Upgrade current bike vs buy a new one

steve_kay
steve_kay Posts: 197
in Road buying advice
Morning all.

I currently have a Cannondale Synapse 105 Carbon. I’ve had it going on 2 years now and it’s a great bike. I’d like to upgrade the wheels and group set (currently 105 and Mavic Aksiums) to Ultegra di2 and Mavic cosmic UST’s.

My dilemma surrounds whether I want to stick with rim brakes or go disc (controversial with some I know). Most endurance bikes now come with disc brakes as standard and I’m wondering whether it’s worth making the switch. I live and ride in the Lake District so plenty on climbs and descents.

Comments

  • lesfirth
    lesfirth Posts: 1,382
    Hi Steve, DI2 will be nice to have but it is expensive and it will not make you go any faster.Mavic Cosmics at the cheap end are not much ,if any, better than your Aksiums. At the top end they are very nice wheels but I would not want to be rim braking carbon wheels on a wet day in the Lakes. I know somebody is typing now that with so and so pads etc.
    It looks like you have a reasonable budget so for me it would be a new disc brake bike.
    The snag with that is that it is unlikely to come with the wheels you want so you will need to upgrade........
    I am really envious of you living in the lakes at the moment( I am assuming you don't own a Pub).Riding up there on empty roads in good weather is normally something you only dream of.
  • steve_kay
    steve_kay Posts: 197
    oxoman said:

    As a rider and owner of both a disc and rim braked bikes this is my thoughts.
    Having done various sportives and C2C,s on both bikes I've found that for hilly rides in the dry the rim braked bike better as the pads and rims don't get hot. The disc bike on the same routes fitted with ice tech pads i found suffered from brake fade and squealing due to heat. Did greenhow hill downwards on rim brakes getting only slightly warm mates following were cooking their disc,s when they finally got down. Rim brakes can be pants in the wet unless decent blocks. I've found disc brakes to be ideal in the wet as long as you keep the weight down on the wheels when braking and don't lock them up by braking to hard. For decent replacement wheels I'd speak to Malc at cycleclinic or the guys at wheelsmith. Personally I wouldn't bother going Di2, just get Ultegra mechanical. Hope this helps.

    Thanks for the in-depth reply. It seems that rim brakes would suit the type of riding I usually do. I don’t do a huge amount of wet weather riding either so that kind of negates the need for disc brakes. I’ve got SwissStop Flash Pro pads which are awesome so with a new set Ultegra callipers and new pads I think it’ll be adequate.
  • steve_kay
    steve_kay Posts: 197
    lesfirth said:

    Hi Steve, DI2 will be nice to have but it is expensive and it will not make you go any faster.Mavic Cosmics at the cheap end are not much ,if any, better than your Aksiums. At the top end they are very nice wheels but I would not want to be rim braking carbon wheels on a wet day in the Lakes. I know somebody is typing now that with so and so pads etc.
    It looks like you have a reasonable budget so for me it would be a new disc brake bike.
    The snag with that is that it is unlikely to come with the wheels you want so you will need to upgrade........
    I am really envious of you living in the lakes at the moment( I am assuming you don't own a Pub).Riding up there on empty roads in good weather is normally something you only dream of.

    Cheers Les. I take your point on the wheels. Maybe a custom built set would be more appropriate. It’s annoying really as I sold a Cube Agree GTC SL with Ultegra 6800 and custom wheels 18 months ago. Idiot I am. The problem with buying a new bike is that, as you said, I’d still need to upgrade the wheels. That’ll end up pushing me into 5k territory.

    I certainly don’t own a pub (thankfully at the moment). The riding up here over the last 2 weeks has been epic. Fantastic weather and no traffic on the roads. I did a 35 mile route on Saturday and I passed 2 cars in the 2 and a but hours I was out. That’s unheard of at this (or any other) time of year. I’m heading out this afternoon for a few hours with the weather being nice.



  • Darius_Jedburgh
    Darius_Jedburgh Posts: 675
    I'm on a Synapse too. Mine is Ultegra but not Di2 just manual. I upgraded the wheels to Mavic Krysium tubeless and they have been faultless so far. Bike came with disc brakes fitted and they too have been perfect. Bike is a good bike and I've done many long and hilly rides on it, and it has never missed a beat.
    How easy is it to retro fit discs onto your existing frame? Discs are a bit Marmite but I much prefer them, and am now free of worry about wearing my rims away - it is easier to change a disc rather than a rim. I remember going down Kirkstone towards Glenridding when my mate wore through his rim when braking. That was fun!
  • steve_kay
    steve_kay Posts: 197
    FrankYates said:

    I'm on a Synapse too. Mine is Ultegra but not Di2 just manual. I upgraded the wheels to Mavic Krysium tubeless and they have been faultless so far. Bike came with disc brakes fitted and they too have been perfect. Bike is a good bike and I've done many long and hilly rides on it, and it has never missed a beat.
    How easy is it to retro fit discs onto your existing frame? Discs are a bit Marmite but I much prefer them, and am now free of worry about wearing my rims away - it is easier to change a disc rather than a rim. I remember going down Kirkstone towards Glenridding when my mate wore through his rim when braking. That was fun!

    Thanks Frank.

    Yeah the synapse is a great bike. I got mine on an end of season deal for half the price, hence why I ended up with the 105. To be fair, the 105 isn’t much different than the Ultegra 6800 I had on my previous bike. Just not as crisp and weighs slightly more (I’m 90 kg so it matters not).

    I agree about it being preferable not to eat away at your rims. Unfortunately it’s not possible to retro-fit discs. I looked into that a while ago.

    Kirkstone Pass isn’t the kind of descent you want to be destroying your rim. 😰

  • kevin_stephens
    kevin_stephens Posts: 184
    If your 105 is 10 speed than an upgrade to Ultegra would be worthwhile, but if you already have 11 speed then I think the benefits would be marginal, in which case just go for the wheels and good tyres
    I want to climb hills so badly;
    and I climb hills so badly
  • steve_kay
    steve_kay Posts: 197
    kevin_stephens said:

    If your 105 is 10 speed than an upgrade to Ultegra would be worthwhile, but if you already have 11 speed then I think the benefits would be marginal, in which case just go for the wheels and good tyres

    Cheers Kevin. I have the 105 5800 which is the 11 speed Groupset. I think the wheel upgrade would me the most noticeable. I’m running Michelin Pro 4 Endurance at the minute which are really good to be fair.

  • Darius_Jedburgh
    Darius_Jedburgh Posts: 675
    My LBS isn't overkeen on Di2. Fine when it works but PIA when it goes wrong. If you spec a bike with him he always offers full mechanical Dura Ace in place of Ultegra Di2, for the same money!!!
  • steve_kay
    steve_kay Posts: 197
    Yeah I have heard that. It’s insane that you can get DA for the shame price as Ultegra Di2. Looking at Ultegra R8000 mechanical it’s currently the same price as 105, which is a no brainer.
  • ibr17xvii
    ibr17xvii Posts: 1,065
    FrankYates said:

    My LBS isn't overkeen on Di2. Fine when it works but PIA when it goes wrong. If you spec a bike with him he always offers full mechanical Dura Ace in place of Ultegra Di2, for the same money!!!

    Think you can say that about most things in all honesty.
  • zest28
    zest28 Posts: 403
    Just stick to your current bike. Mechanical 105 is good enough and so are your wheels. Consider buying a new brand new bike in 3 more years.

    Since you like Endurance bikes, definetly get one with disc brakes. This allows you to run much fatter wheels which increases comfort (considering that you want to buy an endurance bike, I assume you like comfort).
  • steve_kay
    steve_kay Posts: 197
    oxoman said:

    Any electronic shifting system is only any good whilst batteries are charged and water doesn't get in, after that it's hard work and expensive. Mechanical all day long. Prefer 105 or Ultegra over Durace purely because its more robust and wont wear out as quick.

    Thanks for the reply. Yeah that's a fair point. It's certainly a nice to have while it's working. A pain in the arse when it's not.
  • steve_kay
    steve_kay Posts: 197
    zest28 said:

    Just stick to your current bike. Mechanical 105 is good enough and so are your wheels. Consider buying a new brand new bike in 3 more years.

    Since you like Endurance bikes, definetly get one with disc brakes. This allows you to run much fatter wheels which increases comfort (considering that you want to buy an endurance bike, I assume you like comfort).

    Cheers Zest. The plan is to retire the Synapse to my winter bike once I buy another. I've decided on a new set of wheels but that's about it. Just need to see if the 27mm rim will fit my calipers. My current tyre and rim setup is giving me a 28mm width from a 25c tyre which isn't too bad. Not sure I'd need or want to go much higher than that.
  • Darius_Jedburgh
    Darius_Jedburgh Posts: 675
    I run 25mm on my Synapse. Approx 80psi. I weigh 13/14 stone, and there is no undue discomfort. Never really though about going up to 28mm, but then I come from a generation that thought 23mm was fat, and only used on winter bikes. Summer bikes had 21mm at 120psi!!!
  • Longshot
    Longshot Posts: 940
    My Synapse (carbon/disc/Ultegra) came with 28s and I love them. Much more comfortable, but then I weigh more than Frank so probably need the help.

    Another vote for the bike though. It wasn't originally on my list of N+1s but got £1000 off the price at end of model year so seemed a no-brainer.
    You can fool some of the people all of the time. Concentrate on those people.
  • steve_kay
    steve_kay Posts: 197
    FrankYates said:

    I run 25mm on my Synapse. Approx 80psi. I weigh 13/14 stone, and there is no undue discomfort. Never really though about going up to 28mm, but then I come from a generation that thought 23mm was fat, and only used on winter bikes. Summer bikes had 21mm at 120psi!!!

    You’ll probably find that your 25mm tyre is actually around 27 - 28mm when inflated on the rim. So you’re technically already running 28’s.
  • steve_kay
    steve_kay Posts: 197
    Longshot said:

    My Synapse (carbon/disc/Ultegra) came with 28s and I love them. Much more comfortable, but then I weigh more than Frank so probably need the help.

    Another vote for the bike though. It wasn't originally on my list of N+1s but got £1000 off the price at end of model year so seemed a no-brainer.

    Yeah the bike is great. Ultimately, the frame remains unchanged for most/all of the synapse range and it’s the components you’re paying extra for. That’s what made picking mine up for £1000 such a bargain. The frame is great.

  • Darius_Jedburgh
    Darius_Jedburgh Posts: 675
    steve_kay said:

    FrankYates said:

    I run 25mm on my Synapse. Approx 80psi. I weigh 13/14 stone, and there is no undue discomfort. Never really though about going up to 28mm, but then I come from a generation that thought 23mm was fat, and only used on winter bikes. Summer bikes had 21mm at 120psi!!!

    You’ll probably find that your 25mm tyre is actually around 27 - 28mm when inflated on the rim. So you’re technically already running 28’s.
    Just measured them with my homemade calipers and they are as near 25mm as can be.
    Yskions as supplied on Krysiums.
  • fiverears
    fiverears Posts: 38
    I think bike mechanics detest hydraulics and over the years Ive seen numerous riders go back to mechanical.
    I think if pro riders had a choice they would go with rims.
  • surfercyclist
    surfercyclist Posts: 894
    Di2 is superb. Unnecessary yes but it's bloody brilliant. Hardly ever if never needs adjusting, gear changes same every time, no cable stretch etc. As for charging it, ffs it lasts months! I have it linked to Elemnt Bolt so gives gear selection and battery level etc but without that just press button and shows level of charge.

    Apart from all that it's just nicer to ride with. Obviously some may disagree but if you can afford it get it. I'll not buy another bike with manual gears.
  • steve_kay
    steve_kay Posts: 197
    FrankYates said:

    steve_kay said:

    FrankYates said:

    I run 25mm on my Synapse. Approx 80psi. I weigh 13/14 stone, and there is no undue discomfort. Never really though about going up to 28mm, but then I come from a generation that thought 23mm was fat, and only used on winter bikes. Summer bikes had 21mm at 120psi!!!

    You’ll probably find that your 25mm tyre is actually around 27 - 28mm when inflated on the rim. So you’re technically already running 28’s.
    Just measured them with my homemade calipers and they are as near 25mm as can be.
    Yskions as supplied on Krysiums.
    Ah right. I didn’t know you didn’t have Aksiums. I’ve just ordered a set of Hunt wheels with an external rim width of 27mm. Should be fun seeing how wide the tubeless tyres become on those.
  • kevin_stephens
    kevin_stephens Posts: 184
    I’ve still got my original bike which I’ve upgraded every few years. The only bits remaining are bars, stem, saddle, pedals and bottle cage
    I want to climb hills so badly;
    and I climb hills so badly
  • surfercyclist
    surfercyclist Posts: 894
    kevin_stephens said:

    I’ve still got my original bike which I’ve upgraded every few years. The only bits remaining are bars, stem, saddle, pedals and bottle cage

    Like Triggers broom then.

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