Time for an upgrade

johnmcsorley

Hello,

Looking for some advice, in that since October 2012 I've been riding my first road bike, which is a Giant Defy 1, and really got into the sport now and spend at least 5 days a week on the road. Completed my first century run out 2 weeks ago

Now however, like every good roadie, I want another bike and I want to climb faster and go faster everywhere all the time

So, I've given myself a budget of just over £2k and thinking of upgrading to a Cube Agree GTC SLT with the following spec:

CUBE CSL Race Carbon, 1 1/8"- 1 1/2"
FSA Orbit I-t integrated, oben integriert 1 1/8", unten integriert 1 1/2"
Syntace F149 Oversized, Lenkerklemmung 31.8mm, 6°
Syntace Racelite 2014 Oversized 31.8mm
CUBE Grip Control
Shimano Ultegra RD-6700SS-G, short cage, 2x10 speed
Shimano Ultegra FD-6700BL-G, 2x10 speed, clamp 34.9mm
Shimano Ultegra BR-6700-G
Shimano Ultegra FC-6700 Hollowtech II 53x39T, 170mm (RH 50/53cm), 172,5mm (RH 56/58/60cm), 175mm (RH 62/64cm), Innenlager PressFit SM-BB71-41 (86,5mm)
DT Swiss CSW RA 2.0 Race
Schwalbe Ultremo ZX Kevlar 23x622
Selle Italia X1 Road
RFR Prolight 27.2*350mm
RFR Superlight 31.8mm
7,6 kg
479100
Shimano Ultegra ST-6700, 2x10-speed

Anyone think there is any bike at this price I should be considering? Any Cube owners got any feedback on this bike?

Thoughts and comments appreciated!

supermurph09

Your model is a couple up from mine (Agree GTC Race), so not a direct comparison but I'd certainly recommend my bike. I've changed the brakes to Ultegra and just put some Planet X 52mm Carbon Clinchers on and its made a big difference from the Eastons and standard brakes. Skip to page 2 for pics of my own bike: viewtopic.php?f=40044&t=12905246&start=20

Size wise, Cubes are known to be one size up from normal.

unixnerd

A quick google shows the wheels are around 1880g, that's not terribly light but it's par for the course on a bike of this price. I'd be tempted to budget a few quid to upgrade them right away and sell the old ones on ebay (I did that with my last bike). You seldom get good wheels on a new bike, even a dear one.

markhewitt1978

I'd say wait, and get a bike with Ultegra 6800.

clickrumble

With that sort of money you might be better off building up your own.

johnmcsorley

Clickrumble wrote:

With that sort of money you might be better off building up your own.

I have thought about this and would be an interesting project to see me through the winter months. I have replaced cassette's and de-railers before but not sure if that's enough knowledge to put a whole bike together.

I like the idea of buying some hand built wheels from these guys:

www.wheelsmith.co.uk

With some fancy hubs too

The first thing to go on my Giant Defy 1 were the wheels, I just bought a cheap pair of Cole 24's which have seen me through the summer Sportives. Simple and cheap from Evans Cycles.

johnmcsorley

Supermurph09 wrote:

Your model is a couple up from mine (Agree GTC Race), so not a direct comparison but I'd certainly recommend my bike. I've changed the brakes to Ultegra and just put some Planet X 52mm Carbon Clinchers on and its made a big difference from the Eastons and standard brakes. Skip to page 2 for pics of my own bike: viewtopic.php?f=40044&t=12905246&start=20

Size wise, Cubes are known to be one size up from normal.

Mate, if you don't mind me saying, that is BIKE PORN ! Your Cube look brilliant with those hoops !

supermurph09

They looked better than I thought they would. Sound great too!

GiantMike

I recently bought a brand new Scott Addict frameset for £500, added some used Ksyrium SSC SL wheels for £200, about £350 of groupset (Dura Ace and Ultegra), then seat, post, stem, bars etc. Came in at around £1200 for a bespoke 6.9kg bike.

johnmcsorley

GiantMike wrote:

I recently bought a brand new Scott Addict frameset for £500, added some used Ksyrium SSC SL wheels for £200, about £350 of groupset (Dura Ace and Ultegra), then seat, post, stem, bars etc. Came in at around £1200 for a bespoke 6.9kg bike.

6.9kg FOR £1200 ?!?!?!?! FECK ! WOW !

To be honest this is the real reason for the upgrade. My Giant Defy 1 is a bit of a heavy beast, weighing in at over 10Kg's and I've lost as much body weight as is healthy to do so without looking like I've came down with some tropical disease.

Must say, I am a fan of Ultegra Groupset, since I upgraded the Defy the gear changes are almost silent, but not much of a weight loss from the 105 that was already on it.

So where do you recommend you get all the 'bits', bottom bracket, de-railers etc, Wiggle? Chain Reaction?

Going to book a test ride of the Cube Agree GTC SLT and see how it feels and rolls and most importantly fits, then will decide to build or buy.

GiantMike

I got the frame from Westbrook Bikes. They don't have any Addicts left but do have Scott CR1 framesets for £450 (light and sexy). The rest of the bits I bought used (mainly from the classifieds here but also from mates) and I built it up in about 4 hours.

Personally I prefer to buy the bits and build the exact bike I want rather than an off-the-shelf one with lots of compromise parts like heavy wheels.

markhewitt1978

GiantMike wrote:

I got the frame from Westbrook Bikes. They don't have any Addicts left but do have Scott CR1 framesets for £450 (light and sexy). The rest of the bits I bought used (mainly from the classifieds here but also from mates) and I built it up in about 4 hours.

Personally I prefer to buy the bits and build the exact bike I want rather than an off-the-shelf one with lots of compromise parts like heavy wheels.

I've realised that, after getting the CR1 Pro frame, thinking of what my 'next' bike will be. And I realise there probably won't be a next bike as such, just over the years the existing one will evolve.

unixnerd

The rest of the bits I bought used

I did that with my Cannondale. Bought a CAAD5 used for 400 quid years ago with 105 9 speed, lovely frame. Over the years it got light Ultegra wheels (110 on ebay) and I slowly collected a used Dura-Ace 7800 triple groupset (it's 105 replaced my tourer's 8 speed Sora). I leave it in Aberdeen as a commuter and after-work bike, with a rack and mudguards it's around 8kg.

Superb bike, it's black and looks great too. Perfect light tourer. Owes me well under a grand, 800ish maybe.

johnmcsorley

The only part that worries me in a self build is working out all the cable routing. When you buy a frame does it come 'pre-drilled' to route the cables?

keef66

Frames generally come with all the cable stops in the right places; pretty easy to work out which goes where. Harder knowing which kind of ferrule, if any, goes on each end of each run of cable outer. I suppose if you buy a complete cable kit it will come with full instructions and all the bits (I've only ever done it using recycled stuff with the odd new bit added)

Internal cabling is a dark art I've not had to dabble in yet; sound fun though!

Some newer frames come with options for mechanical gear cabling or electronic wiring, and little blanking plates to seal the holes you're not using.

unixnerd

Don't skimp on the cables. I was in a rush once and bought some cheap cables as they were all I could find. A few months later one of the metal cable inners parted company with the plastic outer and fed itself into the internals of my gear shifter, not fun.