upgrading options

damo.mac85

Hi

At the start of the year i purchased a merida racelite 900 which has a 16 speed sora setup

http://www.merida-bikes.com/en_gb/bike/ ... e+Lite+900

I was wondering what options do i have to upgrade this with out spendings loads on a new groupset? could i get a 9 speed cassette for the back or is it much more complicated than that

danlikesbikes

If you don't want to start with the group set you do have lots of other options some expensive and some really cheap;

Bar tape
Brake Blocks
Handlebars
Stem
Seat
Seat post
Tyres/inners
Wheels
Stip clean your wheels & just replace the rim tape
Bearings - BB, jockey wheels, wheel bearings

Sure there are loads of other options you could take but depends on what your budget is I guess. For me the first thing I changed were the tyres/inners and bar tape. Pretty cheap but made a difference to the feel of the bike and my confidence in handling

damo.mac85

thanks for the advice will definalty look into those, but my main concern at the mo is the gearing. i've been told i should of purchaced a bike with more gears but its a bit late for that now so was wondering if it would be easy to upgrade

Tom Dean

You can't use a 9 speed cassette on an 8 speed groupset. When you say you need more gears, do you mean you need a lower gear?

The best value upgrades you can make are generally wheels and tyres.

Some of the others suggested above, like seatpost , stem etc, you can save a bit of weight but you are not going to get any real performance benefit, unless you have a specific problem with your current parts.

danlikesbikes

Guess it boils down the question do you feel you struggle with the gears at the moment?

If yes then you could always change the back block to give you more/less as its a simple change to make.

damo.mac85

I'm finding im out of my seat a lot on hills and friends with higher spec bikes are leaving me for dust on the hills. I know the rear derailer is a sora which is compatable with 7/8/9 speed just not sure if the rest of my group set could handle it

Slo Mo Jones

damo.mac85 wrote:

friends with higher spec bikes are leaving me for dust on the hills.

"It's not about the bike", to quote someone. I forget his name.

damo.mac85

so just man up then lol

Anonymous

Couple of things:

1) The reason they have higher spec bikes is probably because they originally had an entry level bike, rode lots, then got a nice one. Legs don't come with high spec bikes, they come with training.

2) I would say (as with most new bikes, regardless of spec) that the tyres and wheels are the weakness (heavy, flexible). If you have some money burning a hole in your pocket, definitely get some new tyres. Personally I use Conti GP4000S as they are light, fast and puncture resistant, (which are 2 + 5 tubes from wiggle for £65) but there are a wide range and if you search the forum there is no consensus.

If you want to spend another £2-300 quid then some new wheels (lighter, stiffer) could be a possibility, but as with upgrading all things, its better to get to the stage where you comprehend the limitations of your bike before you start throwing money at solving problems which may well be solved by more training!

danlikesbikes

damo.mac85 wrote:

so just man up then lol

Nah were in the beginners section so should be trying to be helpful not harsh with advice.

If the gears themselves are OK for you and you are happy with the range they give you then its down to the engine. Sounds like perhaps your friends have been riding longer than you and therefore are more bike fit? If so you know what we are going to say that you need to get out and ride.

Don't let that put you off though as riding with a group that are better than you will help you as you can ride in a group at a higher average than you could on your own due to the drafting benefits you will get being behind another rider. Plus the more chasing you do the more training your doing whilst your friends are just spinning along. It won't take long for your to build up our fitness & from there its then down to you if you want to ride for fun or get your head down and train for something specific

elderone

I see your bike has a 12-25 rear cassette,you could change this to 28 or even a 30 rear which will definately make it easier up the hills,note I said easier not faster.I did this on my 8 speed set up and it was great.
The main thing though is just ride more and get the legs stronger.
Good luck.

drlodge

If you want "more gears" i.e. 9 or 10 speed, you'll need to change you shifters/brake levers as well as the cassette, and possibly the rear hub (although most hubs are 8/9/10 speed compatible)

Mikey23

I have a defy 4 with shimano 2300 8 gears and a spesh roubaix with shimano 105 10 gears. Both 50/34, 11/28 but obviously more options with the latter. To me it doesn't seem to be a big deal and IMHO not worth spending loadsa money on an upgrade ...

damo.mac85

Cheers for the advice think i'll keep pluggin away with what i've got, work on the engine :-)

danlikesbikes

damo.mac85 wrote:

Cheers for the advice think i'll keep pluggin away with what i've got, work on the engine :-)

Good on you.

Keep at it & you should find that as your working harding to keep up if they are just cruising you will soon see benefits in your fitness.

djm501

Good man. I've got 105 groupset on one of my bikes and deore/sora on the other (it's a hybrid) and I can't tell the difference between the performance frankly. It's only gearshifting anyway.

I have to say though that on my roadbike I just got a pair of Mavik Ksyrium Equipe S wheels as an upgrade from the Shimano R501's that came with the bike and man, do they make a difference! Much nicer and they certainly give me a speed boost. -but much expense also (£350) and it's taken me a year and 6000ish miles to be ready for that upgrade.
If I get an upgrade on the groupset that will involve buying a new bike.

nochekmate

Swapping the cassette out on the back to a 28T or a 30T will not make you faster up the hills either. A 25T on the rear is sufficient unless you live in a really hilly area, just a case of getting some training miles in. A 10 speed set-up will not make you quicker than the 8 speed set-up that you have currently.

declan1

damo.mac85 wrote:

Cheers for the advice think i'll keep pluggin away with what i've got, work on the engine :-)

Yep, that's what you need to do. Don't go too hard on yourself though - build it up slowly