Wenmtuz

Hi guys, I need some recommendations which one to upgrade first. I'm using an alloy bike now with total of 9.3kg.
frame and fork weight around 2.3kg, with shimano rs10 as wheelset, and using claris as groupset. I've been thinking of doing some upgrade either shimano 105 r7000 or carbon wheel. Thanks in advance guys

bpcyclist

What sort of budget are we dealing with here? What type of riding do you do?

spikyone

Just to chime in, yes the sort of terrain riding you do and the current gears you have should give you some direction to which way to upgrade.
By using claris i assume is 8 speed and whats the largest climbing gear? 30 or 32T? Are you satisfied with that?

Because i went from a 8.9kg alloy bike to 8.3kg by changing to campag zondas and that transformed the whole rolling resistance immediately.

However, my previous groupset on that bike was Tiagra 4700 10s 28T and now im using Ultegra 6800 also 28T and now im regretting spending that $ and wish I had kept the Tiagra and just upgraded to a climbing cassette of 30T I feel that would be more "bang for the buck" for my weak legs.

So yeah wish I had ridden more before doing the groupset upgrade..
hope that helps

Dean V

What sort of frame is it?
Worth upgrading?

TheDudeIsHere

Any serious rider worthy of upgrading components will have at least 350 posts before upgrading anything.

bpcyclist

Yessss!!!

Seattle Forrest

Which do you feel are holding you back? That doesn't have to mean slowing you down necessarily, it can mean making your rides less enjoyable than they could be.

Wenmtuz

Mine is 28t , I've tried my friend hed carbon wheel for like 10k ride. It does help me alot on flat but when climb I don't feel any different with my old wheel. It does help me save around 0.8kg.

bruce19

If you are thinking of carbon wheels I'm assuming that will cost quite a bit. If this was my call I'd forget the CF wheels and go with 105 and Mavic Ksyrium Elite USTs. The Mavics will cost you less than $500 and that includes the tires.

Bah Humbug

I think the jump from Claris to R7000 is bigger than the jump from RS10s to whatever wheels you would get for the same price, and then you’d be on a modern 11-speed group. For wheels I’d want at least a good modern, wide rim, which aren’t the cheap ones.

Cypress

Can your current rear wheel support an 11-speed cassette? If I recall, the RS10 is an older wheel.

Princess_Allez

Upgrade both. They're both awesome

Wenmtuz

my current rear wheel do support 11sp cassette, and I think by changing groupset will help me save some weight too. And also the shifting will be more Smooth I think

celesteguy 

Those rs10's look good, and aren't super heavy. A lighter tire might go a long way on them.
I upgraded my first road bike right away, and I totally didnt need too. Just about any bike I get on is faster than I am. If the group you have is worn or sloppy feeling when tuned up, then I would say replace it just for a better riding experience, but for better performance/speed, it's more about the engine.

bpcyclist

In my personal opinion, 105 R7000 is currently the best value in groupsets among the major mfrs.

bruce19

I have 3 road bikes and 1 cross bike. The cross bike has 105, the others are 105, old Dura Ace and newer SRAM Red. The 105 on the cross bike is the best of the bunch.

Wenmtuz

which 105 is that r7000 or 5800

bruce19

I'm not sure. The bike is a Colnago World Cup CX that I bought new in 2016. The crank set is FSA and everything else is 105. I don't see any designation other than "Shimano 105."

Cypress

That'd be 5800, which I totally agree is one of the best-shifting systems to date. I have it on my Trek Boone 5 Disc. The front shifting is sublime. I only upgraded the RD to Ultegra so I could run a 32t cassette. It's carried me through some absolutely epic races and has never held me back in any way.

Kimmo 

If you had the crank, the easiest way (apart from recognizing the styling of it) is to look at the markings behind the pedal eye (you'd see FC-****). The next easiest spot to see is a rim brake's model number, again on the back. Same deal with derailers, on the back somewhere. Levers, under the hoods.

RiceAWay

I've been doing testing on the weight and aerodynamic advantage of bikes. I am using 3 bikes: A Colnago CLX 3.0 that with seat pack and water bottle weighs 20 lbs. The last year of the LeMond steel Zurich that ready to ride weighs 22 lbs and my 62 cm Basso Loto (last steel year) that weighs 24.5 lbs ready to go. On a 37 mile hill course with 3400 ft of climbing with grades between 6 and 12% The Colnago is perhaps a couple of minutes faster. - in 3 1/2 hours. Otherwise there is NO time difference.

On a flat 22-24 mile course I average about 14.25 mph on any of the bikes.

Now, I am 75 years old so I'm not very fast but one would think that would show a larger difference in weight and aerodynamics as well as the Basso has Vittoria Rubino Pro Endurance tires vs the Continental GP5000TLR's on the other two. If there was going to be a significant time difference this should have shown up.

What it proves to me is that unless you're a pro racer the minor differences awarded by all of the super modern bikes and all of their "improvements" are negligible for the average rider. You gain more time being 30 years younger then me than you do with the gigantic price differential in this bikes.

So, don't worry, be happy. If you WANT a new bike don't pretend that some so-called "test" on GCN proves diddy squat and simply buy it because you want to. I am riding with a guy that is riding classic bikes with downtube shifters and old Campy Super Record components, 36 spoke wheels and fenders and he can keep up with me and he is 2 years older than me. I am slow, no doubt but don't pretend to yourself that you're fast unless you're racing Cat 1 or better.

bruce19

Thank you. That is good to know. FWIW the brakes are discs.