Upgrades to get on C2W for Orca

fred.camargo

Hi all,

I have a 2018 Orbea Orca M20 running full 105, which i did around 3000km in the past year (it's my winter, summer, commuter bike) and now that C2W hire period is coming to an end for the bike, I want to get a couple of upgrades under £1000 (don't want to use the full allowance again). I live in London and did a wish-list on Evans of possible upgrades (couldn't find the same on the other LBS):

FSA Powerbox alloy powermeter (same 50-34 as now)
GP5000 TL ( using Vittoria Rubino - stock)
SPD Ultegra R8000
Ultegra R8000 Cassette (same 11-28t as now)
Currently adding up to £800 in total.

The idea is to upgrade to Ultegra Di2 eventually.

One upgrade that might be done in parallel is a pair of Hunt Race Aero Wide Alloy Wheels.
For some reason I got stuck with Hunt wheels as the best alloy option for weight and price (1496g for £359). Carbon is not an option due to the fact I'll commute with it.
Another upgrade is getting a Wahoo BOLT to be used with the Powermeter but that can't be done through C2W.

Do you have any suggestions of things to lose or to add?
Would be great to hear the opinion of fellow members!

Thank you in advance

joe_totale-2

All seems a bit fancy for a commuter bike. Are you sure you'll really use something like the power meter?
If it's a winter + commuter steed then I'd get tyres with a longer life and more robust than GP5000 TL's, I have them and the rear is showing signs of wear after 1,500km. That's on my summer, dry weather bike as well, I wouldn't dream of spending more than £30-35 for a pair of commuting tyres!

Why not put N+1 into action, spend a few hundred quid of the C2W on a proper commuter machine and then turn the Orbea into a nice bike for the weekend rides?

fenix

I'd definitely be going for one commuter/winter bike that's more suited to the daily grind and then a nicer summer bike.

You're doing what - 30 miles per week ? Oh so maybe it's all commuting ? You'll see no advantage of Ultegra over 105.
Powermeters are great for training with but you're not doing enough mileage and you can't ride to power on most commutes or you'll be in the back of a bus.

I'd be looking for a bike with full mudguards and maybe wider tyres and disc brakes personally - and you can keep the orca for recreational rides.

pilot_pete

Got to agree with the two posters above, a fag packet calculation of your mileage works out at about 7miles per day, 5 days a week. That’s 3.5 miles each way. Can’t see you really reaping any benefit on such short rides by spending your money on the items listed.

I would personally buy another bike for your £800 - a proper commuter with wider, more puncture proof, heavier tyres, disk brakes and enough room for a full set of proper mudguards. I wouldn’t care how much it weighed for a 3.5 mile commute each way.

What I would want is a robust groupset, or possibly even just a single speed to keep it really simple for such short rides. I’d go for bomb proof and cheap, easy maintenance as it wants to be a bike you can just ride and pretty much neglect for extended periods of time.

Keep your Orbea and spend a little more time riding it. Get your mileage up on enjoyable rides other than commuting and then take your time upgrading it. As others have said, I can’t see the point of a power meter for the riding you currently do. I do 6000miles a year, no commuting and I still can’t justify a power meter as I can’t see what it would add that I don’t currently have. I used to time trial and could see the benefit for specific training, but I used heart rate and a turbo trainer and that worked fine for the level I was at, and cost peanuts.

PP

fred.camargo

Hi again,

Sorry if I implied I just commute with this bike, I actually do RCC rides, long rides (just came back from Dunwich Dynamo), so those kms are not only from commuting
I learned from LBS that powermeter can't be included on the C2W because it's a training device, even though I read other thread where people were able to include it, but had to replace the item on the receipt (not keen to do that).
Now I've been thinking of replacing that powermeter on the basket for Di2 components and than get a real cheap single speed to commute on eBay.