donhaller 

I've owned my Giant TCR C1 since 2006. It has seen many centuries and great times over the years. I have not been able to justify its replacement because of the cost of a new bikes with similar components. Dura-Ace and Ultegra bikes are very pricey and for that matter, so are many 105 equipped bikes.
So, my question is... would you be more inclined to buy a new bike with 105 components or upgrade the older carbon bike with a nice set of new wheels. Currently the bike has the original Dura-Ace rear derailleur, Ultegra front, Dura-Ace BB, Dura-Ace rear Cassette and Ultegra brifters. Oh and the Ksyrium Elite wheel set that came on the bike back in 2006. I have inspected the frame and to my eye there is not any damage or stress cracks anywhere. Overall, its a real nice bike, but I love the newer bikes coming out with disc brakes and newer components.
I just don't know if its worth $3k or more to buy a whole new bike or just fix up my TCR.

Opinions?

Garfield Cat

Older bikes with older Dura Ace will be difficult to service if something happens. Check with your mechanic to see if parts can be purchased from Shimano for that older model Dura Ace.

What gets serviced? Its the right hand shifter, the black paddle. This gets the most usage and mechanics will tell you the inside workings of that unit have built in lubrication which gets hardened over time. Some mechanics will know what to do to "unfreeze" the paddle shifting, others will not. Even then the shifter will eventually get worn and parts will not be made available from Shimano.

Newer wheels have different shaped rims than from 10 years back. The new rims allow for what's considered better designs and also for 25 tires instead of 23 tires. This means the the older model frames may not be able to accommodate the newer rims. Meaning old frames are "too narrow" to accommodate the new Shimano brake calipers which in turn are now designed to accommodate the new wider rims.

Newer Shimano rear cassettes have more rings and the older one's less. Rear cassettes are available and eventually will begin to be out of stock, maybe gone forever. More gears means the chains will be designed for those clusters, thinner chains than say 12 years ago.

Migrate old Shimano to a new frame? Not a good idea when the old Shimano has seen its days. What's a new frameset without a new wheelset? Get both new. Might as well get a brand new bike.

topflightpro

I wouldn't bother upgrading or replacing if you're happy with it.

If you want to go to disc brakes or want an aero frame, then yes, buy a new bike. If you want to go to 11-speed, your current wheelset can handle it.

Dave Mayer

Well: in general, a top-end 2006 carbon bike will feature:

• 10-speed drivetrain
• rim brakes
• external cable routing
• If Shimano shifters: exposed shift cables coming out of the side of the shifter

Fast forward to now, here are the specs:

• 11 (soon to be 12 speed) drivetrain
• internal cable routing
• disc brakes
• Shift cables under the bar wrap.

So the discs will add 1-2 pounds of weight, due to the calipers, rotors, and extra frame and fork reinforcements. In terms of maintenance, unless you can do the work yourself, and you have the right kit, add $200 annual shop costs for pads and a bleed. For rim brakes, new pad inserts will run what? $20 per year? If you are undertaking big descents in the rain on your road bike loaded with camping gear, discs are useful. Make sure your new road bike has mounts for racks and fenders.

The internal routing is an inexplicable PITA development, but I guess it looks kewl. Brace yourself for a couple of hours of misery every time you decide to change shifters or break a cable.

11-speeds: Higher costs for chains and cassettes. Most 11-speed come with useless 11 and 12 tooth cogs, so have about the same number of useful gear options as the 8-speed era stuff. If your rear wheel freehub is not 11-speed compatible, practically, brace yourself for a new wheelset.

Shifters: the newer Shimano shifters with under-the-bar wrap routing suffer from tighter cable bends and resulting friction. All things being equal (new out of the box), the older shifters feature crisper shifting, and less maintenance hassles. Shifting does not get any better than Dura-Ace 7800 or 7700.

A bad development: the rear stay spacing on newer road frames is growing beyond 130mm, some to 135mm and beyond - in order to accommodate the proliferation of superfluous cassette cogs and disc rotors. Not good in terms of heel strike. Crank Q-factors have also been growing - not good in term of biomechanical efficiency.

Thru-axles: a time-wasting PITA, only necessary to prevent your wheel ejecting if you both have 1) discs and 2) don't know how to use a quick release. Invented by lawyers apparently. And marketers, in order to prevent you from using any of your old wheelsets.

One more thing: Pleeeze: no 1 x systems. On the road this is an idiotic concept, inappropriately ported over from the MTB world, to pander to newb road riders that don't know any better. Jeez.. front shifting is SOO hard!

MyTi

I was looking at a new bike with a 1x system actually. Seems attractive to me. There really isn’t much disadvantage for a newb rider or seasoned rider if they are not racing.

And to the op just depends if you want disc brakes or not. I personally want disc brakes and I do like thru axles. Disc brakes would be good in my area since there is so much fog in SF. More moisture and I would rather have disc brakes which is why I am getting another bike

alpine 318is

What about getting something in the mid 2010 range. Will be a significant upgrade but it won't break the bank.

JohnDThompson 

What benefits are you hoping to enjoy by replacing the bike?

FWIW, I still find my 40 year old TS Isaac custom bike to be my preferred ride for century rides and other extended rides.

noodle soup

Try again.

The weight difference is just under a pound, and the pads are about $35. Brakes don't usually need to be bled annually, unless you use SRAM/Avid brakes.

The difference between DA 7800 cranks, and DA 9000 cranks is 1.5mm. My road bike has 142mm dropout spacing, with DA 9000 cranks, and heel strike isn't a problem.

MyTi

OP could just get a new fork and run a disk in the front. Been thinking about that myself. New carbon disc fork much cheaper than a whole new bike.

mercator

I have a similar dilemma, 2004 with DA that is starting to show it's age. My main issue is the shifters are getting to their end of life, the rest of the bike is awesome.
Having shopped around, and previously gone through the upgrade cycle, I'm pretty sure that the best value is in the new bike.
Its up to you if 105 is acceptable, for my good bike I'm inclined to go DA, but there is a price for that.
On the upside, if you spring for the DA model you usually get the nice wheels, carbon cockpit, etc...
I like this one.

shelbyfv

Has something changed? Unless you need discs or more tire clearance, your frame will accept whatever upgrades you want to make. On the other hand, it's nice to have a spare bike or two.

Noctilux.95

I would upgrade your current TCR with Ultegra 8000 groupset ($700) and some lightweight aluminum clinchers like the DT Swiss PR1400 Dicut Oxic 21 clinchers (1450 grams) at $720 a pair. The current Ultegra blows aways older Dura Ace.

https://www.merlincycles.com/shimano...et-102895.html

https://www.merlincycles.com/en-us/d...ls-101032.html

SSRI

if the frame is still in good shape, a rebuild would be a great way to bring the entire ride up to date.

The Ksyrium wheels will take an eleven speed cassette. You wont have any problem mounting 11 speed cassettes up to 32T. (if you go 34T plus you will likely need a washer for the freehub)

The 7800/6600 are great but the new stuff shifts so much nicer. Jumping up 2 Generation of components (7900,9000 - 6700/6800) you will notice a vast improvement on the components. The convex front chainring greatly improves the shifting. The new housing and PTFE cables are amazingly smooth. Pretty much every aspect is nicer except the finish. ( I am totally partial to silver components).

Coming from DA/Ultegra dont if you can go down to R7000.

If a new bike is not in the budget, an update will be under well 1K....if you go R7000 or 5800 you can like go under 500.00.

The biggest down side about updating older frame is you might be stuck riding 23mm tires.

SCTinkering

Did exactly that on my 2003 Ti bike. Upgraded to Ultegra 6800 + wound up fork with mechanical disc up front. MASSIVE improvement. (also dropped the coin on a set of wheels with Chris King hubs.)

If your frame is in good shape, even upgrading to current 105 would be a pretty big improvement.