How do you soup up a starter bike.

songwriter

You'll probably call my shiny new £200 Carrera from Halfords a bog standard racer but I love it so watch it Mr.

Are there any obvious ways to soup up my bike so I can leave you and your £3000 bikes in the dust? . I thank you.

P.S I frikking love my new hobbie. I'd go out for a ride now but my legs are jelly. lol

blackhands

As its a basic bike with no thing on it worth keeping in the long run on a "souped up" bike I'd say do nothing with the posssible exception of new tyres when the present ones wear out.

What probably need souping up is you. So get training.

Monty Dog

I'd start with some decent tyres and a pump to get the right pressure - try some Michelin Pro 2s

redddraggon

Is it the Carrera Virtuoso?

If so it's a nice bike, it might have a groupset lower than Sora but its a good starting bike.

I've changed the wheels, saddle, tyres, pedals, and bar tape. I find it really comfortable, so I'm going to upgrade the groupset to 105 eventually and use it alongside the more expensive bike I'm getting next year.

allaction

You can start by having a look at the seatpost size and having a look on ebay for a second hand decent one. I got a well scuffed alien one for just over a tenner (retail £80) the difference in weight is mad over stock Giant one (SCR). If you keep looking for bits and bobs like new stems and bars you will soon reduce weight and when you come to get a better bike you can always shift them to that. Try posting in the classified section of this site as there are many people sitting on perfectly good second hand gear that would do you a treat. I did and both parties were happy!

songwriter

Thanks for all the feedback. I have got a Virtuoso and I do need souping up myself!

I'm off to read it all again now thanks

Mettan

Tyres - Vittoria Rubino's - £8 each - there are a variety of budget Vittoria's and Michelin's that are possibly an upgrade on the Carrera's tyres.

Wheels - Shimano R500's - £65-£70 for a pair (check hub/speed compatibility) - or pay a bit more and get the R550's

feel

Blackhands is right, the thing that will make the biggest difference is your fitness. Just imagine the kudos in burning off the other folk on there £1000+ bikes. If you want to spend some of your hard come by cash i would get a cycle computer and a diary so that you can record your distances and times on your individual rides. Then you will be able to see your improvement week by week.
Also make sure you have some lights and reflective clothing for when you are caught out in poor visibility/early evenings.
good luck.

songwriter

feel wrote:

Blackhands is right the thing that will make the biggest difference is your fitness. Just imagine the kudos in burning off the other folk on there £1000+ bikes. If you want to spend some of your hard come by cash i would get a cycle computer and a diary so that you can record your distances and times on your individual rides. Then you will be able to see your improvement week by week.
Also make sure you have some lights and reflective clothing for when you are caught out in poor visibility/early evenings.
good luck.

Thats good to hear. I and my Carrera will be burning along the road in no time. Thanks

I still might get a few flash parts though, thats part of the fun isn't it?

allaction

You'll enjoy 'customising' your bike as much as anything, all part of the fun. Knowing that no-one has the exact same set-up.

redddraggon

songwriter wrote:

I still might get a few flash parts though, thats part of the fun isn't it?

My Carrera is very different now from the one that I bought from the shop, due my interaction with a car. So all the new parts apart from saddle and stem were a necessity.

I took the opportunity to improve it and now it's a fairly comfortable bike.

I would definitely recommend changing the saddle, it won't make the bike go faster by itself but it should make it more comfortable for you and make it easier to go faster.

Bugly

if its a cheaper bike it is usually not econimic to upgrade too much in my experience - remember the guys that make the bike buy the parts in bulk and dont pay retail.

YMMV

Bugs

PhilofCas

songwriter wrote:

You'll probably call my shiny new £200 Carrera from Halfords a bog standard racer but I love it so watch it Mr.

Are there any obvious ways to soup up my bike so I can leave you and your £3000 bikes in the dust? . I thank you.

P.S I frikking love my new hobbie. I'd go out for a ride now but my legs are jelly. lol

Do you know, that's one of the best opening posts i've read in a long time, good on yer, that's what it's all about, enjoyment first and foremost.

Great attitude, nice one.

Dunedin397

As it's a basic bike I don't think there's a lot to be gained from changing a lot of parts very quickly.

I'd look at the tyres first, everyone has their favourite but I'd recommend Schwalbe Stelvio, good puncture protection and they're fast enough.

After that you may want to think about wheels, perhaps up to a Shimano 105 level wheel. Better wheels will be the single biggest improvement you can make. You could use the current set for winter and the new set for the rest of the year.

You could also look at a better saddle, perhaps with a matching seatpost and if you've not done so already, go for clipless pedals.

More costly changes could be a carbon fork and change the groupset, but get your money's worth out of what you've got before doing that.

Dunedin

Rich Hcp

I'd save for a better bike and use that one as a hack

Or wait untill its worn out and get something really nice

The key is fitness.

£10 bile with £1,000 legs is better than a £1,000 bike with £10 legs!

redddraggon

Rich Hcp wrote:

I'd save for a better bike and use that one as a hack

Or wait untill its worn out and get something really nice

That's what I'm doing, but I would definitely recommend a change of tyres, I thought the Halfords ones were rather poor and only lasted me two months before they got thin enough to puncture. Ditch the halfords, and get some Vredestein Fortezza Tricomp or Michelin Pro Race 2 (or any other, but definitely get folding) - tyre choice is personal though. I've got contis on my Virtuoso, but many people don't rate them.

songwriter

Whats 'get folding'? is it a make?

redddraggon

songwriter wrote:

Whats 'get folding'? is it a make?

Normally clincher or wire on tyres have a steel bit of wire running all the way around to hold the tyre on the rim - this is called a bead

Folding use a kevlar (or similar) bead to hold the tyre on the rim, kevlar will bend easier (they don't stretch though) than the steel hence they are called folding.

The kevlar bead is lighter than a steel one and is normally easier to get onto a rim. They are normally a couple of quid more expensive than the same tyre with a steel bead.

There's probably not a massive performance difference between steel and kevlar beads, but its probably worth the extra £2 or so.

songwriter

Thanks again.

What happened to your Carrera after the crash?

redddraggon

songwriter wrote:

Thanks again.

What happened to your Carrera after the crash?

Front wheel was bent into a 90degree shape, 50T chainring bent to buggery, front mech twisted, bar tape ripped to shreds, rear wheel buckled.

It's back up running now, just haven't had chance or thought to take a pic.

redddraggon

It doesn't look much different from the pre crash photo, though I've changed:

50T chainring,
New of wheels
New Stem
New Bar tape ( far better now, though you can't tell in the pic)

trio25

Well so far on my bike, I've got new tyres, new seatpsot, new bars, new bar tape....not sure what will be next, maybe wheels.