Upgrade or Not?

fat_homer

I’ve been road cycling for about 6 weeks on my nearly new, second hand Boardman Comp, which was bought mainly as I’m doing a charity ride from Leicester to Hunstanton (about 95miles) at the end of September. The bike is standard apart from pedals, which I’ve got a set of M520’s and the saddle, Charger Spoon. I’ve also got myself a set of bibs and a couple of jerseys.

It’s my birthday coming up and I haven’t a clue what I want and people keep asking, so I thought I might upgrade the bike a little, as I’m hooked. I’ve been thinking about a new set of wheels, but not really sure which ones, they’d be in the region of £150.

So what’s peoples general advice, leave as standard or upgrade and if I upgrade what route should I go down?

Cheers

amaferanga

Not really worth upgrading the wheels if your budget is £150. Why not buy some winter gear instead, like warm clothing or decent lights?

father_jack

Upgrade those MTB pedals to proper SPL-SL? I had M520, SPL-SL are so much better. Only use M520 for leaners into clipless, or for MTB's.

cougie

Yeah for £150 you wont get a noticeable improvement on the standard wheels.

You do need a lot of kit for winter - so yeah - I'd spend it on that. Its great to be able to keep cycling through winter.

Anonymous

Winter kit, Maybe some decent lights?

fat_homer

Thanks for the replies, it’s much appreciated.

Winter kit had crossed my mind, just not sure how much use the bike will get through the winter as I’m a very keen footballer, usually playing 3-4 times a week at a reasonable standard. Might get a set of the crud mk2 guards, a decent windproof jacket and some winter gloves and see what happens.

How safe are country lanes in the dark with lights?

As for pedals, I’m still trying to get used to the M520’s, I’m getting there slowly but not sure how ready I am for the next step and having spent £80 on shoes and pedals rekon I better get some use out of them!

And out of curiosity, how much would you need to spend on wheels for them to be a worth while upgrade?

father_jack

How safe are country lanes in the dark with lights?

Get a very bright LED or 5W+10W halogen and you'll be fine. And of course a couple of bright rear lights. I have been riding home from work at 10pm over winter and been fine. Upgraded to Hope Vision 4 and used it on mode 1 or mode 2 for foggy nights.

keef66

£350-500 seems to be the point you get a noticeably better wheelset. Better tyres might give you more bang for your buck.

Stick with the SPD's till you wear them out, that's what I'm doing.

Windproof jacket, merino ls baselayer, bibtights, gloves, couple of buffs, neoprene overshoes, winter socks.

And decent lights. Smart Multiflash 1/2W or cateye LD1100 rear, Fenix L2D / LD20 front is what I have. Fine for pitch black lanes.

fat_homer

Well I've got a couple of the Tesco 3w Cree LED torches and some lock blocks that where popular in the MTB forums a couple of years back, so will give these ago before buying any new front lights.

To be honest I don't think I'll ever go out in a downpour, cuss I'm a wuss, but the cold don't bother me one bit.

I'll defiantly leave the wheels for now following the advice, wait till I get a better bike, maybe next year. I've been thinking about getting a set of Rubino Pro tyres so I'm glad someone has said that.

Any recommendations for an affordable (less that £100) windproof?

willbevan

dont cheap out on the real lights, its what keeps you alive!

See so many people spend hundreds on front lights, but gripe about spending more than 10 quid on a real light.

Smart 1/2 watt lights are great for the cost, also think the Mars 4 and Cateye LD1100 are great lights depending on your budget. If you want to go one step further, the dinote 140ll or 400l taillight are stupidly bright. Expensive but can you really put a price on your life?

Even in day time I can tell if my dinote rear light isnt on as cars pass me quite a bit faster and closer than they do when its on, flashing and alerting them of my presence even 1/2 mile away.