Upgrades on roadbike where to start?

[phucks1976]

Hi I have just bought a Carbon Bianchi Centostrada with a Veloce Compact groupset. It is a great bike but not as light as I would have thought. I would like to do some upgrades to improve this. What is the greatest weight saving upgrade I can do for a budget of about £300. The current wheels weigh 2100 grams is that a lot and is that were I should be starting?

Many thanks for your advice.

[HOGEPH]

Eat less!

[raf_gti]

Good advice that!

I'm currently carrying a bit too much weight from last year due to various (mostly work!) related reasons as such I'm noticeably heavier

Out on a ride today it was certainly in evidence, nice day, bike running well and I just couldn't hold the speed up the hills, a 500g saving on a wheelset would not cure that problem!

Saying that, if you are already a skinny billy I'd personally upgrade your wheels, my Ultegras as a comparison are 1600g so you would certainly save a good amount there, IIRC they should come in about your budget, especially if you sell your current ones on.

[phucks1976]

Thanks for the pistonhead replies! Wanted to stay Campag are the Zondas any good?

[phucks1976]

Of course I want to buy new shiny bits but want to know which items to buy first ie crankset / wheels.

[HowMuchLonger]

Wheels are not just about weight, but also friction. Some nice ceramic bearings might help.

[Rouleur]

A set of Ksyrium Equipes should do the job at £240, plus a set of lighter tyres to save even more. The standard tyres on your bike weigh 340g whereas something like Vittoria Rubino Pros are only £48 per pair but will save about 250g total. Should roll a fair bit faster too.

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/Bike+Shop/Wheels/Roa...

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?Mod...

[BliarOut]

Rubinos are lovely

[thanetspeedshop]

Listen to The Cannibal:



"Don't buy upgrades; ride up grades..."

[IroningMan]

You will always get more benefit from spending your money on fitting and coaching - but that's not the point, is it?

Wheels and tyres: start with the suggestions above, give it a year little while and then go looking for some 50mm carbon rims for 'special' days...

Also worth thinking about something like a Garmin Edge if the science of training seriously appeals to you.

[phucks1976]

Mavic Equipes are ordered, also have gone for Schwalbe Zx in white as they are lighter and I got a great price of £58. Thanks for all the advice! Can't wait to see how they perform, then I can start thinking about the next upgrades!

[louiebaby]

I'm currently working on the fact that I'm probably carrying a good 15kg I don't need to be. (If I had no job, and only went training to become the best cyclist I could be, I could probably lose 25kg.)

All my upgrades are related to making the bike more comfortable so I can spend more time on it, and burn that weight of. I'm looking at an ISM saddle. Just saving the money up at the moment.

Considering a couple of full water bottles and a "get you home banana" probably add 2kg, the extra grams I'm adding by not having the lightest tyres don't bother me.

I'm all for a bit of new bling, but within sensible limits.

[TonyHetherington]

I love the PH approach to shiny bits for bikes - it makes me feel right at home!

"lose weight, or get the bike setup properly. But that's not the answer you wanted - buy these expensive shiny bits cos they're cool".

Hell yeah. I promised myself I'd do nothing to the bike for at least this summer (only bought it new in May!) but already I look around.

[okgo]

Wheels and tyres.

having said that it doesn't make a HUGE amount of difference I don't think...

At the minute I'm using Aksiums and £10 hardcase tyres from ribble, the wheels weigh 1.8kg and the tyres I suspect are well over 350g each yet I'm quicker than I was 4 months ago when I had quicker tyres.

Mind you I don't know how much weight I saved in buying a carbon bike, not a lot I doubt.

Think I am getting some RS80's or Krysium elites in a week or so. Would they be suitable to ride each day for commuting?

[anonymous-user]

RS80s are quite bling for commuting, dependant upon the road conditions in your area i would opt for more spokes but a lot of people just think anything more than 24 spokes looks a bit gay. i know the roads in bristol and south glos would trash a pair of RS80s soon enough. bright red hope pro3s on black open pros, you know it makes sense.... click, click, click, click....

[okgo]

I know, just seems a waste to spend £300 and only use it on weekends....

[louiebaby]

I would have thought you could get a nice set built up for the same amount, which may well be stronger... You now have a reason to pop along to Sigma for a gander...

[anonymous-user]

a set of handbuilt wheels are weighing something between 1650g and 1750g dependant upon which webpage you read. granted that will be without skewers, tape, tubes and tyres but thats the same for all quoted wheel weights.

anyway, thats 1750g for the sake of arguing. thats 64 spokes, two hubs and two rims, and pro 3 mono hubs are originally designed for mountain bikes, strong then. the open pro rims are 445g so all in all, thats a pretty well balanced wheel.

there is no point having light weight hubs if the rims are heavy, the ideal solution is to keep the revolving mass oa low as possible. RS80s are something like 1550g but they only have 36 spokes in total so there is 200g difference. a shop on the on the web is quoting 140g/347g front/rear for ultegra hubs (essentiall RS80s) so if you work it all out. still with me?!?...

mavic/hope handbuilts
using 1750g as the weight
hope rear = 312g
hope front = 110g
open pro rims = 445*2 = 990g
64 db spokes = 64*5.5g = 324


RS80s
using 1550g as the weight
hub rear = 347g
hub front = 140g
36 db spokes = 36*5.5g = 198g
rims must be = 432*2 = 864g

i dont think the shimano spokes will be that light though, fewer spokes will mean they have to be slightly stronger so the rims may be a bit lighter than i am assuming?!?!?! stick with me now, nearly there.....

so given the hope hubs are a bit lighter than the shimano offering, the revolving mass is likely to be fairly similar.

no doubt about it the RS80s are great wheels which ever way you look at it, they are light and it seems that the weight is all around the hub, this might notbe great for the bigger guys when they are out of the saddle but i cant reacall any horror stories.

personally a 200g penalty for having a much stronger wheel is a price worth paying if you are doing long miles and/or commuting.

sorry, what was the question?

[okgo]

RS80's are meant to be sub 1500g.

I don't really want to spend £400 on strong wheels, the mavics I have (aksiums) that were 100 quid are still fine, so I don't need stronger.

Maybe I should just keep them for commuting and buy some RS80's for weekend rides and longer stuff.

Afterall I suppose it takes 2 mins to swap the wheels over as long as both have a cassette! Although on that rationale I might just buy some of those carbon clinchers I keep seeing on bikeradar threads

[anonymous-user]

its not a case of buying stronger wheels (plus they are only £300), its getting wheels that are suitable for commuting, sunday club rides and sportives etc. if you get a nice pair for sunday best you will end up in the same position as me and the sunday best wheels are always on the bike because they ride so much nicer. then when i hit a hole in the road, i wince and think back to the "commuter wheels" gathering dust in the garage...

i have a suspicion that many consider 32h wheels to have a whiff of audax to them and they lack cake stop kudos.