|
Post by Big Brother on Jul 21, 2013 21:25:23 GMT
OK. You're new to cycling. You've recently taken the plunge and bought your first road bike. (Triban of course!) What upgrades are required to "spec up" your new Triban? They may be cheap affordable improvements to the look of the bike. They could also be more significant upgrades to improve the bikes performance, be it tyres, wheels, gearing items etc. Let us know what upgrades you initially went for and how hard they hit the wallet when you first set out on the road of cycling.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2013 21:49:12 GMT
I like this idea @andrewmckenna00 and thanks Red. Right my recommendation has to be road pedals and cleats, with shoes of course. If your going to be doing any serious amount of riding, then flexible sole shoes and cage pedals are not going to cut it. You'll find improved performance, comfort and possibly less injury (with correct setup) using clipless pedals. What you'll need: 1. Pedals. Either SPD or SPD-SL (Look Keo, Delta, etc) Now which type you go for will depend on a few different factors, which I will not go into here. Look at this thread.A few of us went for cheap, but what so far have been excellent quality and value Exustar pedals. They come in black or white, are weighted so always face up for easy clipping in. Cost: Cheapest £20-25 2. Cleats Attach to the bottom of the 'special' shoes which then clip into the chosen pedals so you are fully connected to the bike. The Exustar pedals above come with red cleats. Cleats come in a few different colours which generally indicate the degree of float (the amount of play allowed by the cleat for your feet to move around). Black = 0 degree, grey = 4.5 and red = 9. Cost: Normally included with pedals but about £10 there after for replacement pair 3. Shoes The shoes need to be comfortable and fit your feet near enough perfect. They are stiff soled to help you put the power down and transfer to the pedal. The stiffer the soles and the lighter the shoes, the more expensive. You can get carbon shoes but they will be quite dear. There are many different makes so not going to go into it to much but make sure the shoes you buy are compatible with the cleats mentioned above. I would always recommend trying them on first and getting sizing right so would not encourage ordering online, unless you've purchased that make before and know their sizing well. My personal opinion is you should not scrimp on the shoes. The number of miles you'll be doing and amount of repetitions you'll be doing, you want good quality, comfortable pair. I went for Specialized BG pair. Cost: Starting about £45 + for decent pair. Cheaper makes are available. DHB from Wiggle are always good for the price from other reviews on it. Next upgrade...
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2013 21:58:31 GMT
First upgrade was Clarks gold brake blocks . A great improvement over stock IMO £8.99 amazon White chargespoon saddle. Initially because it was white. But it really is a comfy ride £17.99 eBay Shimano m520 pedals since changed for spd sl's Deda 90mm stem felt slightly stretched on the standard one £17.99 evans Deda white bar tape (can you see where I'm going with this) £4.99 wiggle Road race crudcatchers mud guards £18.00 amazon. Easy to put on and take off Elite bottle cages Shimano RS30 wheels (white) so so so much better than stock wheels £123.00 including KMC chain ribble cycles Continental ultra sport tyres £22. Halfords SRAM 11-28 cassette abit more flexibility when grinding up then hills. Wiggle Sora front chain set and bottom bracket £32.99 Merlin Lezyne femto lights 15.99 evans great little lights Out of all of those probably brakes and wheels/tyres most noticeable improvement .
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2013 9:11:12 GMT
Could you tell me what diameter stem you used please m8, I think I could do with a shorter one tbh, feel as if I am stretching to much. RS30's arrived 10 mins ago £119 ribble
|
|
|
Post by acd1055 on Jul 22, 2013 11:43:03 GMT
if your new to cycling do you really need to upgrade the Triban straight away? I'd ride it for 6 months and make sure your going to stick at it before spending more money.. then change the brake blocks, rear cassette, pedals, seat, wheels and tyres.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2013 12:47:28 GMT
The nearest to necessary I see are pedals and seat but even with those its a personal thing so may not need changing. Depending on when and where you ride the brake pads, everything else is more break it and then change it type things IMO.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2013 13:01:47 GMT
The nearest to necessary I see are pedals and seat but even with those its a personal thing so may not need changing. Depending on when and where you ride the brake pads, everything else is more break it and then change it type things IMO. Agreed.....but sadly...I am more of a '...change it then break it...' type guy
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2013 13:11:39 GMT
I was going to leave mine as stock but after hearing the difference clipless pedals made I looked in to them.
I was able to get some shoes in sportsdirect for £17 and Look pedals+cleats for £34 in Decathlon. Now that I can feel the benefits I'll probably spec up on the shoes when they need to be replaced.
So, for me, pedals, bottle+cage and some shorts (for comfort). <edit> Oh, and at least a rear light to make you more visible to drivers in low sunlight.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2013 20:27:17 GMT
Im a stats man and wondering what the weight saving that can be made changing to Tiagra gears and shimano 501 wheels To change the full gears to tiagra what exactly do i need to buy would it be this also would this mean I would have 20 gears Cassete Chainset
|
|
|
Post by robertsims on Jul 31, 2013 0:32:45 GMT
Im a stats man and wondering what the weight saving that can be made changing to Tiagra gears and shimano 501 wheels To change the full gears to tiagra what exactly do i need to buy would it be this also would this mean I would have 20 gears Cassete Chainset
Others on here have done it so could advise better but you would need shifters, cassette, chainset (and matching bottom bracket -hollowtech 2 fot tiagra) and a new chain (10 speed). Guessing shiftets are most expensive part. They normally are! Also then worth putting new cables on as well.
|
|
mylovelyhorse
Peloton Rider
Waiting for my next ride...
Posts: 119
|
Post by mylovelyhorse on Aug 4, 2013 20:01:22 GMT
A few of us went for cheap, but what so far have been excellent quality and value Exustar pedals. They come in black or white, are weighted so always face up for easy clipping in. Cost: Cheapest £20-25 Thanks for the tip - I've just ordered a pair for my T7 as I'm fed up furtling around trying to get my feet locked to the standard ones. At least I say a pair - I've ordered one of the item shown at that link and I hope it's a pair (it enigmatically says "pedal" on the website)...
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2013 20:58:19 GMT
A few of us went for cheap, but what so far have been excellent quality and value Exustar pedals. They come in black or white, are weighted so always face up for easy clipping in. Cost: Cheapest £20-25 Thanks for the tip - I've just ordered a pair for my T7 as I'm fed up furtling around trying to get my feet locked to the standard ones. At least I say a pair - I've ordered one of the item shown at that link and I hope it's a pair (it enigmatically says "pedal" on the website)... Don't think you'll regret it but are the welgo ones that bad?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2013 19:24:30 GMT
First things I'd recommend to upgrade first second and thirdly... T3: 1. The forks: nice lightweight carbons to reduce the weight balance on the bike so it doesnt mean going into a corner with a heavy front end. (people who want comfort over performance may not wanna do this...) 2. The wheels. - I'm sorry but I'll probably state this on all the bike range. Those wheels HAVE to go... MAvic Aksiums or Shimano r500/rs10's will be lighter, stronger, ideal and durable. 3. Shifters. - To me, they look ugly cheap and tacky. Shimano sora 3500's will do the trick (cheap too...) T5. 1. Wheels: - same as T3's reason. Heavy, G2G!. (at east they'll be going on a decent fork this time ...) 2. Pedals - get some nice clipless pedals to clip into. maybe some shimano r540's or keo easy's, both arouns the 35 marker. Little more pricer and yourlooking about the 105's or Keo classics (CRC.com have a nice deal on pedals...) 3. BRake Calipers: this is me being picky as the BTwin calipers aren't too bad but just soo it matches the rest of the bike. some shimano brake calipers in black will give a nice touch. maybe go a bit generous and give a bit of tiagra there ;P T7. 1. Wheels - need i say more... (keep tyres though, bit of a bargain there...) 2. calipers - Again, just matching up the groupset to look more respectable. 3. Pedals - The reason this after calipers. Use these to help ractice with so if you scratch or break them, its not the end of the world. Trial and error on the one's pre-equipped then go to some nice looking ones. But get the good shoes first so you know you've already got the quality to start (+ no-one will notice the crappy pedals underneath unless you show them.)
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2013 17:49:32 GMT
this may be a silly question but if I want to upgrade the brake pads to the Clarks Gold Race pads do I need to buy one set or two. Amazon doesn't really state how many come in pack.
|
|
mylovelyhorse
Peloton Rider
Waiting for my next ride...
Posts: 119
|
Post by mylovelyhorse on Aug 15, 2013 20:07:55 GMT
this may be a silly question but if I want to upgrade the brake pads to the Clarks Gold Race pads do I need to buy one set or two. Amazon doesn't really state how many come in pack. I got two packs - you get two pads plus two in the shoes so could get away with one pack.
|
|