What is the Most Important component to upgrade first?



MaxPrime said:
I'm in the same spot as you - grad student with pretty decent bike. I upgraded to a nice pair of shoes (SO worth it). I was told the first thing to upgrade are contact points - pedals, seat, shorts, wheels/tires. An $80 pair of shorts is going to be a lot better than 100g lighter wheels when you've been in the saddle for 4 hours.

My suggestion? Save it. Get yourself comfortable and riding centuries - ride, ride, ride. I buy myself stuff like shoes when I hit big mileage milestones.

Do bicycle shorts really make that much of a difference? I figured a comfortable saddle was better.
 
riceknight said:
Do bicycle shorts really make that much of a difference? I figured a comfortable saddle was better.
Yes they make a huge difference. Trust me when I say that I'm not a spandex kind of guy. However, I was having trouble finding a saddle that wasn't totally painful after 3 hours of riding. After my 8th saddle in 13 months I figured it was time for something different. The Bellweather shorts I bought made all the difference in the world. I'm not saying that it's like sitting in a lazy boy recliner or anything but it certainly makes a bike seat much more tolerable.

So if I'm going out to ride for an hour then it's cut off sweat pants. But if I'm going out to do a 50 miler it's cycling shorts.
 
riceknight said:
What makes the biggest upgrade difference? Shifters, Cassettes, Derailers, Pedals? :confused: In what order would you do it?

I'm most interested in how much of a difference upgrading a derailer or cassette makes. That is considering they are the same speed. :eek:


I'm currently using a Tiagra set, and my friend is using Soras :p
What can I say, We're poor college students. To buy a textbook or bike parts :D ?

Some good advice would be much appreciated

Where I live (and probably die) the weather is awful. Both my 125cc bike and 0cc bike (my bicycle) suffer mostly from the wind. This can be helped by improving aerodynam something or what ever it is that improves speed during windy weather. To do this you need one of those bent handle bar things so you lean down realy low. A fairing may aslo help. The second biggest problem is hills. Weight is the biggest annoyance on them. So one of those aluminum, titum or carbon steel frames are needed to reduce weight, which means less to pull uphill. However, titum and carbon frames are expensive. Aluminum frames are cheap but they are very very shitty.
 
The rider. If you really want new (or better) parts, I say wait until you need (or can use) them. This will also give you time to save your money. Then, you can get an all new bike built the way you want and have a hell of an engine to go with it.
 
My best improvment was finally biting the bullet, taking the jeering, and getting a pair of shorts and clipless pedals and shoes. These two things moved me from 14 miles a day to 35 over the summer without as much as a wince.
 
Doctor Morbius said:
Yes they make a huge difference. Trust me when I say that I'm not a spandex kind of guy. However, I was having trouble finding a saddle that wasn't totally painful after 3 hours of riding. After my 8th saddle in 13 months I figured it was time for something different. The Bellweather shorts I bought made all the difference in the world. I'm not saying that it's like sitting in a lazy boy recliner or anything but it certainly makes a bike seat much more tolerable.

So if I'm going out to ride for an hour then it's cut off sweat pants. But if I'm going out to do a 50 miler it's cycling shorts.
Throw a little desitin on the shamy and climb to the next level...I am not a spandex (but you got to call it Lycra...it sounds better) guy either (I think I'm more of a redneck guy) but they made a believer out of me when I finally went out at 5 in the am so no one could see me and gave them a go...hell, I wish I could wear them all the time
 
Telegram Sam said:
Throw a little desitin on the shamy and climb to the next level...I am not a spandex (but you got to call it Lycra...it sounds better) guy either (I think I'm more of a redneck guy) but they made a believer out of me when I finally went out at 5 in the am so no one could see me and gave them a go...hell, I wish I could wear them all the time

:D :D :D

Gotta love the butt and thigh hugging feeling as long as there are no crowds staring at the two.

Yeah, i think it's going to take a lot for me to be able to take my bike into manhatten wearing Lycra.... Any good alternatives?
 
Used to be, I would have said wheels first too - but think a minute - if you are riding a 7 speed setup you would have to try and get 7 speed but high quality wheels.

This is firstly, difficult and secondly defeating the object of a piecemeal upgrade - which is to end up with a completely better bike. Sooner or later you won't like those 7 speed wheels anymore.

So let me suggest the 10 speed upgrade advertised, where they make you a nice set of Centaur 10 speed wheels, fit the rear mechanism and chain and fit Centaur Ergo levers too. You keep your front mech and crankset and brakes.

The cost is supposed to be around $450.-. Now that gives you a nice package - something you can really enjoy until you get a frame and crankset. While you are at it, consider a good saddle.

Matter of fact, I gave my training bike that same upgrade but I did it myself (and paid more!!) but it's still worth it.

Good luck,

Billovitch.
 
riceknight said:
:D :D :D

Gotta love the butt and thigh hugging feeling as long as there are no crowds staring at the two.

Yeah, i think it's going to take a lot for me to be able to take my bike into manhatten wearing Lycra.... Any good alternatives?
Yeah, but that beats riding through the East Village wearing Lycra!!! :eek: :eek: :eek:
 
riceknight said:
What makes the biggest upgrade difference? Shifters, Cassettes, Derailers, Pedals? :confused: In what order would you do it?

I'm most interested in how much of a difference upgrading a derailer or cassette makes. That is considering they are the same speed. :eek:


I'm currently using a Tiagra set, and my friend is using Soras :p
What can I say, We're poor college students. To buy a textbook or bike parts :D ?

Some good advice would be much appreciated
I have played the upgrade game myself in the past on a low end frame. and when I was done I ended up wasting a lot of money that could have gone toward a new ride. I would caution against upgrading components on an entry level frame since it won't improve the ride significantly. If you do want to upgrade, I would say start with wheels first and then cranks, shifters, derailer and cassette. I bought a new bike a couple years ago and it was nice, but when I upgraded to a set of Ksyrium wheels my speed increased significantly.
:cool:
 

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