Upgrades

[hullbilly]

I currently ride a Focus Arriba Courier: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Focus_Arriba_Cou...

I really enjoy the bike and it fits perfectly and does everything i need it too. But as ever, upgrades are creeping into my head!

Firstly would be the wheels then maybe some carbon bits, i.e. forks, bars seat post, then eventually upgrade the groupset. To save a bit of weight as it currently stands at 11kg, what would carbon forks save for example?

What's peoples suggestions for bits over the next year for example....

[ewenm]

Wheels will make the biggest immediate difference to the ride (can be both good - less weight and bad - increased harshness). Groupsets - unless yours is really heavy I'd just replace as they wear out, or because you really want to.

Bars, seatpost, etc again can gain you some ounces but may also change the character of the bike. With a decent frame, decent wheels and adequate other bits, my next place to work on would be the rider...

[hullbilly]

ewenm said:

decent wheels and adequate other bits, my next place to work on would be the rider...

Dont worry there is plenty of work being put into the rider, my new carbon knee joint have saved me 5kg already!

[Roman]

Wheels either get a pair of Mavic Open Pro rims built up with Ultegra hubs or for light budget factory wheels look at Pro-lite or Xero (though bearings on these will need replacing more frequently than Ultegra hubs). You could save 200-400g here plus another 100-150g by upgrading the tyres.

Carbon cyclocross forks from Ribble/Parker etc will probably save around 200g on ali forks, fibrelite carbon bars from BBB are quite cheap & will save around 100g. Light budget post & saddle could save another 100g each.

If you're happy to reduce your gearing range by the top 2 and bottom 2 gears, change the rear cassette to an 11-34, remove inner & outer chainrings (replace chainring bolts with shallow ones for a single chainring) leaving the 42t middle ring, remove front mech and changer. This will save 400-500g.

Here is a pic with similar upgrades on my standard Specialized Sirrus:

[rhinochopig]

[starts-broken record]Cables - XTR or one of the other high end brands. They make such a difference to your shift quality, making your low end range feel much better than they actually are. Comparatively they cost peanuts too.[/stops broken record]