Upgrade advice – new bike or upgrade wheels

new2br

I appreciate this will be a very subjective matter with no easy/clear answer (and possibly asked many times before) – so just looking a steer from a wider pool of knowledge based on my current setup and plans for use as below:

So my current ‘Sunday best’ bike is a Cannondale SuperSix Evo Hi Mod – which I totally love and is prob already a better bike than my ability. Although at the wrong end of the age spectrum I dipped my toe in club racing in the latter half of last season and was pretty competitive, so now I’m thinking of an upgrade which might give me improvement outside any inherent fitness level.

I’ve done TT’s, pursuits and open races on the ‘Dale but was thinking of a more modern aero bike might be a better job to tackle all disciplines.

So 2 options to consider:

1. New bike -on the shortlist is a Canyon Aeroad or Scott Foil 10 (pref with Di2 but happy to stick with mechanical if had better wheels).

2. I could just get 1 or possibly 2 very good wheelsets for the Dale – something like Reynolds assault for allrounder hillier courses and Reynolds Strike for flatter races/TT’s (not necessarily Reynolds – more indicating 2 different rim depth options)

The pro’s I see with a new bike is the more aero frameset and ability to running 25c (maybe 28c) tyre which seems to be the trend for improved rolling resistance. The disad is that on the the new aero bike I’d probably still need a wheel upgrade (unless I found a second hand one which already had better wheels).

If I were to just upgrade wheels on current bike the main disad is that its an older frame and 25c doesn't fit in the rear so would potentially be investing in ‘old tech’ wheels to fit 23c tyres.

So really just wondering is increased performance more likely to come from the wheels themselves or the frameset aerodynamics – ie would my older but super light quality frame on my current bike Evo High Mod paired with good 23c wheels/tyres be better than a heavier new style aero frame like Foil 10 (not the HMX frame – which would def be more on a par weight wise with the Evo HM). I see a black Friday deal on the Scott Foil10 2017 – which is v tempting….

Any advice much appreciated...

fenix

Your bike is very nice already.

An aerodynamic bike won't be measurably faster.

If you want to do TT's then get a bike set up with tri bars - it's putting you in the position that makes the difference.

For racing you'll be fine as you are. A set of wheels won't make the difference.

imposter2.0

new2br wrote:

So really just wondering is increased performance more likely to come from the wheels themselves or the frameset aerodynamics

The answer is neither - at least not in any significant amount which would make the return on the outlay worthwhile. The biggest returns in club-level racing can usually be found in fitness improvements..

new2br

By the sounds of it not much to be gained in investing in new wheels or frame. Was probably trying to justify a potential spend more to myself... ;-)

I know my bike is very good already - if it could take 25c tyres I'd def just get wheels. If I was prepared to sell to fund a new bike it wouldn't be such a dilemma either, but I know I'd prefer to keep it - so will be a case of 'n+1' bikes if I get sucked in by the offer on the FOIL/2nd hand Aeroad...Cheers

fenix

i think you can get a TT bike from places like Planet X for a grand or so. Or look second hand - always plenty of choice out there. Having one bike doing it all is always going to be a compromise.

mfin

new2br wrote:

By the sounds of it not much to be gained in investing in new wheels or frame. Was probably trying to justify a potential spend more to myself... ;-)

I know my bike is very good already - if it could take 25c tyres I'd def just get wheels. If I was prepared to sell to fund a new bike it wouldn't be such a dilemma either, but I know I'd prefer to keep it - so will be a case of 'n+1' bikes if I get sucked in by the offer on the FOIL/2nd hand Aeroad...Cheers

If you're not uncomfortable and looking for just a touch more comfort, then don't go hankering after 25mm tyres vs 23mm because of rolling resistance because you simply won't notice and speed difference there either.

The little bunch of logic you have for getting a new bike, it being more aero and taking wider tyres to lower rolling resistance isn't going to give you any noticeable speed gains. That said, a new bike might have ride qualities you prefer and might be justifiable to you also based on bits of your logic plus a "want" for it, in which case there's nothing stopping you buying something new.