What is the first thing you should upgrade on a road bike?
 

Would it be pedals, saddle, handlebars, shifters? Maybe tires and rims? Other parts do wear out like chainrings, cassettes, chains, and derailleurs. These usually all need to be replaced together anyways. For me, on one bike it was the saddle. I always try to see if the stock saddle will work for me. If not, I replace it. I've upgraded two cassettes on two different bikes when they wore out. Generally just increasing the range of gearing from a 12-25 to a 12-28 and another from a 11-30 to a 11-32. What about the rest of you??

The rider.

After the Rider, tires, then lighter wheels.

If someone is asking this question, then they are either new to cycling, or haven't cycled enough miles.

The human body here will be the best "upgrade".

I love riding those charity marathons with my daily commuter beater, where I smoke all those other "pros" with their fancy pretty $$$ road bikes and their matching sponsored outfits.

Money can easily buy stuff.

A good human body takes commitment and hard work.

Saddles are a given for many as new riders don't have their butt use to riding and will go through several different saddles and then eventually get back around to a saddle that isn't unlike the one they started with..... unless we are talking about a BSO. I did very much the same when I got back into cycling when in my early 50's.

The preferred upgrade for me is much like @RChung said. Expounding on that....simply remove yourself from the bike and slide a new bike underneath you. <grin>

Upgrading a new bike that you just bought usually means you will spend more because you could have bought a higher tier level of the same model bike with better components on it, including wheels which can get pretty pricey. And for less money than the upgrades you can find. Though if you have to have a specific wheelset because you believe it is that much better than any of it's peers for that level, then you do what you want.

On a used bike you have to be careful, because you can quickly outspend what a new bike would cost in a low tier model.

I'll usually recommend just replacing what is needed as it wears out. If that get you a chance the buy better for not much more, then that's okay.

Replacing a saddle that's not been good is not an 'upgrade', more of an 'overdue necessity'. :thumb:

With any new bike, the first thing is getting the fit right. Not only is this about adjusting the position of saddle and bars (which may or may not require new parts), but will also likely include new parts at the contact points. Whatever saddle is on the bike might work, or might not. I have specific pedal preferences, and all my bikes (of the same type) have the same pedals. Bar tape may also get changed if I don't care for what is currently on the bike. New parts will likely be a step up in quality/weight over stock, but I don't really consider any of it an "upgrade". This is just sorting out fit. I would consider gearing preference a "fit" thing, too. On my most recent MTB purchase, swapping the crankset for my preferred length happened, too.

For upgrades, tires are the first thing I look at. If I have the budget for it, new wheels might happen at the same time, or would be pretty high on the list, but that largely depends on what is on the bike already.

EDIT: Somewhere on the list for me is a power meter. My road bike came with one. I added one to my gravel bike for a pretty reasonable amount. I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do for my MTB.

Don't be this guy, right?...
https://i.imgur.com/zHArubE.jpg

Do those road bike guys with the matching outfits know you're racing them? Most charity rides I'm familiar with don't award top-finisher prizes, or even keep track of placings.

If someone has a preference for an expensive road bike, and rides in the kit of their local club featuring the logos of local businesses (or even the kit of their favorite pro team), how does that negatively affect your cycling experience?

In my case, it would be the loose screw between the seat and the handlebars.

If a production road bike, not unusual for the manufacturer to skimp on the wheels. Thus I often find I need new wheels. I have had to swap h-bars, manufacturers seem to think a 6’ rider uses a 42cm wide bar, I end up with a new 46. Saddle of course, to what I m comfortable on my other bikes, as well SPD pedals.

Tires, Seat, Bar Wrap, Freewheel, Crank, Wheel Set... Often in that order.

Upgrade? No
Replace with better or more appropriate for me components when properly worn? Yes.

That weird reverse snobbery is not uncommon around online forums. "With absolutely no regard for my scrotum--which I am prepared to chafe so badly it glows in the dark--I wear cut off jeans with cotton underwear and t-shirts like it's 1975 to prove a single point. Anyone who dares to wear appropriate cycling clothing is a poseur who cannot keep up with me when I lay down the wattage on my humble old velocipede and I will pass them at speed, laughing all the way at their vanity, dressed as they are for the Tour de France (the only race that I know of really, but you get my very valid point). I. Am. Better. Than. Them."

Aside from that, the contact points are important. I always change pedals from the place holders bikes sometimes come with, the saddle and the grips. Guys will also change bar tape with gel pads etc. A decent bike fit and changing the contact points are the main things for comfort, though.

Same here. I've changed handlebars, stems and pedals - all for a better fit.

Even things like shoes matter. I seem to get by just fine with MTB type Shimano SPD pedals and shoes on my road bikes, but you can have a shoe fitting with arch support etc. to reduce foot hot spots. Another one is making your handlebars comfortable to reduce numbness, especially in the nerve on the outer part of the hand that makes the little finger numb. There, gell pads like Nitto Bananas, Specialized bar shapers and bars suitable for your shoulder width can all play a part. A lot of people go for excessively narrow saddles, which can hurt, but the saddle really depends on the stem in many ways, in that the saddle shape may need to change depending on how for forward you are hunched, and that is related to stem length. There are a lot of newer saddles that are short and wide--see Specialized's range--that help with comfort, but measuring your sit bones is never a bad idea.

Riders are never stuck with the components that come stock with their bike, and for relatively little money (especially if you flip the takeoffs) you can have a much more comfortable riding experience.

The trend in the pro peloton, which includes many 6-footers, is to narrower bars. In fact, the governing body, the UCI, recently revised their handlebar standard to prohibit road bike handlebars narrower than 35 cm. (Riders had been going even narrower for a while.)

I’m a 6’ 1” rider and I have one road bike with 42cm bars and another with 44cm. I can’t tell any difference really. So 42cm is fine for me. We all have different preferences, but I doubt many 6’ riders would need wider road bars like yours.

Once everything is color coordinated?

"Upgrade the rider. Definitely the best performance improvement and it will extend beyond the bike ... "

He says, while instead getting slower and lazier every day

I would say first, replace whatever is broken or hopelessly ugly - for example, green seat. After that read up on measuring yourself and your saddle/bar positions, and how to develop a set of reasonable riding position settings.

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That bike is damn fine! The Campagnolo is so choice!

Your pic reminds me I need to get a new pair of Bonts to better match my new club kit. :thumb:

Don't buy upgrades, ride up grades.

Some famous racer said.

I retrograde upgrade. For instance the original wheels on my Raleigh Grand Prix were steel rim clinchers. I upraded with an older pair of sew up wheels. Or on my 70's Gitane with steel cottered crank I upgraded to a steel cottered crank from the 60's with alloy rings. My 73 Raleigh Competition was upraded with a Lionrone saddle from the 50's.

In my mind and experience the older components are of better "quality" than newer components. So to upgrade is to retrograde.

First upgrades should be anything needed for a proper fit and comfort. Odds are good that if you bought the correct size bike and do not have unusual proportions, you don’t need to change out any components. But get the bike fit.

As for performance upgrades, good low rolling resistance tires. The difference between good and the best can be equal to 10 W of power or in the range of 5% of total power. The difference between bad tires and the best can be much more.

If you bought an inexpensive bike, than you may get smoother shifting with better components.

Depending on what you have, better wheels. If nothing else you should be able to get lighter wheels. While weight isn’t really all that important in terms of actual performance, unless you’re competing, it can affect how the bike feels.

Tires.