What upgrade for £300?

iamisotope

I have a standard specialized Secteur.

I am thinking of spending £300 on the bike.

What upgrade would give me the most benefit?

I would use the bike for the occasional commute, plus triathlons.

flasher

Tyres and tubes, then wheels.

chrishd883

+1 What he said!

suzyb

Why tubes?

I can understand why upgrading the tyres and wheels would make a difference but not what benefit changing tubes would give. Or if you change tyres do you need to change tubes.

ChrisSA

Rotating mass moment of Inertia. Lighter tubes = easier to spin up.

iamisotope

Thanks guys. So, in real terms, what difference would I 'feel' from these new tubes & tyres? Would i be quicker uphill / to accelerate?

iamisotope

also, do lighter tubes = greater likelihood of punctures. No point saving a few seconds with lighter tubes if you lose tens of minutes with punctures

Skippy2309

tyres tend to be better, tyres generally give you better grip as well as better puncture resistance as well as lighter weights in many counts. its always a good place to start as most of the tyres you get with the bike are pretty poor

iamisotope

so....give some examples of possible tyres

flasher

Conti GP4000s, MichelinProRace3, Vittoria Open Corsa, Vittoria Open Pave..............

iamisotope

thankyou will take a look at these

chrishd883

More tyres? Schwalbe Ultremo's & Vredestein Tricomps.....(and other Vredestein options!)

As for punctures - racing rubber and light tubes = more chance of a puncture.
But that also depends upon where and when you ride.

Need to watch the tyre pressures as well - to get the best out of your tyres and to avoid unecessary punctures!

Donie75

I have a 2010 Secteur Elite. It's a great bike but there was a few upgrades I did that made a big difference. The standard brakes are fairly poor so I put on a set of Shimano 105 brakes. Then the specialized tyres didn't last long on rough winter club spins so I got Continental Gatorskins. I also bought a good track pump to get the tyres up to 110 to 120psi and I haven't had a puncture since.
Then I wrecked my rear wheel so I got a new set of handbuilt wheels with Ultegra Hubs and Mavic Open Pro Rims. They are fab but I'm a heavy guy so you may not need handbuilt wheels. The stock wheels on the secteur are poor so a wheel upgrade would make a big difference.

To spend your £300 I would buy the following....
Conti Gatorskins £40 on Merlin
Shimano 105 brakes £60
Fulcrum 5 wheelset on Merlin for £190 or Mavic Ksyrium Elites for £239.

Bobbinogs

I am not sure I would go for the new brakes. On my Secteur Elite I just swapped the pads for some Koolstop dual compounds and the improvement was great. Cost about £10. So, pads, some lovely new tyres like GP4000s, totalling about £60 and some RS80s too at £315. Only about £100 over budget which is surely the whole point of bike upgrade budgets

John.T

Lighter tubes do not puncture any more easily than heavier ones. Once the offending thorn / grit etc gets through the cover then you have a puncture. The thickness of the tube will make little difference. Lighter tubes also tend to roll better as they deform with the cover easier.

iamisotope

Cheers. I have no real problem with with the brakes, so the wheels & tyres may be the next thing that I look at.

I already have invested in a decent track pump and it definitely was money worth spending.

CentralACcyclist

What about a set of Tribars?

stovesym

Wheels & tyres, for sure. I just picked up some Fulcrum Racing 1 wheels on this forum with Conti tyres & tubes; £375. So if you look around (here and Ebay i guess) you could find some at your budget I'm sure. For me, it was well worth it, made a noticeable difference. Best of luck.