Chain Reaction

[threebikesmcginty]

Maybe on your Elite,mine is Tiagra cassette,bb is <£12 for a straight swap,like the idea of 105 crankset though.

Want a 12-25 105 one potsy?

 

[potsy]

Want a 12-25 105 one potsy?

Maybe,new or used? 9speed?

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Maybe,new or used? 9speed?

It's a 10 speed, just over a year old - you can have it if it's any good to you.

 

[potsy]

It's a 10 speed, just over a year old - you can have it if it's any good to you.

Mine's a 9 speed 3bm,don't think it would work.Thanks for the offer though.
I'm only looking to upgrade parts as the originals wear out really,rather than replace working parts with better,brakes are a different story as I now intend to commute on it over winter where possible.
If the only difference in cassettes is weight then I'll probably go for another Tiagra,as this one has worked flawlessly since new,and they can be had for <£20

 

[HJ]

I have used CRC quite a lot just recently and have found them to be cheap and reliable...

 

[MacB]

Ahh, I see. I think I'm too heavy for a carbon frame so maybe it will suffice! If only Spesh could have put nicer decals on them

Sounds like a candidate for a steel roadbike, or maybe a cross bike, quite a few threads on that recently. I have a suspicion, totally baseless, that many of those proclaiming alu frames to be fine are of the lighter variety of humanity. To be fair I've also noticed a difference since going back to bigger tyres as well.

 

[Sittingduck]

Yeah, I have considered a steel frame in the past. Alu has been ok for me so far and it's more about the fit and shape of the frame, in particular the length of top tube and head tube. Food for thought nonetheless...

 

[MacB]

Yeah, I have considered a steel frame in the past. Alu has been ok for me so far and it's more about the fit and shape of the frame, in particular the length of top tube and head tube. Food for thought nonetheless...

Well looking at the Spesh range they certainly seem to have some road bikes with far longer headtubes than other makes. I quite like the look of the roubaix range.

 

[PpPete]

Higher up the range you are probably OK, but I'm "not a fan" of the wheel quality on the basic Secteur. Details in other threads that I can't be bothered to repeat or even link to..... but others on here have not reported similar problems so maybe just a one-off.

Very nice looking bikes though...

 

[Sittingduck]

Geometry on the Secteur is apparently the same as the Robaix frames.
MacB - have a look at the Trek Pilot also - looks comnfy to me but not too sure about Treks...

I have also read about the wheels not being that great but this is the case with many off the peg bikes. A set of handbuilts on 36 hole hub/rim is probably where I will be doing an immediate upgrade, if I get a new bike.

 

[ianrauk]

Geometry on the Secteur is apparently the same as the Robaix frames.
MacB - have a look at the Trek Pilot also - looks comnfy to me but not too sure about Treks...

I have also read about the wheels not being that great but this is the case with many off the peg bikes. A set of handbuilts on 36 hole hub/rim is probably where I will be doing an immediate upgrade, if I get a new bike.

This is correct and one of the reasons I bought the Secteur Elite as a commute bike knowing it had the same geometry as my Roubaix. However the difference in comfort between carbon and aluminium is like chalk and cheese. The Alu took a lot of getting used to and to be honest I probably won't go down the Alu route again. Steel or Titanium for my next commute bike.

I have just had to change the wheels on my Secteur after near 7000 commuting miles in all weathers. The front wheel was bent out of shape a month after I got the bike, was trued and stayed true ever since. My commute has a lot of stop/start so the brakes just ate up the rims.

 

[MacB]

Geometry on the Secteur is apparently the same as the Robaix frames.
MacB - have a look at the Trek Pilot also - looks comnfy to me but not too sure about Treks...

I have also read about the wheels not being that great but this is the case with many off the peg bikes. A set of handbuilts on 36 hole hub/rim is probably where I will be doing an immediate upgrade, if I get a new bike.

Oh I've already made up my mind on the direction I'm going, see my thread on road bikes with disc brakes

At the moment my shopping list is:-

bullhorns, aero levers, crosstops and cantis for the Surly, it's already been redone to accept the 3 speed Sturmey Archer or my new SS/Fixed wheel(not yet tried), I'm also awaiting the new SA DT shifter

On One Pompetamine F&F in white, Avid BB7 disc brakes, stem, seatpost clamp and bars all from On One then a new front wheel from Spa with a SON28 dyno hub, Edelux front light and B&M rear rack mount light - about £800 in total and then will combine with the 9 speed hub gear wheel, drivetrain, etc for my new super commuter

then we get to the weekend bike and there's two schools of thought:-
realistic - Burls titanium frame, Kinesis carbon disc forks, Avid BB7's again and some nice wheels and other stuff to make a fairly lightweight disc brake roadie, 9 speed Ultegra.

dreamtime - two more bikes, a top notch steel F&F with disc tabs in bright(and I mean bright) green, Rohloff red disc hub, SON20R red front disc hub, Mavic A317 disc all black rims, black spokes, red nipples, red stem, red seatpost clamp - second bike would be an Independant Fabrications XS F&F which is a carbon frame with titanium lugs, the hubs, stems, nipples etc in mid green, lugs in same green, again disc brakes and possibly SRAM Red as the running gear

I think the dreamtime stuff will remain dreamtime but the other stuff is going to happen - regardless of how much a bikes feel is to do with design you won't find any alu in my wish list mate.

If you want a good run around then I reckon you could do a lot worse than the Pompetamine Versa Pro for about £1k - 8 gears are plenty for London - then you can start dreaming about the weekend ride

 

[Sittingduck]

That's one helluvu list MacB

 

[MacB]

That's one helluvu list MacB

ah it's not so scary, it only gets silly when I start playing around with the 'dreamtime' specs, then we get to serious dosh - a cool £10k should cover those two bikes

the realistic stuff isn't so bad, about £800 to complete the Pomp but that does include £400 on dynamos and lighting. No more than £150 to complete the Surly. The Burls titanium frame, carbon forks disc/derailler build comes in around the £3k mark with top level kit, could probably get that down to about £2.5k.

Then I'll have all that nice stuff to sell that I've spent so much on - based on my last foray into the classifieds on cycling forums I should see a return of about 20% of my initial outlay I'll probably switch the Giant back to flat bars and one of the boys can use it, it's worth far more than I'd ever manage to sell it for.

 

[Sittingduck]

Damnit MacB you have me interested in steel frames now
I have been browsing various frame builder's sites over the past few days. Looking like anything from £330 upto XXX.

Also had a look at my neighbours Surly Pacer this evening. Quite nice and lighter than I was expecting. That would be at the bottom end (have seen them for 330 online) and a realistic budget. Bob Jackson Audax or Road frames seem to be about 400 and look interseting. Most of the others I have seen (so far) are quoting much more for their fine wares.


To be Continued....