Newbie says hi and needs decathlon upgrade parts advice

sbj33

Hi all,

I have recently bought a decathlon sport 2 because I read good things about them for the price. I would like to upgrade a couple of things before too long.

Firstly I was thinking of replacing the nasty chainset with a sora or tiagra job or similar cheap replacement. Am I right in thinking that as long as it is a square tapered double for 8 speed (like the current one) that I will be ok to fit any?

Also, I would like to change the forks for some carbon ones but haven’t a clue here in terms of steerers, integrated / semi integrated headsets and "rake".

What is the difference between integrated and semi integrated? And can anyone tell me what the difference is between threaded and unthreaded steerers?

And does anyone know what I would need?

Any advice for a halfwit :oops: truly appreciated. Thanks

bilsea159

You are right regarding the chainset. The alloy one fitted is nasty being heavy and a hard 52/42 setup making things hard work. As it is a simple square taper upgrading to a sora to match the other components is easy. I did this with my decathlon 7.1 road bike.

slimreaper

Hi and welcome


Is this your bike:

[/url]http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/sport-2-42393914/

Not sure how to insert the link so I dont know if it will work.

What chainset has it got at the moment? Why do you want to change it?

Most new bikes will have an integrated/semi integrated heaset. These are just a variation of the same principle, and both will have non-threaded steerers.
To replace the forks you would need a new headset too, and it will depend on the frame as to whether it is integrated or semi integrated. This will govern which headset you nedd ( as well as the size of course)

Personally, I would think about why you want to upgrade. I assume you are new to road cycling? I would be more inclined to get a years use out of the bike as it is, then if you really get into it, you will want to upgrade the whole thing anyway.
Chances are it will not make a huge difference to the bike anyway.
Cheers
Andy

sbj33

The bike is a Btwin sport 2 (16).

I don't really want to have to justify why I want to upgrade parts - all I want is some good advice from experienced fettlers.

I am not new to cycling or road bikes. I am a "returner". For many years I used a Ribble frame with carbon forks and appreciated the difference in the ride that they produce, hence I would like to go back to carbon. The chainset is poor quality and damn ugly.

I am not techie at all so don't know how the different ratios can make things hard work as BILSEa says - but this is something I have heard from others as well.

Mog Uk

sbj33 wrote:

The chainset is poor quality and damn ugly.

Ugly - yes, poor quality - no. I've done almost 3000miles on my Btwin sport 2 in all kinds of weather and it' still going strong...

You'd be better upgrading the wheels....

sbj33

blimey, thats good to know, because it doesnt look much at all.

have you made any changes to yours?

bilsea159

I have changed on my decathlon the rigida flyer whhels with shimano r500 and noticed a huge difference as the original wheels did not run that smoothly, as stated above the original chainset was replaced with a sora, which was lighter and with a 52/39 setup much easier on my legs. Everything else is original including the forks which I feel are ok. You would not at this stage appreciate a big difference upgrading to carbon, except maybe a weight saving.

slimreaper

SBJ33
I am not asking you to justify anything. I was just interested as to what the rationale was, and therefore thought I may be able to offer more useful advice, i.e is it just for aesthetic reasons or are you wanting different gearing.
Only trying to offer decent advice, sorry.
Andy

redddraggon

I had a sport 2. It lasted about 6 weeks in which time two chainsets broke.