Upgrade my hack or buy a new shiny toy

fish-head

Fixed gears eat hills.

munkee

Decisions, decisions.

So, finally have narrowed it down to the following- I'm getting a standard road bike- it will work for my commute and longer rides.

I'm considering a Giant SCR3 from Wiggle, around 540 euro. It has the Sora groupset, Tiagra for the rear.

I'm also contemplating pushing the boat out for one of the BeOne bikes on Chain Reaction that has the 105 groupset for about 840 euro.

From what I've gleaned online, the 105 is a significant step up from the Sora/Tiagra gear. If it's worth it in the long term I don't mind paying the extra now.

It's a fair bit more to shell out though- do you think it's worth the extra outlay?

blorg

105 is a lot better, yes. One of the biggest obvious differences is in the shifters- Sora shifters use a thumb lever that is only shiftable from the hoods while from Tiagra up you have a lever that you can shift from the drops.) 105 is also 10-speed which will help from a future upgrade/compatibility point of view (I suspect everything is going 10-speed in the future, certainly all Campagnolo groupsets have already.)

flickerx

flickerx wrote: »

All that carbon fiber and gear stuff is just marketing. Fausto Coppi won the Giro d’Italia like six times in the ‘70s on a fixed-gear bike, and I think people want to get back to that simplicity. It’s like a zen thing. You feel totally connected to the bike.

The Bike Snob NYC article hit the nail on the head alright. Check out this recent enough Guardian article:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/mar/09/green

studiorat

Where do you park when you commute? I have 2 bikes at the moment, one for commuting and one for playing with! Surely you won't be parking your shiny new toy out in the rain every day with the thieves and the vandals

Funny article...
... "sells not only the latest in bicycles and parts but also a complete line of fixed-gear specific clothing that allows riders both male and female to easily adopt the young Audrey Hepburn look that is currently in vogue"...

Bring it on I'd say! Better than a bunch of aul'fellas stinking of winter green and giving out about you not washing yer bike.

Another good 'un.
http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2008/03/bsnyc-product-review-hitting-road.html

flickerx

Only place I'd ever lock my more expensive one is at Pearse Street cop shop.

Nowhere else.