codiehybrid

Hi,
I'm sorry if this is the wrong forum, I'm a little lost TBH!

I have a 2017 specialized sirrus sport carbon. I basically commute on it, nothing too strenuous. I was thinking to upgrade to one of the new models. Having had a good look I think I am happy with the bike frame & may just upgrade some of the components. I'm the first to admit I'm pretty much 'all the gear & no idea ' so would like some experienced advice. Primarily I want to upgrade the wheels but am totally overwhelmed with the choice & no Idea what I need or if they have to be specific for disk brakes etc. I think I want carbons. later on I might do some other components, seat post, handle bar etc. I want to spend about £1,000. Does anyone have any advice as to where I can start?

Thakyou

hokiefyd 

Hi; I think you've come to the right place. Some of us are "ride it as it is and save your money", while others here upgrade and change stuff just for fun, so there are a lot of perspectives.

It may help to give us some idea of your goals. Are you looking to make the bike lighter? Ride better? More aerodynamic? Faster? Just have the upgrade "bug"? Your answers may help inform some of the responses.

One other idea just to get you thinking. Components generally cost less when purchased as a complete bike. You can sometimes find good prices for individual components, but it may take some time finding those deals or waiting for an auction to come up on eBay, etc. If you do find another bike with the component set you want, you might consider buying that bike, swapping the components over to your bike, putting what you took off your bike back on THAT bike, and selling it second hand. This would probably be an option only if you're comfortable doing the work yourself. If you're paying a bike shop to move stuff back and forth, that can quickly become expensive and you'd lose a lot of money on labor on a bike you're not going to keep.

Cheers!

codiehybrid

Hi thanks, I really like the bike & was looking at this years but the frame is the same. Primarily I want to cut weight as I carry it up stairs at the end of the day. I have had someone recommend upgrading the handlebar & seat post to carbon which I've more or less decided on. It is the wheels, I was looking at carbon & have been recommended some PRIME rr-38 which are a fraction of the price of the ones I was looking at but then someone else has waded in & told me to look at high end alloy as they would be stronger as I primarily commute on slightly dodgy London roads! Thanks for the suggestion of looking at another complete bike & transferring components, I will look at that. As for labour my local bike shop is incredibly cheap so I'll let the experts handle all the grunt work

Skipjacks

How much does the bike weight now and how much do you need it to weigh to haul it up the stairs?

You've already got a carbon frame. You aren't going to make the bike TOO much lighter.

The frame is the biggest heaviest component on the bike.

Honestly, and I don't mean this sarcastically at all, the best way to make it easier to carry it upstairs is to do squats and other exercises to strengthen your legs (biking uphill is a good one too, and you already have the bike). Make your legs stronger so you can get up the stairs easier. It's cheaper and more effective that shedding 3 more pounds off the bike.

hokiefyd 

Okay; that's fair.

If you have alloy bars, stem, and seat post, then changing those components to carbon likely will help some. I imagine that the seat post especially will save you some grams. Don't overlook the saddle. I don't know what type of saddle you prefer, but some definitely ARE heavier than others. I think there are some specific requirements when using carbon seat posts (a certain carbon-compatible grease). I don't have any specific experience with carbon seat posts, so I'd defer to those more knowledgeable on that.

Certainly compare weight of what you have with what you plan to buy. If you're going to end up spending 300 quid to save 50 grams, you may decide that it's not worth it.

I have read before that top-spec alloy wheels don't weigh any different than carbon ones. To answer one of your earlier questions, though, you do need to buy wheels with disc brake hubs (if you have disc brakes now). Traditional hubs don't have the flange required to mount the brake rotor. You can measure your hub spacing to determine what size hubs you need (in terms of width), or have your bike shop measure to be sure. Your bike shop may also recommend or suggest building a custom set of wheels. They may know and like a certain brand or type of hub, and may offer to build a wheel set for about the same money as it would take to buy a complete set.

If you do have disc brakes, then you don't need rims with brake tracks in them (though they won't hurt anything if present).

ColonelSanders

I suspect the wheels would be heavier than the frame and fork and would seem the most obvious target for an upgrade to deliver lighter weight and higher performance.

codiehybrid

Thanks guys I am going to the bike shop armed with all this info tomorrow. The comment about exercise is particularly right. I slipped a disc & had a hip replaced a couple of years ago & the bike is keeping me moving, lifting it up is my main worry which is why I want it as light as I can. I think I'm convinced to look at some good alloys now, thanks again for all the pointers

badger1

There are three obvious sources for excess weight on your bike.

1. Wheelset. The stock one you have is a boat anchor; probably in the range of 22/2300 grams. You should easily be able to source an aluminum wheelset in the 16-1700 gram range for a reasonable cost.
2. Crankset. Ditto -- boat anchor. Replace it with something lighter.
3. Stock tires (if you still have them). Same thing ... lots of scope to shed some weight.

You should be able to get rid of 3/4 lbs of all-up weight with a modest investment.

Lt Stonez

+1

TMassimo

I have a 2016 Sirrus Expert which has the same frame as the Sport (I think).
The choice of wheelsets seems huge, but most of the road wheelsets will not fit on this frame - as I found out - unless you go custom.
In the end, I went with a set of Mavic Allroad Elite. They're very light and good quality and look fantastic on the bike. I'm very happy I got them worth every penny. You might find them cheaper (I did) and Evans will match the price.

If I were you I'd upgrade to a Shimano 105.

My next upgrade will be the Praxis Zayante Carbon crankset. YAY!

codiehybrid

[QUOTE=TMassimo;20180281]I have a 2016 Sirrus Expert which has the same frame as the Sport (I think).
The choice of wheelsets seems huge, but most of the road wheelsets will not fit on this frame - as I found out - unless you go custom.

Excellent, great to hear from someone with the same set up I will definitely check those out I was looking at roval-slx-24-disc ( won't let me post a link unfortunately !) Has it mad a difference to the weight? It's lifting it up at the end of the day that is my main focus. I'll definitely look at the crankset also, Thanks again

Wanderer

Back and hip issues, I can understand the weight issues.

Is there any OTHER option, to avoid carrying up stairs? Maybe a lockable "Rubbermaid" outbuilding for storage on the ground? Any neighbors have room for a bike?

PedalingWalrus

I had the 2016 Sirrus Pro Carbon and went all out with carbon wheels, handlebars, seatpost, stem...you name it. The end result was a very light bike (around 16lbs) and still slow as heck and not particularly comfortable.

The best upgrade was to hand it down to my son and get a professional bike fit and then use the results to adjust all of my bikes.

TMassimo

mmm... interesting. So did you have the bike fit after you handed the bike to your son or the fit didn't work with the Sirrus? It could be a fitness issue, but sometimes I feel this bike maybe not best suitable for long distance rides. Can you elaborate further on why you feel the bike is slow as heck? What do you think it makes it slow compared to a faster bike?

PedalingWalrus

I was slow as heck :-) the bike is ok but I think wind resistance based on my seating position was more of an issue. With drop bars I can drop down low when I'm going downhill and gain speed etc... basically I found unless mountain biking and fat biking I'm more in line with drop bars.

The Sirrus bike is beautiful though. Nice bike. FYI - I had it for 2 years.

pjthomas

Replacing the crank is a big one. It's the bottom bracket that weighs the most so changing from a three pieces to a two piece crank can save quite a bit. It feels better also.

Craptacular8

I'm a big proponent of upgrading. Stock wheels across the board are typically the weakest link...they are almost always heavy. Unless I'm looking at the specifications for the wrong carbon framed sirus, I'm not sure that the prime rr-38's will work. Price at chain reaction is awesome for them, but they are for QR rather than through axle. I thought the carbon framed specs I saw listed the sirus as through axle? Seat post is another good place to shed weight, a little can come from pedals. Stems....slight. Wheels and tires are by far the best bang for the buck in cutting weight. Most stock wheel sets from Trek/Specialized, etc are in the 2100-2300 gram weight class. You'd be saving over a pound of weight from most upgraded wheels. I know little else about the prime carbon wheels. The internal width listed for that set puts it a little old school, and to achieve the aero benefits would limit you on the tires you chose to 25's max. If you weren't going for aero benefits with the slightly deeper carbon rim, disregard tire size, they would easily accommodate up to 32's.

For the price you're mentioning, again unless you were looking for aero gains, I'd probably go with a good alloy upgrade wheel set. In the same price range as the prime carbons, you could get Fulcrum or Campagnola, or a wheel set that uses DT Swiss's 240 hubs, Zipp Service Course 30's, or HED Ardennes. The HEDs were cutting edge wide internal width/rim shaped, others are catching up to them. All of these choices would dramatically cut weight, and are known to have really good quality, smooth rolling hubs. I haven't bought these in DB versions yet, but the Fulcrum/Campy hubs roll really easy/fast, and are super comfortable. All of these are going to prefer tires in the 25-28 range, but the Zipps/HED are the newer 21 internal width, they'll easily accomodate much larger tires without looking like a light bulb. The other big weight savings is in tires. Unless you're looking for the flat protection with the stock tires, something with 120tpi sidewalls will be much smoother riding. Schwable G Ones, Conti GP4000s, Compass in the 28's would shave another pound off. The stock tires are 445 grams a piece. The Compass 700x28s in standard casing is 248, 229 for extra light....a substantial difference in weight, not to mention a really fast rolling tire.

Enjoy the upgrade process, good luck.

badger1

^^^OP's bike is a '17 carbon Sirrus Sport; you're probably looking at the all-new '18 frame

His frame/fork is 'old' standard QR: 9/100 front, 10/135 rear, with centre-lock disc. That's what he needs to look for. Fortunately, lots of existing wheelsets in that standard, and many (most?) of the new 'all-road' and cross wheelsets are easily convertible between QR/thru-axle. The only glitch might be finding centre-lock disc hubs, but easily accommodated either with an adaptor or (better) change of rotor.

That said, I agree completely re. alloy vs. carbon wheels, and the other points you mention -- and the overall worth of upgrading an existing bike that one is very happy with

practical

I enjoyed reading all the advice. But I am amazed by how much you're willing to pay lose a pound. Will you notice that going up the stairs?

pjthomas

I upgraded my bike to better components because the components were mostly worn. I didn't do it for weight yet I went from 30.8 lbs to 27.4 lbs. It noticeable carrying and riding.

Craptacular8

I don't know if a person will always notice the pound they might save when they upgrade stock tires for example, just carrying the bike, or loading it on a carrier, but I do know that I can certainly notice the improved acceleration, lower rolling resistance from going to the better tire.

There are other benefits to upgrading the wheel set from stock, with the weight reduction a side benefit. Even a cheapy upgrade of mavic open pro rims paired with a durable, good quality, yet heavy hub like the Shimano 105 and standard DT Swiss spokes (for a rim road bike) shaves a lot of weight off stock, but results in a wheel that is just not nearly as harsh riding as the stock wheel. It doesn't roll awesome, like the wheel sets I mentioned above, but it's a fraction of the cost ($250 ish or less) even though most riders will easily be able to appreciate the improvement.

For shaving weight in the handlebars, etc, I'd agree, the cost per gram can get out of hand quickly, unless you are swapping out to achieve a better fit, or improve ride characteristics.