New or upgrade?,,,,

pt123
pt123 Posts: 3
edited January 2014 in Road buying advice
Hi there, I'm looking for some 'wisdom from a crowd.'

I'm a relative 'noob' to the road world in terms of equipment.
I am riding a 4 year old B'Twin Sort 2, that is as stock standard as it was when it came out of the shop (aside from a shorter 90mm stem and new chains.) In other words Shim Sora groupset, decathlon own brand wheels/hubs, brakes etc.

It's not a brilliant bike by any means, but it does what I require of it; as in, it allows me to do my weekly rides of 100-180km (with 700-1,000m of climbing) rides in relative comfort, haul my child to nursery in her trailer and also do some light x2-3 day credit card touring. (although rides over 6hrs I tend to get a bit of low back pain, but I imaging most people do to be fair..)

BUT,,,
There are now a few things going wrong/need replacing and I'm trying to decided what to do for the best.
Any thoughts or input will be gratefully received.

I was coming down a fast-ish descent last week and I thought the handling was a bit way-ward. So I had a closer look. When I get hold of my front wheel, it wobbles. It is not the quick release skewer coming loose. The wheel is not buckled and the rims seem ok/not cracked and all (32) spokes are present and tensioned. So I'm thinking I need new hubs??

My chainrings are also taking on the typical 'shark' tooth appearance, so I know that these need changing.
I also need x2 new tyres. Bar tape. Brake blocks. and other bits of paraphernalia

So I guess my questions are;
1) is it worth just replacing the hubs on the standard wheels (eg, Shim 105 hubs at Evans for £18) or upgrade the whole wheel set to something like a fulcrum racing 5.

2) Do I just replace the worn chainrings with like-for like new ones? Can I/is it worth changing them to Ultegra chainrings?
Or should I stump up £300 to get a full 105 groupset including shifters and brakes etc.

There is a big cost difference to these solutions, but in peoples' opinions would the total upgrades be a worth while investment on this frame?

So each problem here is not huge, but when I start to add the cost up (if I go down the complete new groupset and wheel path) , It equates to about the same amount of money as buying a new bike (for e.g., the Planet x RT58 aluminium version on Tiagra).

If you have made it this far, well done!
Thanks for any input or advice. It is much appreciated!
Kind regards and happy cycling.
P

Comments

  • zx6man
    zx6man Posts: 1,092
    The wobble on the front wheel could just need the cones tightening

    and I would replace the chainset like for like, guessing Sora would be pretty cheap.