Upgrades on a budget!

fat-lad-on-a-bike · March 2014

I have been running around on my road bike now for about 6 /7 months.
She is nothing special but runs well.

She is about 8 years old Claud Bulter, bought second hand like new, with a sora group set and pretty much the orginal wheels and set up.

Over the winter I have not seen the need to change much and have been using it communte (14 miles a day) and do a few weekend longer 20-30 miles on a weekend. So other than a new seat, a some grip tape and a bit of TLC she remains as was.

Now enjoying cycling more im looking to do a few sportives and concentrating on get the wieght of the bike down. Reading online and speaking to a few other cyclists i know the most preductive way forward is in regards to a upgrades wheelset and a groups set. With a better wheel set the roll should be better and increase speed and efficiancy.

Currently i have the orginal Vuelta Sytlus Wheels on there. So looking to upgrade, happy with picking up a used set of wheel in decent condition off ebay or from ads. What would people recommend, Im not looking top end or to competitively race on! im 5'9 and around 100kg.
Is there anything i should watch out for keep clear of? Is it the hubs or the rims that are the key issues?

Thanks in advance.

secretsam · March 2014

I had some Fulcrum Racing 7s to replace the stock wheels on my old bike, utterly brilliant.

But not actually THAT light.

Personally, being same height and weight as you, I'm focusing on losing weight off me before I focus on the bike...I figure the savings from pie consumption will offset the cost of new wheels, etc

fat-lad-on-a-bike · March 2014

Sam, i am on my way down in wieght.
I was 22 months ago a little over 120kg so have shed 20kg hoping to lose another 5kg.
I know ill never be a true cyclist build after far to many year in the rugby rugby front row!!

The wheels i currently have seem heavy and a little wonky in places. hence wanting/need to change them.

thanks for your recommendations.

w00dster · March 2014

If you're on a budget, I'd have a look at Fulcrum Racing Quattro's, I ride them on a loan bike I use. I purchased a set of Mavic Krysium Elites for my winter bike, my personal experience is that I prefer the Fulcrum's, they are also approx £150 cheaper - currently on Wiggle for £192.72.
Again not massively light wheels, but you will notice a performance improvement, and tbh, that is much more important than worrying about a couple of grams of weight.
Other areas you can reduce weight relatively cheaply are pedals, saddle and stem. No one can really give advice on a saddle, so worth doing some googling to look at light weight ones and then seeing if your LBS has any you can try out.
I'll be honest and say that I'm a weight weenie, I have spent a bit of cash to make my bike lighter, it hasn't really improved my times and nor have I become a better rider. As most people will say, performance is more important than weight reduction, better wheels aren't always the lightest and continuing to lose weight from yourself whilst putting money away to build up a larger amount will be better than nibbling away with mediocre improvements.
Hope this makes sense and not sanctimonious drivel!?

markhewitt1978 · March 2014

Go for the wheels, they make the biggest different and can be transferred to any new bike you get. tbh I wouldn't bother with the groupset, Sora works and upgrades from there will be expensive and only give a marginal performance benefit.

fat-lad-on-a-bike · March 2014

Thanks guys,

yeah just looking around for wheels at present weight has never been my main concern but was told that new wheels would be lighter than what i have presently, the major difference i would notice would be the roll and the speed that that will create.

So my quest for wheels continue. Will have a look around that the Fulcrums

Bobbinogs · March 2014

Now, far be it from me to criticise other folks but I always find it amazing when a bike plus rider (+ bottles, kit, saddle bag, etc.) weighs in excess of a small elephant (or at least one that weighs well over 110kg) and yet the first thing that comes up for upgrades is shaving 400 grammes off a wheelset.

My advice, FWIW, would be to forget about a bling factory built (and low spoke count) wheelset but that doesn't mean you need to buy something dull. Yes, I am going to mention handbuilts because they really make sense. A good set will set you back about £300 but you can then keep them (and replace the odd bit if required) for a long, long time and carry them from bike to bike as you go along. If "on a budget" means less than £300 then buy some decent tyres or new bib shorts for the summer and save your pennies until you can buy a good wheelset that will last (and by which time you will have lost more weight so can go for something less robust).

secretsam · March 2014

fat-lad-on-a-bike wrote:

Sam, i am on my way down in wieght.
I was 22 months ago a little over 120kg so have shed 20kg hoping to lose another 5kg.

Christ, you've just made me feel all ashamed, in 6 months of trying, I've lost 3kg!

fat-lad-on-a-bike wrote:

I know ill never be a true cyclist build after far to many year in the rugby rugby front row!!

I used to be a front row! Loose-head. Fcuked my back so had to jack it in.
But it probably wasn't too long in the front row that was the issue, more too long in the club bar

fat-lad-on-a-bike wrote:

The wheels i currently have seem heavy and a little wonky in places. hence wanting/need to change them.

Had the same thing with the stock wheels on my old bike, hence the Fulcrums.

simon_masterson · March 2014

Going for some fully spoked (32) wheels with nice tyres would likely improve your ride. Not necessarily your speed. Upgrading your groupset would be a waste of time and money.

Some wheels have a stated weight limit (e.g. 100kg), others do not, regardless you're definitely at the top end for lightweight racing wheels and you may find that you have more truing to do, or if you're really unlucky you may break spokes, particularly if the road surfaces you frequent are rubbish.

But weight is not very important in cycling, no matter how much some people want performance to be yet another thing in life you throw money at to fix. The vast, vast majority of your effort goes into pushing air out of the way - pro cyclists spend time in wind tunnels perfecting their position. If you weighed the bikes that Chris Boardman and others rode in the early '90s (steel frames, carbon disc wheels), they'd look rather heavy.

charlie_potatoes · March 2014

Simon Masterson wrote:

But weight is not very important in cycling,

g00se · March 2014

For a quick, cheap(er) win, get some decent, light tyres and tubes.

Initialised · March 2014

Simon Masterson wrote:

Going for some fully spoked (32) wheels with nice tyres would likely improve your ride. Not necessarily your speed. Upgrading your groupset would be a waste of time and money.

I'm largely happy with 2013 9-Speed Sora some people complain about the levers on the older kit and upgrading to an 11 speed set up at the same time as you upgrade your wheels gives you more cassette options like a nice tight top end (11-12-13-14-15) and nice low spinny climbing gears, on a 9 speed you get big gaps if you also wont a wide range. Of course this doesn't apply so much if you're on a triple.

macleod113 · March 2014

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/WPPXAL30LC/planet-x-al30-c-wheelset

Not wanting to spend a fortune myself i plumped for the AL30's from Planet X. plenty of spokes and seems to have been bomb proof this winter and only £150. seem to be out of stock at the mo though :-s

like others have said its not about the weight as i am well over 100kg's, its about spoke count to counter the bleeding pot holes.

simon_masterson · March 2014

Initialised wrote:

Simon Masterson wrote:

Going for some fully spoked (32) wheels with nice tyres would likely improve your ride. Not necessarily your speed. Upgrading your groupset would be a waste of time and money.

I'm largely happy with 2013 9-Speed Sora some people complain about the levers on the older kit and upgrading to an 11 speed set up at the same time as you upgrade your wheels gives you more cassette options like a nice tight top end (11-12-13-14-15) and nice low spinny climbing gears, on a 9 speed you get big gaps if you also wont a wide range. Of course this doesn't apply so much if you're on a triple.

Obviously - I'm not pretending that there aren't benefits to specific groupsets; it's a question of whether it's actually worthwhile on this bike. But speaking as a 5 speed user, the gaps aren't big.

BillyImp · March 2014

Get some wheels that will last, it might be worth pricing up some mavic open pros or cxp33s hand built onto 105 or ultegra hubs. 32 spoke count and if built correctly these will run for years and years and years. They might be a bit more expensive than the handbuilts you were looking at but it's worthwhile investment IMO especially being the weight you are and with the UK's potholes, just stick them on your bike and you don't have to worry about them. They run pretty well too, the bearings in my ultegra/cxp33 build are so smooth.

darkhairedlord · March 2014

you could probably lose another 30kg at 5'9". That's about three whole bikes!
Reward your achievement to date with perhaps some new wheels (planet-x have some ambrosio excellence and excelite rims on 6800 ultegra hubs for £250 or AL30C's, fulcrum 7/5's, others as above).
Set your next goal at 85kg, reward yourself new groupset (or shifters/cassette).
Next goal 70kg, new frameset.
To get any benefit from a lighter bike you'll need the lighter you.. now, where did my pie go?

buzzwold · March 2014

Fat-lad You didn't mention how little you wanted to spend? So I won't weigh in with any specific brands or spending £300 on handbuilts, but essentially all three key options - less Fat-lad, new wheelset, better tyres and tubes. All good. My own experience is that having changed the wheelset last year and got better tyres and tubes I roll much better and faster than before. (I'm a sylph like 92kg)

Assuming you do want to be at the low end, then Fulcrum 7s or equivalent will do an excellent job, combine them with lighter weight tyres, then you cold be saving 400-700g. Total bill less than £170. You'll note the difference immediately. (I do not own any F7s but look around the forum or on the major web shops and read the reviews.)

Good Luck.

fat-lad-on-a-bike · April 2014

sorry for the late reply.

i had a shop around and checked out the open pro's and fulcrum 7. issue i had was that my old girl only has a 7 speed cassette therefore finding stuff was hard.

In doing so managed to find a set of Mavic Open 4CD (pre Open Pro), in excellant condition for £30. So thought I would give the a whirl and much better than the stock wheels on my older bike.

Decided to go with thoughs for this year and the next year look to change the bike rather than upgrade a groupset.
So just trying to improve my current bike with some used parts then have it as a training bike. Mainly with my wieght loss as a factor that in 24 months coming from 121kg to to 97kg (and still coming down) will open up a new world of bikes and wheels sets.

As for budget i was pretty open, as i have learnt in my 12 months of cycling - pick a budget you want to spend and then double it and you might be about near!

kajjal · April 2014

fat-lad-on-a-bike wrote:

sorry for the late reply.

i had a shop around and checked out the open pro's and fulcrum 7. issue i had was that my old girl only has a 7 speed cassette therefore finding stuff was hard.

In doing so managed to find a set of Mavic Open 4CD (pre Open Pro), in excellant condition for £30. So thought I would give the a whirl and much better than the stock wheels on my older bike.

Decided to go with thoughs for this year and the next year look to change the bike rather than upgrade a groupset.
So just trying to improve my current bike with some used parts then have it as a training bike. Mainly with my wieght loss as a factor that in 24 months coming from 121kg to to 97kg (and still coming down) will open up a new world of bikes and wheels sets.

As for budget i was pretty open, as i have learnt in my 12 months of cycling - pick a budget you want to spend and then double it and you might be about near!

Good job on the weight loss, I have done the same and it makes getting up hills a lot easier. One thing I did was to change the tyres for lighter better quality ones which helped as I got better grip and smoother riding.

Upgrades on a budget!

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