upgrade or new bike?

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  • August 21, 2015 at 8:46 am #24669
    I am a human

    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?

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Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
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  • August 22, 2015 at 8:54 pm #857767
    0
    I am a human

    Oof! Thanks for all your good
    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.

    August 22, 2015 at 9:32 am #857765
    0
    Colin Peyresourde

    Why not try some of the bikes
    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.

    August 22, 2015 at 3:39 am #857763
    0
    Anonymous

    Since you asked for my
    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.

    August 21, 2015 at 10:39 pm #857761
    0
    Redvee

    N+1
    N+1 =D>

    August 21, 2015 at 7:14 pm #857759
    0
    Simon E

    What would I do?
    Ride the
    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.

    August 21, 2015 at 12:56 pm #857757
    0
    dangoscomb

    all of the above
    all of the above 😉

    August 21, 2015 at 11:48 am #857755
    0
    Kadinkski

    If i was in your position i’d
    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.

    August 21, 2015 at 10:59 am #857753
    0
    700c

    IMO if you like the bike,
    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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