Help with upgrade vs new bike
pdk42
Posts: 2
Hi all - new member here and with quite a long question, so go easy... 
I currently have an old (2005) Trek Madone 5.9. It was a nice bike in its day but it's showing its age and could do with either an upgrade or replacement. I bought it used a few years ago and have put a couple of thousand miles on it since. It was a bit of an impulse buy (my first "decent" bike - the price and "Lance Armstrong" reputation sold it to me - ha ha). I quite like it really, but it does have some issues:
- The frame is a tad too big for me (the head spacer is on its lowest setting and I find myself sitting on the front of the seat quite often). It's not a major problem, but I now realise that something a little smaller would be better (I'm about 5' 10"). It's also a pretty stiff frame and having recently ridden a new Scott Solace 15 I can see that things have moved on a lot since 2005.
- It's got an old Ultegra groupset with a 54/39 chain ring and an 11-27 cassette. I recently did some riding in Derbyshire and found the climbing just too hard with the 39/27 ratio so I could really do with a closer setup. It seems I can't get a cassette bigger than 27 with the current chainset, so I'm somewhat limited in what I can do without a wholesale replacement.
- I'm finding steep descents painful on the hands with constant braking - I'm a wimp on descents, especially in the wet (!) so I'd really like disc brakes.
- The wheels aren't the best - some Fulcrum Racing Ts (Racing 7 variants) and the rear bearing is quite graunchy and needs sorting.
- There are some other minor issues that need resolving - for example the saddle is knackered, but it's comfortable and I'm yet to find something that's comfy.
So, should I:
a) Keep the frame but spend money on a new groupset (a 105 perhaps?), new wheels with disc brakes and a general tidy up. I guess I'd be looking at a grand or thereabouts by the time I'd finished?
b) Just call it quits and buy a new bike? I know the Scott I tried is around the £2k level - which is pretty steep. I'm a casual/social cyclist who does it to keep fit and be sociable rather than have any competitive or Sportive interests. Maybe I could get by with something cheaper - perhaps in the £1200-£1500 range? I'm not averse to buying used either, so I guess this is an option too.
So, long post - apologies... but some opinion would help me!!
Thanks in advance for any replies!
I currently have an old (2005) Trek Madone 5.9. It was a nice bike in its day but it's showing its age and could do with either an upgrade or replacement. I bought it used a few years ago and have put a couple of thousand miles on it since. It was a bit of an impulse buy (my first "decent" bike - the price and "Lance Armstrong" reputation sold it to me - ha ha). I quite like it really, but it does have some issues:
- The frame is a tad too big for me (the head spacer is on its lowest setting and I find myself sitting on the front of the seat quite often). It's not a major problem, but I now realise that something a little smaller would be better (I'm about 5' 10"). It's also a pretty stiff frame and having recently ridden a new Scott Solace 15 I can see that things have moved on a lot since 2005.
- It's got an old Ultegra groupset with a 54/39 chain ring and an 11-27 cassette. I recently did some riding in Derbyshire and found the climbing just too hard with the 39/27 ratio so I could really do with a closer setup. It seems I can't get a cassette bigger than 27 with the current chainset, so I'm somewhat limited in what I can do without a wholesale replacement.
- I'm finding steep descents painful on the hands with constant braking - I'm a wimp on descents, especially in the wet (!) so I'd really like disc brakes.
- The wheels aren't the best - some Fulcrum Racing Ts (Racing 7 variants) and the rear bearing is quite graunchy and needs sorting.
- There are some other minor issues that need resolving - for example the saddle is knackered, but it's comfortable and I'm yet to find something that's comfy.
So, should I:
a) Keep the frame but spend money on a new groupset (a 105 perhaps?), new wheels with disc brakes and a general tidy up. I guess I'd be looking at a grand or thereabouts by the time I'd finished?
b) Just call it quits and buy a new bike? I know the Scott I tried is around the £2k level - which is pretty steep. I'm a casual/social cyclist who does it to keep fit and be sociable rather than have any competitive or Sportive interests. Maybe I could get by with something cheaper - perhaps in the £1200-£1500 range? I'm not averse to buying used either, so I guess this is an option too.
So, long post - apologies... but some opinion would help me!!
Thanks in advance for any replies!
0
Comments
-
I have seen Synapse Ultegra Disc 2015 for cheap as well.0
-
Buy a new bike and retire your Trek to the turbo trainer. ___________________________________________
Titanium Bertoletti0
