How to upgrade wheels and/or groupset?

jgr

HI there, I have had a Giant SCR 3.0 for about a year and a half and am very pleased with it however I would like to upgrade a bit now - wheels and from sora 8 speed shifters to 9 or 10 speed.

I know there are countless posts about wheel upgrades and groupsets etc but could someone please tell me in simple terms :roll: what exactly I need to do to upgrade my wheels and gears.

I want to upgrade the Alex wheels on my SCR 3.0 to something like Mavic Aksiums or Fulcrum Racing 5's or 7's.

The bike has an 8 speed SRAM 12-26 casette with Sora shifters and front mech and a Tiagra rear mech and I would like to upgrade to 9 or 10 speed casette and shifters Tiagra or 105.

Please help. :?

henderson_mk

hi mate,

ok. starting with the gears.... if you have a tiagra rear mech, then you should be able to get a new set of tiagra sti's and a 9 speed cassette and that will bring you to nine speed.

if you go to 10 speed 105, then you need:
105 (or up) shifters
10 speed cassette
10 speed mech

and the shifters need to be double or triple depending on what your existing chainset is, and whether you want to keep it.

I think ribble probably do a full tiagra gruppo for about 180 or so?

Regarding wheels... imho, i think if you want to notice the upgrade you need to go further than aksiums or r7's. Maybe entry level ksyriums or am classic cr 420 or easton tempest or something like that.

What you could do is put a good set of tyres and tubes onto it and you'll probably notice a big difference in the existing wheels... something like pro race 2's and some nice light 50g tubes.

hope this helps...

marty

aracer

henderson_mk wrote:

Regarding wheels... imho, i think if you want to notice the upgrade you need to go further than aksiums or r7's. Maybe entry level ksyriums or am classic cr 420 or easton tempest or something like that.

I'd agree with that apart from that Aksiums are actually more aero than Ksyriums :roll: Good call on the alternatives to Mavic/Fulcrum though. Of course it's obligatory at this point to mention hand built wheels...

allaction

You could get some handbuilt wheels. I got a pair of Open Pro rims with Ultegra hubs from Paul Hewitt Cycles which were £218 delivered. You will notice a big difference from your old wheels and they should last as long as you want them. Will also be cheaper than Kyrysiums. Agree that good tyres also make a big difference. I use Bontrager race lites which I really like but arent a well talked about tyre.


As for updating groupset, you could try posting a want ad on classified section for a full 105 or higher groupset. Will be cheaper than buying new and someone will probably be upgrading to Ultegra or Dura-Ace anyway.

henderson_mk

are they? I think the ksyriums just have a good rep....
is that from the comic's wheel test?

I've a set of aksiums i'm using as winter wheels at the mo and they're not bad... but i'm not loving them either to be honest.

maddog 2

what henderson said

except...

your current 8spd mechs will work, but speed-specific ones will be crisper.

and you'll need a new chain, obviously

a new groupset and wheels will not be cheap. might be better to flog your bike, and trade up to a new one, with full 9/10 speed groupo.

Some good deals atm on '07 bikes

henderson_mk

maddog - i think his bike has a tiagra on the back but sora sti's. so it should be fine.

in general though, i didn't think an 8 speed mech could be used to shift on a 9 speed block? am I wrong? :?

aracer

aracer wrote:

Of course it's obligatory at this point to mention hand built wheels...

and right on cue

allaction wrote:

You could get some handbuilt wheels.

Info on Aksiums vs Ksyriums is from some other more accurate aero test - can't remember where I saw it, sorry. Not hard though, as Ksyriums consistnetly test as the least aero wheels in any test I've ever seen, so the CW test is at least consistent from that POV!

maddog 2

henderson_mk wrote:

in general though, i didn't think an 8 speed mech could be used to shift on a 9 speed block? am I wrong? :?

it'll be fine.

9spd mechs just have different jockeys basically. I've even run 8spd mechs with 9spd jockeys before now.

7,8,9 and 10 spd chains are all teh same in terms of their internal width (between the plates). This is what any jockey (or chainring for that matter) will "see".

It's only their exterior width that is different.

The main issue is the front mech, as 8spd cages are wider than 9 or 10 speed cages, so this will affect shifting. Not so importnat on a double but triples can get problematic when running narrow chains.

jgr

Thanks all,

I'll maybe just keep it as it is and use it for winter / turbo and get a planet x or focus in the spring time.

Johnny.

maddog 2

ask a question and the next thing he's buying another bike

another success

henderson_mk

well there ya go.
one more thing I didn't know and do now! ta!

ps. get a planet x - they rock.

gavintc

If you are plannig an upgrade to both wheels and groupset, you might like to consider whether you would fit Campag. The lower end Campag is 10 sp and is competiiively priced compared with Shimano.