Originally Posted by
cyclezen
Given what you said, and what you first posted, I guess you've got the Buy Bike bug...
Yeah, I've got a bit of it because I showed up to some road cycling group rides and was the odd guy out with all the fancy schmancy carbon bikes and stuff. I tend to be the person who when they decide to go all-in on a hobby, I go all in once and get a good setup and leave it at that. So I figure it might be worth it to get a new bike... but only if I know that what I'm looking for, hence the thread so I can learn.
The rest of your post is really good info and is making me think about going beyond just groupset and frame and the importance of improving wheels. It's given me a lot to think about and more stuff to research. Thanks a bunch!
Originally Posted by
Ironfish653
There’s a little ‘trickle down’ effect among the Shimano road groups, but if you stick to mechanical, rim brake setups (no disk/Di-2) it’s a little less drastic.
A 10-sp 105 bike won’t be much different than an 5-year older 10-sp Ultegra bike, but for minor details; but I’d rather have a 2005 bike with 5700-series 105 than a brand new Sora bike. I’d also pick the 5700 bike over a 1990’s Dura-Ace bike (unless it’s a really exceptional frame set)
Also, until the big disk/Di-2 shift, road bikes hadn’t gone through a whole lot of changes in the way they’re laid out, so it’s relatively simple to take an 80s -90s “hero/halo” bike an bring it up to modern specs. Check out the “Retro Roadies” thread in C&V for more restomod / youngtimer builds
This is all interesting to learn and that's what I'm kinda thinking of as the mindset of upgrading. Find older stuff may not be super high tech, but is high quality and worth the time and effort to upgrade them. It make sense that the trickle-down of tech has been far more gradual since it's a mechanical system than electronics. Not that anything is wrong with my Tiagra, but it's interesting to know that there's a sweet spot where the older higher end materials are the better value. That's good to know.
I did this with my 1997 SoftRide build; brought up to ~2008 spec 10-sp 105. Some well timed buys put the total for the build just under $600; net was actually closer to $300, since I was able to resell the 105 donor bike an a bunch of accessories that came with it.
I saw one of those at the local triathlon last Saturday. Looks super cool and the guy who rode it swears by it. Tri bikes are such a different beast and a friend of mine is offering me an upgraded Quintana Roo PRThree in my size for a steal, but there is a part of me that knows it'll be much faster, lighter, etc. but it won't handle like my Defy, so it's learning the best use cases for either bike.