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forum
Bike upgrade decisions
Hi all,
I am wanting to upgrade my bike but not able to fork out for a brand new set up at the moment. My question is this: should I wait, save up my money and then buy a whole bike set up? Or buy items piece by piece and build them onto my current set up until everything is upgraded? I have always previously bought an ‘off the shelf’ set up but wondered if there is any massive benefit from buying items individually?
thanks!
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12 comments
Thanks for all the responses guys - really is appreciated.
I am off to do some scouring of internet sites for some cast offs and see where that leads me!
buying parts can lead to a whole heap of compatibility issues that will end up costing even more money. Sometimes easier to buy new, nothing like a new bike every now and then
which is what I would like as my Epitaph
You havent said what bike it is. The most important aspect is the frame. Does this bike fulfill all if not most of your riding requirements? If it doesnt then upgrading the components wont make the bike much better. But if the frame is perfect upgrade away.
Buy people's near new cast offs, there's loads about at silly cheap prices. Have seen a pair of mint condition Dura Ace STI for £78, a pair of new 6800 STIs went for £85 on ebay recently, 4700 groupset for £128.
This. The only brand new component I've bought for both my bikes is a Tiagra rear mech needed urgently due to a catastrophic failure two days before an event.
Both groups I purchased were brand new and removed from frames being upgraded to Ultegra/Dura-Ace - think the 4700 group was £135 including a nice set of Specialized bars!
Just need to be patient and buy at the right time of year (which is now) - prices do go up a little over the winter as Christmas looms and projects materialise in the shed.
This! Keep an eye out on facebook and ebay, loads of barely used/new parts really cheap. You can also get some stonking deals on barely used bikes too (so many people go out and spend £2k ish on a brand new bike then never ride it and sell it for only £1200 odd).
It depends on what you are riding though. If you are on a cheap aluminium 9 speed (first bike sort of thing), it's not really economical to upgrade.
I think it's worth making a comment about disc brakes too. If you decide you want disc brakes (PLEASE let's not have an argument about disc brakes - that's not what this is about), then spend the extra and get Ultegra R8020, or wait for 105 R7020 - RS505 (current 105 level hydro discs) are ugly and don't feel very comfy.
I think there's as big a variation in standard/quality of braking with disc brakes as there is for caliper/rim brakes, possibly even wider. However setting up, pads used and indeed the rotor itself makes a noticeable difference - as much as the differences between mechanical/hydraulic and hybrid systems. One thing that you can't change on a rim brake for the wheel size you have is the size of the braking track (and obviously it's the advantage of rim over rotor), so if able to go to a 180mm from a 140mm it's very noticeable.
The one thing that makes me chuckle with discs being used for road bikes is their cheap arse rotors, this is why those hard on the brakes on decents can experience brake fade, still I'm surprised the pros aren't using carbon ceramic rotors.
This is why I like to use a ceramic rim on the rear for touring when in the mountains, never experience any brake fade or tyres over heating ever.
Depends. If the frame is comfortable and sized right and has the features you want then upgrading can be worthwhile. By features I mean the braking system you want, tyre clearance you want, practical aspects (mudguard and rack mounts).
Just know that other than wheels the upgrades are going to be barely noticeable, unless it's a few years old. For example, in the Shimano world the groups are all ergonomically very similar now, differing only on weight and number of gears:
Sora is 9-speed Tiagra
Tiagra is 10-speed 105
105 is heavier than Ultegra but that's the only difference
Ultegra is slightly less exotic and slightly heavier than Dura-Ace
(that's before we get in to discussions around mechanical vs electronic shifting and discs vs rim brakes)
First step if you're happy with overall performance and comfort is to look at wheels and tyres, and match them to the sort of riding you do. They really have a noticeable effect on both speed and comfort in my experience. Just switched to some Veloflex Master 25s and Vision Team 35 Comps - by no means exotic but consistently 5% faster according to Strava and delivering less road buzz than the Gatorskins/RS11s I had fitted previously.
Don't underestimate the time it will take you to do the upgrades yourself, or the amount of enjoyment. I love spannering my bikes almost as much as I do riding them but you should budget £100 for the required tools and workstand to DIY.
...and if you want to upgrade from Dura Ace, you're going to have to fit Chorus
Often people upgrade bit by bit because they can afford to do this over buying a whole bike (which generally will be better value).
However if you don't mind second hand or bits taken off new bikes, scour ebay, facebook and pinkbike you can get some real deals.
Hard to say without knowing what you're riding now, which bits you want to upgrade, what you want to upgrade to, and why.
Suffice to say, if you want to upgrade "everything", you're probably better off buying a new bike. There are some good deals around at the moment due to the TdF sales - and even if funds are tight, plenty of places do interest free credit.