Which is the 'sensible' upgrade route

furiousd

I currently have a 2010 Bianchi Via Nirone Sora. It is my first road bike and i love it. I recently put some new tyres on and upgraded the brakes to 105 5600 calipers. The bike has been faultless. I am using it more and more at the moment and choosing it over other hobbies so thought about upgrading some bits. As mentioned i have already done the calipers, i wanted them specifically in black as my current FSA chainset it black and it works well with the colours of the bike.

I have been looking at getting 6510 Ultegra 9 speed shifters but they are either very tatty or i a missing out on the bidding so thought about going the 10 speed route. I know this will be significantly more expensive but 9 speed parts seem few and far between. So options:

A
Buy some used 6501 105 shifters in black, as these will match the brakes better, 105new cassette, chain and 105 rear mech.

B
Buy a new 5700 105 groupset, around £400 ish, sell my 5600 brakes.

C
Buy a new Ultegra 6700 groupset, around £600, sell my 5600 brakes.

D
Sell the bike and buy a new one. I guess i would get around £400-£500 for my bike, plus another £500/£600 does not get you much....

Am i going to notice any difference between the 105 and ultegra. My riding is most weekends, not racing.

Other suggestions welcome, but i essentially i am looking so upgrade the shifters no matter what.

Cheers
D

indysmith

You will notice a difference between Sora and Ultegra, perhaps not so much between 105 and Ultegra.
I think in this sort of price range your money would be best spent on a nice set of wheels - this could dramatically improve the feel of the bike, and also save you some weight.

sungod

tbh, leaving aside the bling factor, changing groupset components makes very little difference to how a bike rides, if you aren't racing then saving a bit of weight or shifting a smidge faster isn't a big deal

10-speed instead of 9 is a bit nicer, but it's not a massive difference

shifter style/egronomics is probably the biggest difference from going to 105/ultegra, but i'd be wary of buying secondhand shifters, they're the most complex assembly, any wear/damage lurking inside could result in early failure with no warranty

afaik it's not a light frame, if you want to upgrade it, i'd start with wheels rather than groupset bits, but bear in mind that for a grand, you can get a new bike built with mostly 105, or something higher spec. secondhand

iPete

Wheels.

Replace everything else as it wears out and fit carbon bits if you need more comfort.

furiousd

I did upgrade the wheels at the time of buying. Whilst not super good and below most they were better than what was on there.
Currently Shimano R500.

D

iPete

Personally, I'd replace when it wears out, although my sora took 13,000 to die!

I've upgraded to 5700 and RS80 wheels and the wheels are hands down the better upgrade. The 5700 is nice for the internal cabling but the bike won't 'feel' quicker.

markos1963

R500 are 'ok' wheels but not a great upgrade. Treat yourself to something at around £300 or more and you'll notice a big difference. As others have said, groupset upgrades are best done as stuff wears out as you never get the benefit in the same way as good wheels.

mjbennett

Ksyrium Elite - £400 (or less) and trust me you will notice a huge difference on your shimano wheels

TMR

Another vote for replacing the wheels. Also another vote for the Kysrium Elites.

dodgerdog

Joining the Kysrium Elite train! Use them as my best with Pro-lite Luccianos for summer commuting and Aksiums on the winter hack. The Kysriums are absolutely fantastic! The others aren't bad either.