Planned Upgrades

Initialised

Veronese68 wrote:

If Initialised buys a Specialized will he have to change the spelling to Initialized?

I can't drop an initial from my screen name so no, maybe I shouldn't get the Spez. Damn yanks taking my language and turning it against me!

bushu

Have half the parts for single speed tart up time, when I find a larger donor XC MTB frame for the mongoose gubbins for commuting on

green bars, purple/blk levers, chaintug, green wheels & gp4s, green chain, orange post, new saddle - check

Need black calipers, headset, stem, white Ind. freewheel, Halo FixT purple flavour, tarty brake cable/housing, maybe some fresh superstar lock-ons, black crank & a bb depending on beer tokens

Probably won't be able to keep most the kit on the mongoose without chainline issues so I can see this is still going to cost a frame, chainset, clamp & post at a minimum o_0 think I'm subconsciously trying the n+1 rule :roll:

rolf_f

Initialised wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

If Initialised buys a Specialized will he have to change the spelling to Initialized?

I can't drop an initial from my screen name so no, maybe I shouldn't get the Spez. Damn yanks taking my language and turning it against me!

You can't blame the Yanks - it was us that changed from z to s - not them changing from s to z!

veronese68

Rolf F wrote:

Initialised wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

If Initialised buys a Specialized will he have to change the spelling to Initialized?

I can't drop an initial from my screen name so no, maybe I shouldn't get the Spez. Damn yanks taking my language and turning it against me!

You can't blame the Yanks - it was us that changed from z to s - not them changing from s to z!

That I didn't know. I was alwayz under the imprezzion that they zimplified the English language by replacing s with z and dropping the u from colour etc in order to differentiate. That and it makez life eazier for them.

tgotb

Initialised wrote:

TGOTB wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

rubertoe wrote:

MRS, it is on Tiagra and is a grand.

Strange. I looked at one in the Specialized shop in Kingston and it was on Sora and a grand. Evans had a couple of CX bikes with discs and 105 for a grand which looked rather better value. The Pinnacle had 105 and BB7 brakes.

If you don't mind building your own CX bike, you can put together something quite good for well under a grand, especially if you're prepared to use some second-hand components. Mine came in at not much more than half that price, including (good) new frame, new BB7s, and 105. Most of the groupset was second-hand, as were the bars/stem/seatpost. Wheels were second-hand, but unused. I was lucky to spot a decent frame on eBay, but they do come up regularly.

You gits, put me back into procrastination mode. I don't have spousal clearance or the space and tools to build a bike so the grief I'd get and the extra tools I'd need would offset any gains.

I do have clearance for a new bike and can probably do about £1k. Also been looking at the Pinacle Arkose 3 which gets a mix of Tiagra and 105 and gets BB7 brakes (rather than Sora & BB5 on the Spez). But I like the Roubaix geometry on the Specialized and could probably do a phased upgrade program. But that doesn't stop it being a Spez. I was chatting to a bloke on a Pinnacle cross (frog leg brakes, dark grey frame) this morning, he seemed to like it but struggled to out pace me despite having a much lower apparent FCN, drops, slicks, tights etc... But I passed a guy on a Spez Roubaix up a big nasty hill last year so I guess it's not all about the bike. Anyway should I go with one of these or something else?

How important is it for you to get a new bike (as opposed to second hand)? I bought a very nice (albeit well used) Alan for my girlfriend a few months ago, for £400. In the world of cross bikes, Alan are probably the most celebrated builder, though Ridley are also very good. It's pretty much the end of the 'cross season now, so there should be some good bikes available in the next couple of months. You should be able to get something nice for well under a grand (or something very nice indeed for the full budget!) Check out the various 'cross forums...