Racing Upgrade

manwithaplan

I have a decent aluminium bike with a compact chainset. I also have a nice set of lightweight clinchers - Fulcrum Racing Zeroes. The combination has been serving me reasonably well in the club racing I have started this year but I'm thinking of getting a carbon frame with a standard double for racing. I would keep my alu bike and its original wheels for training, winter and the odd sportive.

Initially I thought I would buy a nice frameset (probably second hand), build it up with an Ultegra groupset and half decent finishing kit and put the Fulcrums on it. However, it's looking like this option is at least as expensive as buying a complete bike (Canyon or summat) and finding some other use for the wheels that come with it. If I went second hand, I would probably go for a reasonably high end frame (Look, BH, high-end Felt, Cervelo). I would probably have the complete bike for no more than €2,500 (wheels excluded obviously).

Anyway, am I wasting my time building a bike around a set of wheels or should I just follow the hordes to Canyon or the like? Is buying a second hand carbon frame asking for trouble?

CTW doesn't come into it.

Lemag

manwithaplan wrote: »

Anyway, am I wasting my time building a bike around a set of wheels or should I just follow the hordes to Canyon or the like? Is buying a second hand carbon frame asking for trouble?

I like Canyon but if you are thinking of heading down the secondhand route and would consider using ebay you might want ot check out the free sniping tool on http://www.goofbay.com/. It's a bit like cycling with drugs

Diarmuid

I wouldn't change the groupset to a standard just to race. I'm racing on a compact and it's fine. I doubt I've spun out yet in a race.
I wouldn't necessarily change to a carbon frame just to race, they are more likely to break in a crash and is comfort such an important factor in 60k races?

Nothing wrong with upgrading but I wouldn't upgrade specifically to race..

manwithaplan

I seem to spend a fair amount of time in races on the smallest couple of rear cogs. Maybe I need to focus on my cadence more but I would be happier if I had somewhere else to go. I'm not spinning out or anything but I am sometimes spinning at a cadence that is outside my "sweet spot".

I'm not massively hung up about carbon actually. I could just change the chainset on my current bike but I liked the idea of having a compact and a standard double available but also of keeping a second bike for the winter. The winter took its toll on my current bike - even though I looked after it I had to replace the front mech and the rear hub due to the road grit and debris accumulated on club spins. It's hard to keep the one bike going all year round. I thought if I am going to buy another bike, I may as well make it a carbon one.

Beasty

You race on more hills than some of the southsiders;)

There are some we do in the Swords League where I can be on the top two gears for long periods - the Corduff and Garristown circuits are good examples. I moved from a compact to standard and would not change back, but then again I am much more of a grinder than a spinner