Make my bike better

j_mcd

I'm getting increasingly annoyed with my 'wet weather/winter' bike. It's a Planet X London Road and it's getting to the point where I just don't enjoy riding it.

Before I go crazy and buy a new bike I figured there are a few aspects I could change so any answers to the below would be really handy!

1. I'm getting a slightly shorter stem as I think that the 'reach' is a little out. No advice needed here!
2. It's heavy, 20% heavier than my Defy Advanced. That might be what is frustrating me about it. Obviously I can't do much with the frame but I could replace the stock Gipiemme Roccia Disk wheels. What's a decent, lightweight but not too pricey disk wheel-set these days
3. If I do decide to sell it, who makes a decent CF bike that has disks and mudguard mounts? Is that even a thing or am I just dreaming!?

Ta

James

asprilla

For wheels, look here: https://road.cc/content/buyers-guide/207578-238-tubeless-wheelsets-most-complete-listing-anywhere-your-choices-new

Most of the tubeless wheelsets you can lay your hands on in the UK.

TBH, I fall in and out of love with bikes all the time. My garage should have a revolving door. Most of the time though the issue is fit rather than weight or anything like that. I was getting annoyed with my Dolan the other day, didn't enjoy riding it as it felt like a chore. Measured it up against my Cervelo and it turns out the saddle as about 7.5mm further forward on the Dolan. Moved it back and it's transformed.

Similarly the weight difference between the two bikes is about 2kg, but I don't notice it on the commute and neither does the stopwatch.

fenix

Most importantly what tyres have you got on it ?

Weight really isn't that much of a problem unless you're constantly climbing and even then not as much as you'd think.

But colder weather = more bulky clothing and denser air and that does play a part.

wongataa

3. If I do decide to sell it, who makes a decent CF bike that has disks and mudguard mounts? Is that even a thing or am I just dreaming!?

Ribble do CF bikes with mudguard mounts.

The Rookie

The Roccia wheels aren't great, a friend had them on his LR and they really sapped the zip out of it. At 2.4Kg they are a lot heavier than the Stans Crest wheels with 30mm rims on my MTB! In fact I didn't think it was possible to make wheels that heavy.

My own PXLR comes in at just under 9Kg (without rack and guards) and is a joy to ride.
Lots of wheel options, either road/disc or a 29er XC MTB wheel will work well, I'm currently using a pair bought off ebay (from a poster on here as it happens) that came off a pinnacle hybrid, nothing special and weigh in at 1.95kg, paired to some 28mm Conti USII tyres and tubes. Reducing the rotating mass makes a bike feel so much livelier.

£279 and 1860g
https://www.superstarcomponents.com/en/element-v6-wheelset-uk-made-hubs.htm
or
https://www.superstarcomponents.com/en/element-roadlite-v6-wheelset-uk-made-hubs.htm

Or these for £189, 1850g (weight on description page, not tech specs)
https://www.superstarcomponents.com/en/essential-wheels-v3-black-dragon-uk-made.htm

Most that weight saving is off the rim, so 0.5Kg off the bike and 0.5kg off the rotational inertia.

j_mcd

Well, stage 1 is complete. I've bought a shorter stem and fitted it. Stage 2 is in progress, the wheels are bought and being delivered next week.

slowbike

Stage 3 - assuming you look at your speed / time - put the garmin in power save mode and stop checking it. It's winter, it's going to be slower, remember that you're not trashing a bike you really care about and enjoy the scenery ... if you can!

j_mcd

Stage 3 will be fitting the tubeless tyres. Something I imagine will be a right pain in the arrse (my other wheelset had them fitted at source).

slowbike

j_mcd said:

Stage 3 will be fitting the tubeless tyres. Something I imagine will be a right pain in the arrse (my other wheelset had them fitted at source).

yer - can't quite get my head around tubless on roadbikes atm - it's not hard to carry a spare tube, punctures are (IME) rare enough anyway and I've heard of some having leakage issues - and gunge everywhere - so not convinced ...

j_mcd

I've had my current tubeless tyres on my good bike for the last 2600 miles of commuting and not had a puncture yet (that I've noticed). Occasionally I need to top up the pressure in the tyres but not often and I've simply had no trouble with them at all. As for the mess and gunge, not noticed that in the slightest.

I used to ride with Gatorskin hardshells and so didn't get many punctures but the ride 'feels' better now I've moved on to GP5000's.

Of course, all this is utterly subjective, horses for courses etc.

thecycleclinic

While replacing the wheels and tyres could drop of lot of weight and make it feeling quicker there is one thing here though that bugs me. This is a wet weather/commuter bike. My wet/commuter bike weight 12kg without panniers. Without panniers nd the rack it's hard to average more than 17 mph. With the panniers and load 13 or 14mph is good. It's slow but that's fine.

You cant have a commuter bike that presumably you have a bag on for a change of clothes and it feeling like a light fast road bike.

I used to commute on tubes and was forever fixing puncture. Since turning to tubeless tyres I never ha e to fot a tube anymore. I just plug the puncture. I struggle to see why so.e people think tubeless is difficult. I also struggle with those who think punctures are rare. Maybe for you but not for me or others.

Done 70000km estimated on tubeless tyres and putting tubes in on cold dark wet evenings is history. That's priceless. Putting tubes in when its 1 degree and wet is jot fun is it. Sticking a plug in is much quicker and I dont get as cold.

To the op is the gatorskin that made the bike seem slow. Horrid tyres.

The Rookie

thecycleclinic said:

I also struggle with those who think punctures are rare. Maybe for you but not for me or others.

Over 11,000 miles commuting (only), in that time I've had 2 punctures, neither of which stopped the ride and I only noticed when returning to the bike later.

slowbike

thecycleclinic said:

I used to commute on tubes and was forever fixing puncture. Since turning to tubeless tyres I never ha e to fot a tube anymore. I just plug the puncture. I struggle to see why so.e people think tubeless is difficult. I also struggle with those who think punctures are rare. Maybe for you but not for me or others.

Done 70000km estimated on tubeless tyres and putting tubes in on cold dark wet evenings is history. That's priceless. Putting tubes in when its 1 degree and wet is jot fun is it. Sticking a plug in is much quicker and I dont get as cold.

yup - as I said - something I can't get my head around atm - my last puncture was on my MTB in sept. No, it's not tubeless - yes, I had to faff about for 15 minutes to change it. Tubeless may have helped. Prior to that it was earlier in the summer on my road bike - much cleaner and because the tyres are smaller, much easier to change the tube - 5 minutes later I was on my way. I can't remember prior to that ..

Would tubeless help? Probably - if it worked - yet I've been on club rides where those riding tubeless have been sprayed with the sealant whilst the hole doesn't seal, some have abandoned the ride completely when the hole didn't seal and they didn't want to deal with the sticky mess in the dark ... I watched another spin his wheel around in vain - then abandoned (fortunately not far from home). When the sealant works, it's great - as has been said on here - you won't notice it working - but when it doesn't work ... well, that can be a whole sticky mess.

Personally, as I don't have the rims or tyres for it - and a plentiful supply of tubes, I'm going to stick with those. The handful of punctures per year isn't worth the potential agro for me.

thecycleclinic said:

To the op is the gatorskin that made the bike seem slow. Horrid tyres.

Yes - quite agree - get some decent tyres and you change the feel of the bike (regardless of the air retaining system used! )

j_mcd

So, first ride in, new shorter stem and new wheels and tyres. Better, quite a bit better. Obviously there was some "new kit" additional speed but I'll see how it feels over the next few wet rides.

My brakes are squealing like a banshee though, must sort that out.

edward.s

I built my son up an LR, he weighs 39kg so I went with some really light Prime wheels. I am pretty impressed at how well it came out, the little sod can nearly outrun me on it

The Rookie

j_mcd said:

new wheels and tyres.

Just for reference, what did you go with in the end?

j_mcd

The Rookie said:

j_mcd said:

new wheels and tyres.

Just for reference, what did you go with in the end?

Hunt Mason X wheels and Conti 5000gp tubeless tyres. Something that I've changed (or a combination of everything) has made my bike a lot more pleasurable to ride. N+x purchase (and bank balance saved) for now...

The Rookie

That's rather to the sublime from the ridiculous(ly heavy) on the wheels!

Glad it's worked though, why they spoil the stock bike with those horrid wheels is beyond me.

Decentusernamepending

as its your commuter bike you must be comfortable riding it. If the fits good and its mechanically sound its as good as any bike out there. I commute on what many would consider a cheap heavy Halfords bike, I enjoy riding it, 40km per day crappy weather or fine. Its ineficiency helps thigh burn up cat 4 climbs.

ThePedalDancer

As a few others have said just enjoy the fact that it's a winter bike and at least you're still out riding.

Glad the chances have made a difference though, my winter bike (CAADX) so awesome for its purpose and I actually prefer it at times to my TCR, admittedly it doesn't get up to speed as quick but it can definitely take more of a beating and I don't worry about it as much