Second thoughts on buying a Trek 1.1 - please advise

blue07794

I have been looking for a while now at buying myself a decent (first) road bike and have come to the conclusion i would like a Trek 1.1, which seems a good starting point bike for me and it comes within my budget of £500 ish.

I had decided to get off to J E James Cycles this afternoon and get one but this morning i have had a second thought with regards to the gear changers on this bike. They are on the huds and not on the actual brake levers.........does this really make a difference?

The only difference i can see is that with your hands down on the bottom of the drops you have to reach up to change gear as a opposed to just a quick flick of the finger with the brake lever type..........is there any other draw back to this type of changer that i cant think about?

Also if i go with the Trek 1.1 is it possible to change these changers to the brake lever type without changing the whole gear set etc

Any help would be appreciated as i am chomping at the bit to get this bike today

Mark

ba68

The 1.1 is 8 speed and I don't think you can get any replacement shifter that have the paddle arrangement you will find on 9 speed Tiagra etc. So yes, you will need to change the shifters, reach mech and rear cassette, which would probably cost close to 150 quid but you may be able recoup some of that by selling the bits you take off. If you really don't think you will get on with the changer on the hoods ( which I didn't) either buy a1.2 which will just need a shifter change or find a different bike with tiagra or higher spec.

I changed the shifters on my 1.2 as I couldn't get on with having a different arrangement to my 105 equipped bike, they cost me 80 quid on eBay and I sold the ones I took off for 40, so not a huge outlay.

blue07794

thanks for the reply is this the 1.2 you state can have the shifters changed without too much trouble

http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/trek-12- ... 58653.html

blue07794

thanks for the reply is this the 1.2 you state can have the shifters changed without too much trouble

http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/trek-12- ... 58653.html

ba68

Yes, it is 9 speed so just the shifters will need changing if you decide you can't get on with using the lever on the hoods, same frame as the 1.1 but slightly better components so probably worth the extra outlay. If you are patient you will probably be able to pick some up off eBay for anything from 50 quid upwards.

Quite an easy job to change, less than an hour to do, pm me if you go down that route and need any advice.

The 1.2 is a good first road bike, I'm sure you'll enjoy it, ride it for a while with the sora shifters and see how you get on, as I said the only reason I changed the shifters was so I had the same style on both of my bikes and I do tend to ride a lot in the drops and despite what some people say there's no way the lever can be reached to change up when you are in the drops without real movement of the hand and I just didn't like it.

blue07794

cheers thanks for the advice, its funny but i initially liked the 1.2 but changed my mind due to the extra £50 and down graded to the 1.1, but this reason now justifies the extra cash and i get the bike i liked in the first place!

thanks again

Mark

ALaPlage

Have you asked JE James how much they would charge you to upgrade the groupset or shifters? My friend bought a Pinarello FP2 with 105 groupset and upgraded at point of purchase to Ultegra. The LBS did the change that day to secure the sale and charged him around £200 extra which was about half the cost of the difference between the 105 kit he swapped out. As the factory fitted groupset was brand new they took it off and I guess resold those parts so this was offset against the cost of the Ultegra parts he upgraded to.

I guess as ba68 states - you can easily do it yourself after purchase for little net cost or you could ask JE James to do it for you.

The Trek is a great machine and you will be delighted with it I am sure however the paddle shifters are much easier to use and I would agree it is worth spending that bit more now.

Alibran

I also upgraded Sora to Tiagra at the time of purchase, and was only charged £25 (but that was back in 2008).

blue07794

Trek 1.2 purchased!!!!!

They are setting up the bike as i type this and i am due to collect it at 5pm today..........hurry up!!!!!!



I cant remember the last time i was this excited i must be really sad :oops: ..........dont answer that

I asked about an upgrade and they stated it would cost an extra £150, so i left it and i will see how i handle the original shifters and at the same time keep my eye out for some on ebay.

Anyway come 6pm i will be out on my brand new bike

godders1

blue07794 wrote:

Trek 1.2 purchased!!!!!

They are setting up the bike as i type this and i am due to collect it at 5pm today..........hurry up!!!!!!



I cant remember the last time i was this excited i must be really sad :oops: ..........dont answer that

I asked about an upgrade and they stated it would cost an extra £150, so i left it and i will see how i handle the original shifters and at the same time keep my eye out for some on ebay.

Anyway come 6pm i will be out on my brand new bike

Not sad at all, can't beat that new bike feeling.

Keep an eye out for tiagra shifters on the classified forum here too.

blue07794

would this be them by any chance?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Shimano-Tiagr ... 500wt_1156

andy46

blue07794 wrote:

would this be them by any chance?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Shimano-Tiagr ... 500wt_1156

Yes they looks like the ones, see how you get on with your shifters first though.

I thought the same when I bought my bike last year, but actually I quite like them as I spend nealy all my time on the hoods.