Upgrade bike, or upgrade groupset and wheels?

Fursty Ferret

Gentlemen!

New arrival here, been lurking on and off a few months. Familiar with motorcycle forums and terminology but not so much with non-petrol driven two wheelers so forgive any crass or stupid errors on my part if possible.

Bought an Allez Sport last September. Love it. Out and about whenever possible (South Oxfordshire) but as is to be expected, after a while thoughts arise as to what comes next. Essentially, the bike is all that I need. I cane around to the best of my limited abilities and although I'm happy putting in the miles and tackling whatever hills come my way I'm never going to be one of those who puts in mega amounts of hours in the saddle or aspires to be a serious player in any form. So, with that in mind, when it comes to upgrading, should I go for a set of new lighter wheels and maybe step up from Sora to Tiagra (about £500 all in) or should I just go for a bike that has all these things for standard? I'm well aware it's the rider that makes the bike and the Allez sport does all that it should and more, but it would be nice to be able to downshift without it being a lottery as to what effing gear I may arrive at! (to be fair, bike needs a service and will be getting some TLC come Friday)

Anyway, apologies is this is a repetitively tedious enquiry but thought it best to solicit opinion from those who know.

Oh, and by the way, I average 43mph uphill and I like riding on dual carriageways.

Cheers

FF

gloomyandy

Not that familiar with that bike, but can you fit mud guards to it? If you can and if you intend to ride over the winter then you may want to consider getting a new "best" bike for when it is dry and keeping your existing bike for when it is not...

andrewjoseph

Check that the equipment you have is all upgradable. i.e. do you have 9spd now and want to upgrade to 10spd. if so you may need a new cassette and possibly new rear mech. Though I have had no problem running 9spd mtb rear mech with 10 spd ultegra shifters. But there is some variability on cable pull between different groupsets.

If you are happy with the wheels, keep them until they need replacing.

crescent

Fellow Allez owner who also faced the same dilemma. It is a great bike no doubt about it, which is why it is such a difficult decision. Not sure the upgrade from Sora to Tiagra would be huge, possibly the only noticeable difference would be the downshift mechanism on the brake levers as opposed to the thumb lever on the hoods. My Allez has a mix of Sora and Tiagra on it so they are compatible although, as above, make sure you don't inadvertently mix 8 and 9 speed components. You could possibly just upgrade the shifters to Tiagra instead of the whole groupset (perhaps this is what you were already thinking?) and this would free up more of your £500 budget for better wheels. I opted to keep my Allez and build a new bike to my own spec, costs a lot more than £500 but I'm delighted with it, still love the Allez though and can't see me ever getting rid of it.

Cheers

pete600

Fursty Ferret wrote:

Gentlemen!

New arrival here, been lurking on and off a few months. Familiar with motorcycle forums and terminology but not so much with non-petrol driven two wheelers so forgive any crass or stupid errors on my part if possible.

Bought an Allez Sport last September. Love it. Out and about whenever possible (South Oxfordshire) but as is to be expected, after a while thoughts arise as to what comes next. Essentially, the bike is all that I need. I cane around to the best of my limited abilities and although I'm happy putting in the miles and tackling whatever hills come my way I'm never going to be one of those who puts in mega amounts of hours in the saddle or aspires to be a serious player in any form. So, with that in mind, when it comes to upgrading, should I go for a set of new lighter wheels and maybe step up from Sora to Tiagra (about £500 all in) or should I just go for a bike that has all these things for standard? I'm well aware it's the rider that makes the bike and the Allez sport does all that it should and more, but it would be nice to be able to downshift without it being a lottery as to what effing gear I may arrive at! (to be fair, bike needs a service and will be getting some TLC come Friday)

Anyway, apologies is this is a repetitively tedious enquiry but thought it best to solicit opinion from those who know.

Oh, and by the way, I average 43mph uphill and I like riding on dual carriageways.

Cheers

FF

Keep the bike as is if you are going that fast up hill

Fursty Ferret

pete600 wrote:

Fursty Ferret wrote:

Gentlemen!

New arrival here, been lurking on and off a few months. Familiar with motorcycle forums and terminology but not so much with non-petrol driven two wheelers so forgive any crass or stupid errors on my part if possible.

Bought an Allez Sport last September. Love it. Out and about whenever possible (South Oxfordshire) but as is to be expected, after a while thoughts arise as to what comes next. Essentially, the bike is all that I need. I cane around to the best of my limited abilities and although I'm happy putting in the miles and tackling whatever hills come my way I'm never going to be one of those who puts in mega amounts of hours in the saddle or aspires to be a serious player in any form. So, with that in mind, when it comes to upgrading, should I go for a set of new lighter wheels and maybe step up from Sora to Tiagra (about £500 all in) or should I just go for a bike that has all these things for standard? I'm well aware it's the rider that makes the bike and the Allez sport does all that it should and more, but it would be nice to be able to downshift without it being a lottery as to what effing gear I may arrive at! (to be fair, bike needs a service and will be getting some TLC come Friday)

Anyway, apologies is this is a repetitively tedious enquiry but thought it best to solicit opinion from those who know.

Oh, and by the way, I average 43mph uphill and I like riding on dual carriageways.

Cheers

FF

Keep the bike as is if you are going that fast up hill

I try and limit it to 43mph. Don't want to embarrass the professionals after all!

(Just like to reinforce that I am jesting. I have noticed on one or two forums that this sort of thing doesn't necessarily come across as intended!)

Fursty Ferret

Crescent wrote:

Fellow Allez owner who also faced the same dilemma. It is a great bike no doubt about it, which is why it is such a difficult decision. Not sure the upgrade from Sora to Tiagra would be huge, possibly the only noticeable difference would be the downshift mechanism on the brake levers as opposed to the thumb lever on the hoods. My Allez has a mix of Sora and Tiagra on it so they are compatible although, as above, make sure you don't inadvertently mix 8 and 9 speed components. You could possibly just upgrade the shifters to Tiagra instead of the whole groupset (perhaps this is what you were already thinking?) and this would free up more of your £500 budget for better wheels. I opted to keep my Allez and build a new bike to my own spec, costs a lot more than £500 but I'm delighted with it, still love the Allez though and can't see me ever getting rid of it.

Cheers

Thanks for that, V constructive advice. The main issue for me is the imprecision on the downshift that you get with the cheaper Sora stuff. I think the finger trigger with the Tiagra allows greater precision. Alternatively I could be talking bollocks, which has been known to happen.

Rigged

Not too familiar with Shimano group sets but have read that Tiagra is a big leap in quality from Sora. If you're missing intended gears then shifters and possibly rear derailleur would be a well appreciated upgrade. More general advice on upgrades tends to be to target the wheels first. £300 will get you a cracking set of Mavic krysium or Campagnolo zondas and probably should leave enough from £500 to upgrade shifters and derailleur if necessary.

The sky's the limit really with how much you want to spend, after about £600-£700 you're probably best off looking at a new bike altogether because you can easily get full tiagra in the range or maybe even 105 if you go back to previous year's bikes.

Ringo 68

I am in a similar position. Perfectly good bike, a Boardman Comp, but I am convincing myself that it will make a good winter bike.
After helping my best mate pick his first road bike at the weekend (a very nice Cube Peloton) I was looking again at some of the carbon bikes for sale at the £1500 mark and I just can't help but want one.

I KNOW I will be able to average well over 43mph on one of those.

Fursty Ferret

Ringo 68 wrote:

I KNOW I will be able to average well over 43mph on one of those.

And if it's black, you may well top 45mph. This is a fact.

Ringo 68

Fursty Ferret wrote:

Ringo 68 wrote:

I KNOW I will be able to average well over 43mph on one of those.

And if it's black, you may well top 45mph. This is a fact.

Damn, the one I was looking at was blue.

crescent

Fursty Ferret wrote:

Thanks for that, V constructive advice. The main issue for me is the imprecision on the downshift that you get with the cheaper Sora stuff. I think the finger trigger with the Tiagra allows greater precision. Alternatively I could be talking bollocks, which has been known to happen.

I have to say I didn't have any problem with the Sora equipment other than the front thumb shifter did occasionally get a bit stiff. The only Tiagra component on mine is the rear derailleur but it all seems to work fine together. If there are problems with the shifting it may just need a bit of fine tuning that is required. Alternatively, if you do go down the upgrade route, it is worth considering a new set of cables to improve the shifting altogether. I picked up a full set of Jagwire brake and gear cables for my self build for £30 at Wiggle. Probably a worthwhile part of your £500 budget.

Cheers

McBoom

Important to note that Tiagra is now a 10-speed groupset. Older 9-speed stuff is still available but can't see the point in upgrading to a discontinued product.

This moving from 9-10 speed would require a number of new parts if upgrading partially. I think I'd just buy the full groupset. You could offset some cash by flogging your Sora stuff.

Spending £500 on your existing bike will get you a better bike than selling your bike and buying a NEW one. Say you bought an allez elite - you'd have spent a similar amount(if not more) and ended up with the same groupset and worse wheels. If you bought USED then obviously you could get a higher spec. But it'll be, well, used...

nathancom

n+1 you should get another bike and turn your current bike into a winter/trainer and fix it up yourself to save you money at the bike shop.

thescouselander

Fursty Ferret wrote:

Crescent wrote:

Fellow Allez owner who also faced the same dilemma. It is a great bike no doubt about it, which is why it is such a difficult decision. Not sure the upgrade from Sora to Tiagra would be huge, possibly the only noticeable difference would be the downshift mechanism on the brake levers as opposed to the thumb lever on the hoods. My Allez has a mix of Sora and Tiagra on it so they are compatible although, as above, make sure you don't inadvertently mix 8 and 9 speed components. You could possibly just upgrade the shifters to Tiagra instead of the whole groupset (perhaps this is what you were already thinking?) and this would free up more of your £500 budget for better wheels. I opted to keep my Allez and build a new bike to my own spec, costs a lot more than £500 but I'm delighted with it, still love the Allez though and can't see me ever getting rid of it.

Cheers

Thanks for that, V constructive advice. The main issue for me is the imprecision on the downshift that you get with the cheaper Sora stuff. I think the finger trigger with the Tiagra allows greater precision. Alternatively I could be talking bollocks, which has been known to happen.

There's nothing imprecise about Sora stuff - if its not shifting properly its either not set up correctly or damaged in some way. The different shifters are just about ergonomics.

sumosprintstar

thescouselander wrote:

Fursty Ferret wrote:

Crescent wrote:

Fellow Allez owner who also faced the same dilemma. It is a great bike no doubt about it, which is why it is such a difficult decision. Not sure the upgrade from Sora to Tiagra would be huge, possibly the only noticeable difference would be the downshift mechanism on the brake levers as opposed to the thumb lever on the hoods. My Allez has a mix of Sora and Tiagra on it so they are compatible although, as above, make sure you don't inadvertently mix 8 and 9 speed components. You could possibly just upgrade the shifters to Tiagra instead of the whole groupset (perhaps this is what you were already thinking?) and this would free up more of your £500 budget for better wheels. I opted to keep my Allez and build a new bike to my own spec, costs a lot more than £500 but I'm delighted with it, still love the Allez though and can't see me ever getting rid of it.

Cheers

Thanks for that, V constructive advice. The main issue for me is the imprecision on the downshift that you get with the cheaper Sora stuff. I think the finger trigger with the Tiagra allows greater precision. Alternatively I could be talking bollocks, which has been known to happen.

There's nothing imprecise about Sora stuff - if its not shifting properly its either not set up correctly or damaged in some way. The different shifters are just about ergonomics.

+1. Get it operating properly first before making any decision. Could be a simple adjustment is all that is required. If you ride mostly on the hoods it should not make much difference. I have 105 shifters and to be honest dont ride a huge amount on the drops to get the benefit. They do look better though.

TKF

Fursty Ferret wrote:

the Allez sport does all that it should and more, but it would be nice to be able to downshift without it being a lottery as to what effing gear I may arrive at!

I have the same bike bought 2nd hand in January and I'm also finding the downshifting a bit of a lottery. Will it be one gear, will it be two, you'll have to wa-it and see.

I also have an itchy finger for a new purchase so I'll follow this thread with interest.

I was up in your neck of the woods on Sunday riding up to and around Christmas Common. I could only manage 41mph up the slopes so maybe you can give a few tips?

jameses

You should be able to pick up some older Ultegra (6500), 105 (5500) or Tiagra (4500) 9 speed shifters fairly cheap. That would be a worthwhile upgrade to the groupset (to do away with the Sora thumb shifters), nothing much wrong with the rest of the Sora gear.
Which would leave you with £400 or so to get a decent wheelset - Shimano RS80's are great wheels that can normally be found for £350ish - which can easily be transferred when you give in to the rule of n+1!

Fursty Ferret

TKF wrote:

Fursty Ferret wrote:

the Allez sport does all that it should and more, but it would be nice to be able to downshift without it being a lottery as to what effing gear I may arrive at!

I have the same bike bought 2nd hand in January and I'm also finding the downshifting a bit of a lottery. Will it be one gear, will it be two, you'll have to wa-it and see.

I also have an itchy finger for a new purchase so I'll follow this thread with interest.

I was up in your neck of the woods on Sunday riding up to and around Christmas Common. I could only manage 41mph up the slopes so maybe you can give a few tips?

I find that pedalling very, very fast helps. And if you see going uphill as simply going downhill in another direction, it all becomes very easy.

Guys, thanks for the advice. Some of you are undoubtedly right in suggesting that some fine tuning wouldn't go amiss and I've arranged for a nice chap to pop round later this week and fettle the bike so that should help. I suspect I'll upgrade the components rather than the entire bike because it's cheaper and I suppose a little more individual. Although obviously if I was minted I'd be sprinting into my LBS tomorrow, waving wads of cash and demanding some freakishly unsuitable carbon effort that would be completely wasted on me. Oh well, one can only dream.

FF

iPete

I've a 2010 Allez, it was a sport double wih Sora but its now only got 5 original components on it. The best upgrades have been some 'weekend' wheels [RS80s with Mich 3 tyres and superlight tubes] and a carbon seatpost!! I rode for 2 years with the original seatpost, a big mistake, moving to a Deda carbon has changed the comfort on the bike no end, takes most of the road buzz out. I'll be looking at adding some carbon to the front end [bars or stem] to see if it does the same.

The full 105 5700 is nice, looks better and shifting is decent but I replaced that as I'd knackered the old one, not sure it's worth swapping out unless you have to.

17600 miles and counting 8)

Duffer65

Until a recent financial glitch I was going to buy a spanking new road bike and keep my trusty Jamis as my winter hack. So, after a rethink of my available finances I opted to upgrade my bike. I bought Fulcrum Racing 5 wheels (great deal from Merlin Cycles wheels + tyres and tubes), and picked up some Tiagra 9 speed shifters from Ebay as an upgrade from the Sora shifters, as I prefer to be able to shift from the drops if I need to. These simple, and relatively cheap (under £300) additions have improved the ride and enjoyment of my bike and will act as a stop gap until I can afford a new bike.

smidsy

Wheels will fit any new bike that you may buy in the future so not a waste of money.

Also wheels are the single biggest area for improvement as they are rotating mass which is worth nearly double anything fixed. Completely change the handling of a bike as they spin up faster and enable you to maintain speed easier and climb better etc.

A nice set of light but stiff wheels with good inners and tyres will always be a worthy purhcase for any bike.

Fursty Ferret

Jolly Good. Wheels it is then. Just have to convince the fiancee that a new set of wheels for my bike is an absolutely integral aspect of wedding preparation, and that without them the entire day will be doomed to failure.

jeremybarker

thescouselander wrote:

Fursty Ferret wrote:

Crescent wrote:

Fellow Allez owner who also faced the same dilemma. It is a great bike no doubt about it, which is why it is such a difficult decision. Not sure the upgrade from Sora to Tiagra would be huge, possibly the only noticeable difference would be the downshift mechanism on the brake levers as opposed to the thumb lever on the hoods. My Allez has a mix of Sora and Tiagra on it so they are compatible although, as above, make sure you don't inadvertently mix 8 and 9 speed components. You could possibly just upgrade the shifters to Tiagra instead of the whole groupset (perhaps this is what you were already thinking?) and this would free up more of your £500 budget for better wheels. I opted to keep my Allez and build a new bike to my own spec, costs a lot more than £500 but I'm delighted with it, still love the Allez though and can't see me ever getting rid of it.

Cheers

Thanks for that, V constructive advice. The main issue for me is the imprecision on the downshift that you get with the cheaper Sora stuff. I think the finger trigger with the Tiagra allows greater precision. Alternatively I could be talking bollocks, which has been known to happen.

There's nothing imprecise about Sora stuff - if its not shifting properly its either not set up correctly or damaged in some way. The different shifters are just about ergonomics.

I'd second this, I have a Bianchi that has Sora kit and once set up correctly it changes perfectly and never misses a gear.