Originally Posted by tracerider

I am in the market for a new bike and have been eyeing the Giant FastRoad Advanced 2019. Would you advise getting the dealer to upgrade from the current Shimano 105 group to the Ultrega group?

Originally Posted by DowneasTTer

Well it’s time for a update. We have put a little over 1k miles since upgrading the CoMax’s. Must say it was one of the best decisions we have made bike wise that is. For less than half the cost of a new FastRoad we were able to replace most of the systems with better than OEM stuff. The drive train upgrade to the new Shimano Ultegra 8000 series was money well spent. But since then Shimano has introduced the new 105 7000 series that is very close with less $$. If we were doing the updating now I might go that way. Shifting is very smooth, much more so than our old 5300 105 setup. However, some of that is due to the wear and tear on the 105s. Cool factor …. a win.

We are thinking of upgrading the disc brakes and handle bars next. But, I’m not sure of the bang for my buck. Only time will tell.

Now on to the wheel set and tubeless setup. We were faced with either replacing all the spoke nibbles on the OEM wheetset or replacing the wheels anyway. The new wheel set is without a doubt the best $$ spend. The wheels that came of the bike were Giant\’s midrange set so not bad to begin with. However the replacement wheels make the bike come alive. It’s amazing the difference in acceleration and rolling even with my 69 year old tired engjne. They were true out of the box and remain so. It should be noted that I’m not a light weight at 210 lbs.

The tubeless experience has been a bumpy though;. This is the one upgrade I was looking forward to the most. You see 7 years ago I found out I have CHF (Congestive Heart Failure) and my current EF (Ejection Fraction) is only 25 -30. That coupled with being 69 means I don’t have a lot of strength available at any one time. Sure I can petal 10K miles/year. But, I really have a hard time fixing flats. Since purchasing these bikes I have found taking off tires and putting them back on is best left for my home workshop where I have the tools to help out. It’s not something I can do in field anymore. So the prospect of mot worrying about flats on ride was worth the price of admission. At about 300 miles I had my first leak. I didn’t even notice it when it happened only after I had stopped at an intersection I saw sealant on my front fork and realized what happened. Was able to ride the rest of the 25 miles back to the car without any problems. Plugged the tire and continue to use the tire. Since then I have had 3 other leaks which have only been discovered the next day before riding. Plugged them all and not had any more problems. After the first 1k Miles the tires appear to be wearing well and should be good for a couple more thousand before replacement.

About mid month someone nice citizen decide to throw a fluorescent light bulb off a bridge over the Withlacoochee trail near Inverness., FL. We were riding early in the morning and didn’t see it until after we had ridden through the broken glass. We stopped to check out the tires and couldn’t see any damage so we continued our ride. On the way back to the trailhead we rode through the glass again. This time about a mile from the bridge was a loud bang. The glass took out the side wall of my wife’s front tire. The damage was so severe that even if I had a tube it couldn’t be field repaired. It would have required a boot or a replacement tire.. So I can’t fault the tubeless tires itself.So in 2000 miles (1000 each) we have had to replace a tire and had 4 leaks requiring a plug. That’s a lot of attention to tire health IMHO. However, In 4 of the cases repair was not needed until I got the bike back to my home workshop and the repair didn’t even need to take a wheel off the bike. So I plan on keeping the tubeless setup.

I’ll update this thread as time goes on

Originally Posted by Juggy_Gales

My Toughroad Came stock with 700x50 tubeless tires.. I have filled them up tight.. but even though I can get it fast.. I feel that it doesn't roll as well as Id like it to..
So.. I may make the Wheel/tires the first thing I change before Upgrading the drivetrain.

Originally Posted by DowneasTTer

The wheel set change on our CoMax's were the best bang for the buck. And that was using a fairly inexpensive set from NashBar as listed above. However, by the time you buy a good wheetset you are into some series $$ as anything less than say $300 to $400 would put you into a set that is similar to ones you currently have. Good Luck. And we ride the Pinellas (sp) a few times a year. Great trail... lots of others think so too! Take the motorhome to Dunedin for riding/eating....

Originally Posted by Juggy_Gales

Id def pony up the $300-400 for the better wheels
would you recommend the tires you got for your Fastroad? Or would you recommend dif tires? Im def stayin tubeless..

Originally Posted by DowneasTTer

I continue to buy and use the Pro Ones. Down the road I might go to the Conti 5000 but the price needs to come down and they need to be on the market long enough for some "real" reviews. Until then I can't any reason to change. In fact I have 6 ready to install on the RoadLites as soon as the OEM ones wear out (2 each for the bike and 1 spare). Note that my wife's XS RoadLite uses 650b wheels.

Originally Posted by Juggy_Gales

im mostly on roads anyway.. I just want a great rolling tubeless tire with a solid wheelset that is better than the Giant OEM.. the wheels you bought for your Fastroad match my toughroad's colors well. It seems that the Ultegra parts you bought were not much more than what I was going to buy.. 11speed ultegra..
You mentioned that the new 105 crank is almost as good as the Ultegra. Who knows.. maybe I will go 11speed ultegra 2X

Originally Posted by DowneasTTer

Be advised that the cost of the drive train is going to be more as Shimano is preventing any of the UK discount bike sellers (Chain Reaction and the rest) from selling to US customers. That means you will need to purchase them stateside at a higher cost. The new policy started with the new year. The reviews on the new 105 series is quite positive and function is the same a the Ultegra series. The only difference is a few grams so that would save a few pennies. I really like the wheetset but wondering about Bike NashBar's future. Good Luck