upgrading wheels and DIY

Kingsmill1
Kingsmill1 Posts: 103
edited July 2013 in Road beginners
I am looking at upgrading the standard Giant PR2 wheels which came with my bike to a set of fulcrum 3's, at the same time I want to upgrade the rear cassette from the current tiagra to a 105 cassette. The rest of my group set is a bit of a mix rear ultegra, front 105 and crank set is shimano 565 50 x34.
Couple of questions
is it worth upgrading the cassette from tiagra to 105 is there much difference ? ,
is this something a complete novice can do if I get the right tools ?
Finally to current group set is 12 x 28 which I find very good for climbing however shimano 105 nearest comparison is 12 x 27 is there much difference or should I bite the bullet and go for a full ultegra rear cassette.
Giant TCR Comp 2
Specialized Allez Sport

Comments

  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    Kingsmill1 wrote:
    is it worth upgrading the cassette from tiagra to 105 is there much difference ? ,

    unless you want a different ratio, upgrading the cassette is one of the most pointless things you could waste money on...
  • smidsy
    smidsy Posts: 5,273
    Imposter wrote:
    Kingsmill1 wrote:
    is it worth upgrading the cassette from tiagra to 105 is there much difference ? ,

    unless you want a different ratio, upgrading the cassette is one of the most pointless things you could waste money on...

    Closely followed by Fulcrum 3's :roll:

    12/27 v 12/28 is not that much of a difference, but I often smile to myself when I use the 28. As Tesco says 'every little helps'.

    No major gains between cassettes, just less weight really.
    Yellow is the new Black.
  • mabbo
    mabbo Posts: 117
    Upgrading wheels is always an option, may or may not make the bike better dependant on what you are doing it for. There's loads of advice in these forums about that.
    Changing cassettes however is a service / maintainance job. So if it's not worn, why change it? One tooth will not make a big difference to your riding, and the weight / quality will not be noticable,(Unless your name is Froome).
    So really, unless its worn, why fix it?
    Lastly, if you do want to change it, it's an easy job as long as you have a chain whip and cassette removal tool. All available online for little money.
  • Kingsmill1
    Kingsmill1 Posts: 103
    sounds like upgrading is a bit of a waste of time.............. might consider the wheels then and leave the cassette till it needs replacing.
    Giant TCR Comp 2
    Specialized Allez Sport
  • night_porter
    night_porter Posts: 888
    If you are changing your wheels you will still need to have a cassette tool and chain whip to remove the cassette from your current wheels and refit it to the new wheels.

    Alternatively, you could buy another cassette and fit this to the new wheels and keep the current cassette on the old wheels. They could then be a spare set of wheels in case you get a broken spoke or you want to use them as winter wheels to protect your best wheels, etc.

    If you do this then you could save some money and get a new Tiagra cassette for the new wheelset complete with some nice new tyres and you are good to go.

    The old wheels are then still available to refit should you decide to sell the bike and you get to keep your "best" wheels for yourself.
  • deswahriff
    deswahriff Posts: 310
    ..night-porter has summed it up very well.....and yes, to answer one of the OP's questions, changing cassettes is very straightforward if you have the tools (chain whip and lock-ring socket). If you've ever played with meccano, you'll be fine, (if you've ever changed car brake pads or wheel bearings, you'll find it laughably easy!) but do check and double check what you've done. There's plenty of resources on Youtube etc, but at the end of the day, if you don't feel confident, best leave it to the "experts" at your LBS.

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