2011 Allez Sport (upgraded)

nickel

Here's my 2011 Specialized Allez Sport, I got it last June and its done about 4000 miles since then. Its mainly stock save for the wheels which I've got to say have been a massive upgrade over the mavic/shimano wheels that came with the bike (half a kilo lighter and a lot stiffer!), also just switched over to some ultremos now we're out of winter (supposedly).

Also invested in a nice planet x seatpost and some decent swissstop brake pads.



Apologies for the quality of the pic, was taken on my phone.

crescent

Nice looking bike and nice upgrades, looks the business.
I'm biased of course, being an Allez owner myself. Just built my Ribble and really like it but don't want to part with my Allez, will be giving it a bit of TLC over the summer I think.
Any other upgrades planned?

nickel

Cheers! Not got any currently planned, would quite like to upgrade to 105 at some point in the future but may just put that money towards a fund for a carbon blingy bike. I'll never get rid of my Allez as it was my 21st present and my first ever road bike so I'm quite sentimentally attached to it, but it may become my winter bike in the future.

bianchibob

Hi, love the bike, I have one as well, but mine is just standard. This was my first road bike, and after 6 months I went out and bought a Bianchi 928, carbon frame etc. I tend to use the Bianchi on only fine weather days, so not much, and the Allez all othet times. To compare them is difficult as the Allez is such a sweet ride. I am always amazed when I start on a ride how comfortable and sporty it feels to ride.

A great choice, and I am sure your upgrades have added even more to the 'Specialized' experience.

crescent

You sound like you're caught in the 'trap' I was in about 6 months ago: do I upgrade or buy another bike? The fact is that the Allez is such a good bike to start with that to see a significant upgrade in performance would take a significant spend and into the realms of "I might as well just buy a new bike then!". That was my thought process anyway.
For what it's worth, I opted to keep mine and build a new bike over the winter months. I bought a Gran Fondo frameset from Ribble and collected the groupset, finishing kit etc over the following months (I already had a newish set of wheels, I upgraded my Allez to Fulcrum 7s at the end of last summer). I finished it in March and thoroughly enjoyed building it and, more recently, riding it. Like BianchBob, through personal choice it is very much for fairweather riding, the Allez is still used regularly. Mine is four years old now and yesterday, after a very wet 35 miler on Monday, I stripped it down and cleaned, lub'd and polished it for four hours, even fitted a new set of Jagwire brake & gear cables left over from my Ribble build. It still looks fantastic and rides like a dream.
I found this to be a good option that ticked all the boxes for me i.e. kept a bike I really didn't want to get rid of and still managed to buy loads on shiny new bits! Result!!

Cheers