Carbon
Peloton Rider
Posts: 31
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Post by Carbon on Feb 18, 2013 16:29:31 GMT
Just fitted the following to my T3 as the original wheels have been wiped out by 3 months of dirty winter weather. The difference is amazing, what was a great bike (for the money) is now in a different league and in total I only spent £105. Shimano R501 - 30 Wheelset - From Ribble Cycles £75.00 www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/shimano-r501-30mm-bladed-clincher-wheels-pair/shimwhfr204SRAM PG850 Cassette (12-26) - From Wiggle £20.00 www.wiggle.co.uk/sram-pg850-8-speed-cassette/SRAM PC850 Chain - From Wiggle £10.00 www.wiggle.co.uk/sram-pc850-8-speed-chain/Starting with the wheels, they are lighter than the originals, look 100% better but most importantly have decent hubs/bearings/seals and roll very smoothly. It was instantly noticeable free wheeling down a hill that the bike was faster. Previously when out in a group I would have to pedal downhill to keep up with the others that were free wheeling, now I don't have to. Hopefully with the better seals they will stay this way! Incidentally I stuck the original tyres and tubs back on the new wheels as I've had no problems with them. Moving onto the cassette and chain, these probably didn't need changing but the drive train was a bit rough and others have said the PG850 cassette was a worth while upgrade. They were right! Drive train noise is reduced considerably, shifting both up and down the cassette is much crisper and faster. The difference is instantly noticeable and I didn't even need to trim the rear mech, just strapped the lot on and off I went. Very happy with the upgrades so thought I'd share my thoughts, hope you find this helpful!
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Post by Radchenister on Feb 18, 2013 16:42:24 GMT
Very helpful, bang on in fact.
Think that's a solid good spend after a few months of use, I will likely head somewhere very similar myself when I think my mileage / fitness level has earned it.
Lighter wheels are a nice option if you're a slick young (or old) thing but it won't make any difference to some of us big lads.
Just some further thoughts for me; still trying to get into gauging my gearing and picking something to suit my locality and rides, getting by OK on 12-25 but might go 11-30. Edit: went 11-28 SRAM and chain at 3 months of riding.
... and perhaps a blingy shiny chain - I am becoming a bit OCD on chain cleaning ;D !
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2013 20:31:27 GMT
Same wheels and casette mods to mine. I would however say get lighter tyres as soon as you can, they will make a big difference all round (Conti GPs 4000) or if your on a budget wait for the dry weather and then go for the Vittoria rubino slicks from PX for £5.99 a boot. Reducing rolling mass, I.E Tyres and Wheels is the most effective upgrade in term of bang per buck. I ve also picked up a shimano 556 Triple chainset for mine (The Ultegra back on the touring bike) and this is also noticeably slicker than the Ounce original and square axle B/B. 100% Shimano groupset now.
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Post by robxxx7 on Feb 19, 2013 8:09:18 GMT
Nice upgrades .... and more to the point with a great cost balance as well ...
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Carbon
Peloton Rider
Posts: 31
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Post by Carbon on Feb 19, 2013 11:58:49 GMT
Same wheels and casette mods to mine. I would however say get lighter tyres as soon as you can, they will make a big difference all round (Conti GPs 4000) or if your on a budget wait for the dry weather and then go for the Vittoria rubino slicks from PX for £5.99 a boot. I did think about new tyres (Conti GP 4 Seasons or Schwalbe Durano S) but decided to hold off for now as the existing ones are OK. This is my winter training bike so hopefully when the great British weather returns in March I'll be back on my other bike and the T3 will be tucked up in the garage until next winter........ That's the plan but let's see how that pans out, maybe if the weather doesn't live up to my expectations I'll take the plunge with the tyres otherwise I'll hold off until next winter.
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Post by Radchenister on Feb 19, 2013 12:07:25 GMT
Show us yer carbon then carbon !
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Carbon
Peloton Rider
Posts: 31
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Post by Carbon on Feb 19, 2013 12:53:14 GMT
Show us yer carbon then carbon ! Here you go.....
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Post by Radchenister on Feb 19, 2013 13:10:50 GMT
No experience of such exotic offerings myself so haven't a clue what I'm looking at but it certainly looks the part !
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2013 21:53:14 GMT
Agree with the improvement to the drive chain, I needed to upgrade due to my chain snapping and purchased a shimano sora 8 speed cassette from chain reaction and a kmc chain and got the same results and I also use shimano r501 wheels
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2013 22:34:00 GMT
No experience of such exotic offerings myself so haven't a clue what I'm looking at but it certainly looks the part ! Shooot!!! The chainset on that costs more than a Triban. Felt F1 With additional goodies.
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Carbon
Peloton Rider
Posts: 31
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Post by Carbon on Feb 26, 2013 16:40:26 GMT
Just a quick update having done a proper ride this weekend with the upgrades (previously only took it round the block and up / down the hill to get a feel for them).
Amazing!!! The SRAM PG850 Cassette & Chain have transformed the bike beyond recognition. In comparison to the original cassette & chain the drivetrain is super quiet with very slick shifting on the rear. Not only that it has reduced chain rub at the front mech to the point where I can now run on the largest chain ring and use every sprocket at the rear with only minimal rub on the largest. (Not that you really want to run that combination anyway). Previously I had quite noticeable rub on the two largest sprockets. Which leads me to believe the SRAM kit must be a slightly slimmer profile compared to the originals. Anyway if you've got £30 left in your bank account at the end of the month I would encourage you to make this upgrade. You won't regret it!
As for the wheels, probably not quite so easy to quantify. They roll much more smoothly and this is most noticeable when free wheeling. The ride generally feels a little better, rough surfaces seemed to be smoothed out a little, the bike seems to accelerate with more ease. I guess the proof of the pudding was my speed over my regular training route (60KM), it was 1.6 KPH quicker than last week with no extra effort on my part. So job done. Definitely worth the money.
Cheers all.
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Post by Radchenister on Feb 26, 2013 17:22:39 GMT
I will be making these upgrades at some point but do have the gears running dead smooth now and the greased hubs on mine mean the wheels are running well also. I suspect the new kit is better again but do excuse me for being a little sceptical on the time difference being purely down to the changes; from my rides I realise that the time differences occur on occasions and are usually down to me, how I feel and the conditions on that particular day. I do believe that if kit is running really nicely it has a positive effect but would be really surprised if the difference was purely down to the changes themselves ... but as always, if it works for you (and others + me) then I'm not knocking it, might be the placebo effect but it might not ... a good state of mind goes a long way. Good news either way. .
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Carbon
Peloton Rider
Posts: 31
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Post by Carbon on Feb 27, 2013 11:26:38 GMT
I will be making these upgrades at some point but do have the gears running dead smooth now and the greased hubs on mine mean the wheels are running well also. I suspect the new kit is better again but do excuse me for being a little sceptical on the time difference being purely down to the changes; from my rides I realise that the time differences occur on occasions and are usually down to me, how I feel and the conditions on that particular day. I do believe that if kit is running really nicely it has a positive effect but would be really surprised if the difference was purely down to the changes themselves ... but as always, if it works for you (and others + me) then I'm not knocking it, might be the placebo effect but it might not ... a good state of mind goes a long way. Good news either way. . Could well be the placebo effect, could be extra speed from the new wheels (to be fair my original ones were goosed). All I know is it certainly wasn't down to me, I was riding off a stinking hangover Great hangover cure a brisk ride! Cheers.
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Post by Radchenister on Feb 27, 2013 11:30:50 GMT
Funny that, my best sports games when younger were either when all my kit was sparkling and I had been gearing up for it days in advance or when I trundled up with a hangover ... might be state of mind, might also mean I was (note 'was', as I drink a lot less now older) a functioning alcoholic with OCD !
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Post by acd1055 on Mar 5, 2013 17:22:25 GMT
Hi Carbon The chain in the link you posted comes up as PC850 not PG850 does this matter? I've just ordered and a little worried its not the right one for the 8 speed PG850 cassette
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