Road bike upgrade

Info on gear, conditioning, and preparation for hiking/climbing.
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blazintoes
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Re: Road bike upgrade

Post by blazintoes »

Weight weenie discussions are tired arguments so who are we to judge? I've been around bikes a long time, raced (road and mountain), bike packed many places including Ecuador with a heavy bike up to 13,000', done the CT via bike pack...blah blah
blah. I love bikes and I sympathize with you wanting to lose weight on the bike but I think the most important part of a bike is A the rider and B the groupo. I've won races on a heavy LeMond aluminum 10 speed 3 ring front gear group with heavy wheels and a well tuned Tiagra groupo. I've been waiting to purchase a new 10 speed shifter for my carbon road frame for 8 months. Can't find parts. I say keep the good sturdy reliable heavy wheels and get a better groupo meaning good shifters, derailleur, handlebars and brakes. If you have reliable wheels that won't flat and can motor over anything then having an awesome groupo being cardio vascular fit and knowing how to shift gears efficiently is what wins races.
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Jorts
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Re: Road bike upgrade

Post by Jorts »

justiner wrote: Sun Sep 05, 2021 9:57 pm
TomPierce wrote: Sun Sep 05, 2021 1:56 pm If you know what you're looking for and are patient, you can find what you need on ebay. Either lightly used, brand new, or discontinued with tags. Good stuff...I mean really good stuff. I've built entire bikes with parts off ebay.
It's totally crazy right now. There's a real shortage of "affordable" bikes as well the parts to fix any bike. Maybe you can eBay a used bike from someone oblivious to Worldwide trends, but you may not be able to then fix it up.
Shortage of bikes and components; shortage of housing; shortage of recreational vehiiiicles. Abundance of jobs unfillable because of... shortage of skilled labor. ](*,)
Traveling light is the only way to fly.
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TomPierce
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Re: Road bike upgrade

Post by TomPierce »

I dunno...Out of curiosity I checked a component I've been thinking about (Dura Ace crankset) and actually found better availability now than 6 weeks ago. I also checked on DA C35 wheels since the OP seems to looking, found a few sets. I certaily realize DA is a pricey group, but maybe stuff is out there if you have patience. But maybe it also varies by group set?

But to the original question, IMO fix any drag-inducing problems, get a good bike fit, but save your money and just lose body weight. Fwiw, upgrading a front end makes no sense to me, esp for a hill climb bike. But just my opinions.

-Tom
robby40
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Re: Road bike upgrade

Post by robby40 »

pvnisher wrote: Sat Sep 04, 2021 8:19 pm My old road bike weighs 23.5 lbs. All aluminum, 2004 Sora. Mechanically it's ok, and I already own it.
1). You can certainly have some fun with your bike, but you will always be quite limited for what it sounds you want to do.
For years I only mountain biked, and when I hankered to be a bit of a roadie again, I got a set of cyclocross wheels (disc brakes) to put on my 25 pound mountain bike. I rode with a strong B group and had a blast. With faster groups I could keep up until I could not. In 2019 I got a modern carbon fiber, disc brake combo road/gravel bike and have had many thousands of miles and hours of diverse riding fun.
2). Spending $450 to save a couple of pounds on your present bike is not putting good money after bad (I have done that) but it is pretty much a waste of money.
If you have only $500 to spend, you are really better spending on wheels.
Wheel weight/rotational weight is very important, especially as I get older and am not the bull that I used to be. My Easton EA90XD (cyclocross wheels) weigh (front and back together) ~1640 grams with no skewers. For road I now use DT Swiss PR1400 disc that weigh ~1440 grams with no skewers. The lightest climbing road wheelset weight is around 1200 grams. I notice a pretty huge difference between the 1640 and 1440 wheel weights.
3). Bike frames really have improved in the last twenty years - carbon fiber ones anyway. Lance Armstrong himself has said as much. Plus, if you have not tried it, gravel riding has exploded as a category since about 2015. It is a blast, find fun people to ride with and if you want to race, gravel events/races are generally way better attended that road events. Probably a lot safer than road racing too.

There are some pretty reasonable prices of bikes from time-to-time on craigslist - there is/has been a $1500 bike in Carbondale (for a tall rider) that would be a good road/gravel combo, maybe a year an a half old with a recent Shimano Ultegra drive train, which I understand to be excellent. As a guess, that bike would come in around 20 pounds and stiffer and more responsive than what you have now. Not long ago there was an aluminum framed gravel bike for about $400.
Biking is not inexpensive if you really use your bike and ride more that paved trails. But Colorado is pretty much the greatest biking state in the country and if you use it, the bike is worth a portion of the annual expense budget. Cheaper than therapy and more beneficial. I could say more but will leave this for you to think about. Good luck!
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Bale
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Re: Road bike upgrade

Post by Bale »

Can’t believe no one has said it... don’t buy upgrades, ride up grades :P
Really though, as a lifelong lover of bikes, I struggle constantly with your dilemma. It started before I could drive a car; I had a cheap Team Murray bmx bike and tried to improve it by “putting lipstick on a pig”, then Santa brought me a Schwinn Black Shadow with a 4130 CroMo frame and aluminum everything else and I realized it was a bike that the Murray could never be.
My experience is that after ten or fifteen years, technology improves so much that you might as well just invest in a new ride, (though as Justiner says, good luck finding what you want right now).
In the grand scheme of things, these are first world problems and ANY bike is a good bike.
The earth, like the sun, like the air, belongs to everyone - and to no one. - Edward Abbey
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Bale
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Re: Road bike upgrade

Post by Bale »

If you keep the bike, my humble advice would be try to upgrade to at least a Shimano 105 groupset, then wheels. And ultra-light saddles have never been worth the weight savings to me.
The earth, like the sun, like the air, belongs to everyone - and to no one. - Edward Abbey
pvnisher
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Re: Road bike upgrade

Post by pvnisher »

Still debating, but found some wheels around 1500g for $200 (clearance, used). Not sure if they're rim brake compatible, and if not, then my next option is same weight but around $400. You can get into the 1400s, but I'm concerned about durability, since they won't be swapped out regularly.
I figure that'll drop over half a pound, and my new tires, which I needed either way, shave off a bit, too.

I did get one of the ultra light saddles just to try it out. I'm not sure how to pronounce it, but I think the Chinese loosely translates to "taint destroyer". I used it for an hour and it was ok. I think it'll be relegated to hill climbs only, though, not daily use.

If I can get the $200 wheels then I'll have some left over for other goodies, TBD. If it's more like $400 then my options close a bit.
And then I'll just break out the angle grinder and get that paint off.

Taint Destroyer 2000:
Screenshot_20210909-220759_Gallery.jpg
Screenshot_20210909-220759_Gallery.jpg (98.15 KiB) Viewed 2421 times
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cedica
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Re: Road bike upgrade

Post by cedica »

pvnisher wrote: Thu Sep 09, 2021 8:18 pm I did get one of the ultra light saddles just to try it out. I'm not sure how to pronounce it, but I think the Chinese loosely translates to "taint destroyer". I used it for an hour and it was ok. I think it'll be relegated to hill climbs only, though, not daily use.
Man, I sincerely hope that you are done with the kids, because just the look of this thing... I had an alloy seatpost from reputable brand breaking in the middle of the ride, but sharp carbon fiber underneath rider's tender parts... that can leave a mark. Maybe the model name translates to "junk destroyer"?
pvnisher
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Re: Road bike upgrade

Post by pvnisher »

Maybe it's the "unexpected vasectomy" .

I should put some duct tape on it, just to help contain any shards to the nards.
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Jeff Valliere
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Re: Road bike upgrade

Post by Jeff Valliere »

pvnisher wrote: Thu Sep 09, 2021 8:18 pm
I did get one of the ultra light saddles just to try it out. I'm not sure how to pronounce it, but I think the Chinese loosely translates to "taint destroyer". I used it for an hour and it was ok. I think it'll be relegated to hill climbs only, though, not daily use.

Taint Destroyer 2000:
Screenshot_20210909-220759_Gallery.jpg
Quite the impressive "Nut rut" on that saddle! The whole thing looks painful.

I have had really good luck with WTB saddles personally (most models come in 3 different widths), but everyone's butt is different.
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Bale
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Re: Road bike upgrade

Post by Bale »

The name might actually translate to the famous dinosaur...megasaurass :-D
The earth, like the sun, like the air, belongs to everyone - and to no one. - Edward Abbey
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Dakota
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Re: Road bike upgrade

Post by Dakota »

TomPierce wrote: Sun Sep 05, 2021 1:56 pm If you know what you're looking for and are patient, you can find what you need on ebay. Either lightly used, brand new, or discontinued with tags. Good stuff...I mean really good stuff. I've built entire bikes with parts off ebay.

-Tom
I did something similar, but scored most of my parts from Europe (Germany and UK mostly) for about half the price.
If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts.
-Albert Einstein
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