New bike

ginga22

Hi

I got into cycling last year, and I got myself an Orbea aqua t22. It's nice, but I find myself wanting more - upgrading parts etc.

Are there any places I might be able to get on and get a bargain, perhaps second hand stuff as I'm not exactly flush with cash unfortunately! I've looked at a few things on eBay etc - and I'm thinking about slowly acquiring the parts I need - like getting myself a decent frame and building a bike I'll be really happy with so I can use my Orbea as a training / winter bike.

I desperately want a better gear system as the shimano one I have has thumb shifters to shift down, so I can select a better gear when I'm in the drops - constantly changing my hand position is beginning to grate on me!

Any thoughts / ideas / help / charity welcome!!!

Cheers

ai_1

I don't know about 2nd hand but http://www.Merlincycles.com and http://www.Ribblecycles.co.uk often have good prices on groupsets and components. If you have a 9 speed groupset like the previous version Sora and your only real issue is the thumb shifter position then you may only need a new set of STI levers. Not cheap but a lot less than a full groupset.
The previous version of Tiagra was 9 speed like Sora but had shifting up and down via the brake lever and secondary lever similar to 105, Ultegra and Dura-Ace. You may still be able to find old Tiagra levers. The easier option would be a set of the current Sora levers which I believe have dispensed with the thumb changers and is now essentially the same groupset as the last generation Tiagra.

Here's the Sora levers at Ribble