New bike or new parts?

[lukey]

Hi Everyone

I own a Felt Z100 2010 bike and want to spend some money on it. I was originally thinking of buying some new wheels and a new groupset, but this is seeming to be quite expensive. I was looking at getting the Shimano RS80 wheelset (350-400) and an Ultegra groupset (600-700). Would I be better off looking at buying a new bike, maybe something second hand for this amount of money?
I would like to start racing and am interested in doing triathlon, although investing in a tri bike seems to be a big investment. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks
Luke

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

A couple of observations:

1) If you are interested in triathlon then eventually you may want to have aero bars, which will likely be utilising bar end shifters and not sti brifters. The implication is that an investment in a new groupset now will likely be partially wasted because the shifters usually represent a significant part of the groupset's cost.

2) If your groupset is functioning reasonably well and reliably, a new groupset's effect on performance improvement is going to be limited. However high quality wheels are expensive and in general has the most potential in making a real difference in performance. Further it is an investment you are likely to be able to move on to any future road bike - especially given even expensive bikes seldom come with top class wheels.

3) Quality secondhand gears can be great value if they can be acquired at a keen price (say 1/3rd of new). However they come with the inherent risks of reliability depending on condition and history etc. As such this option depends somewhat on your confidence in being able to do the right deal. Personally I would never buy any secondhand carbon bits that is critical to safety (and which includes most components of a bike).

 

[lukey]

A couple of observations:

1) If you are interested in triathlon then eventually you may want to have aero bars, which will likely be utilising bar end shifters and not sti brifters. The implication is that an investment in a new groupset now will likely be partially wasted because the shifters usually represent a significant part of the groupset's cost.

2) If your groupset is functioning reasonably well and reliably, a new groupset's effect on performance improvement is going to be limited. However high quality wheels are expensive and in general has the most potential in making a real difference in performance. Further it is an investment you are likely to be able to move on to any future road bike - especially given even expensive bikes seldom come with top class wheels.

3) Quality secondhand gears can be great value if they can be acquired at a keen price (say 1/3rd of new). However they come with the inherent risks of reliability depending on condition and history etc. As such this option depends somewhat on your confidence in being able to do the right deal. Personally I would never buy any secondhand carbon bits that is critical to safety (and which includes most components of a bike).

Thanks for the feedback RecordAceFromNew!
So I guess it's not a good idea to splash out a whole groupset if I'm going to want to change it later.
The current groupset is ok, not great though, it would be nice if it was smoother. I think I would have a Double instead of Triple, I don't use the smallest ring on the front, mostly just in the largest.
If it helps a component list I found on the web is:
Sora derailleurs, 2303 8-speed shifters; FSA Tempo triple crankset (52/42/30); Sunrace M50 cassette (12-28); Alex R500 rims.


I know that the current wheels are quite heavy, but I'm not too sure how much I should spend on a new set? Are the RS80s a good choice?


OK, 2nd hand gear seems to be a minefield then and since my knowledge isn't great, maybe its a good idea to stay away for now. Would it be ok to gradually upgrade gear on my current bike, instead of looking at investing in a new one? By this I mean, will the frame be significantly different in a more expensive bike, or can a lot of improvements be made from swapping out components?

 

[HJ]

In my experience you will probably end up spending about the same amount of money which ever way you do it. The one advantage to rebuilding with new parts is that you can build the bike to fit you (so long as the frame is the right size to start with)...

 

[lukey]

In my experience you will probably end up spending about the same amount of money which ever way you do it. The one advantage to rebuilding with new parts is that you can build the bike to fit you (so long as the frame is the right size to start with)...

That does seem like a big temptation, I wouldn't have a spare working bike left over necessarily, but I would have something that I specifically picked.
The frame is 54cm (I believe) and I'm just under 5'9", I think it's the right size, it dosen't feel too big or too small.

 

[MacB]

Due to high component and groupset prices you may be better off looking for a complete bike

 

[Noodley]

Due to high component and groupset prices you may be better off looking for a complete bike

Wouls agree with this, and would also say if you want to upgarde for most benefit then go for new wheels in first instance, make sure they are good...then when you get new bike swap the good wheels onto new bike and the invariably lower quality wheells from the new bike onto the old one....

 

[Yellow Fang]

When you say you are thinking of taking up racing and doing a tri, are you only thinking of only racing triathlons or are you thinking in taking part in cycle races and cyclosportifs too? If you were to start taking it seriously and join a club, there's a good chance you'll start hankering after some better kit. Your current bike sounds decent enough for winter training or commuting, but you'd probably want a better bike for racing on. If you're just thinking of competing in triathlons, then you'd probably want a tri bike, but if you're interested in pure cycle racing then you'd want a better road bike. Actually, most the serious triathletes I knew used to have about three or four bikes: a competition bike (which was often a tri bike), a training bike (which was usually a good road bike) and a mountain bike. They didn't tend to use winter trainers though; they'd usually use their best road bikes, even for winter out rides. It might be different in a pure cycling club.

The way a lot of people upgrade is to buy new wheels, then components (keeping the old ones) and then finally splash out on a new frame to do justice to them. Then you re-build your old bike as a training bike. If you have a 8-speed Sora triple chainset currently, once you join a club you might find these are what you want to change first.

 

[lukey]

When you say you are thinking of taking up racing and doing a tri, are you only thinking of only racing triathlons or are you thinking in taking part in cycle races and cyclosportifs too? If you were to start taking it seriously and join a club, there's a good chance you'll start hankering after some better kit. Your current bike sounds decent enough for winter training or commuting, but you'd probably want a better bike for racing on. If you're just thinking of competing in triathlons, then you'd probably want a tri bike, but if you're interested in pure cycle racing then you'd want a better road bike. Actually, most the serious triathletes I knew used to have about three or four bikes: a competition bike (which was often a tri bike), a training bike (which was usually a good road bike) and a mountain bike. They didn't tend to use winter trainers though; they'd usually use their best road bikes, even for winter out rides. It might be different in a pure cycling club.

The way a lot of people upgrade is to buy new wheels, then components (keeping the old ones) and then finally splash out on a new frame to do justice to them. Then you re-build your old bike as a training bike. If you have a 8-speed Sora triple chainset currently, once you join a club you might find these are what you want to change first.

Ok, so really I need to end up with (at least) 3 bikes in the long run if I plan to be serious. For now though I think I should invest in a pair of wheels for competition. This way I still have the option to go with either a new bike or replace component by component. Does anyone have suggestions? I picked the Shimano set based on cost combined with a groupset, so I can spend more if it is worth the investment. I am a student now though, so I cant spend loads of money, but I will be happy making a reasonable investment if it means I'll have something decent that is going to last me for a while.

Thanks everyone for your help so far!