Observations after 300+ miles on the road bike

[Angelfishsolo]

Have you burned through those cups I sent down already? if so that was bloody fast. I keep reading complaints about short life on the HII style BBs, one of the reasons I'm going with square taper on the new build.

Those cups were for external Hollotech II BB'S which my bike should have come with. Instead it has crappy internal ones

 

[apollo179]

It's lighter, and it looks cool.

Gotcha - think id be better of upgrading my body for the time being.

 

[Rob3rt]

Whats the point of upgrading to a carbon seatpost ?

Lighter in some cases, arguably absorbs some road buzz (depends on the seat post how well it will dampen road buzz) which is a bonus on an aluminium frame and most importantly it often looks better!

My 1st upgrade on your bike angelsolofish would be some nice gel cork bar tape, it will help with your hands. You could also look at some of the gel systems to go under tape. Personally I think they are a bit of a rip off and I would make my own using the old bar tape. I recently tried this, I cut 4 strips from the tape I was removing, one for each of the drops, and one for each of the tops, stuck them on along the length of the bar where my hands rest then taped over it with the new tape, cant see where it is as I wrap tightly and its nice and comfy.

You will get many miles on that bike before needing to upgrade anything significant - tyre upgrades are always worthwhile from stock cheap tyres (better puncture resistance, better grip, lighter) but the actual wheel, wait until the wheels are borked then upgrade them. I had a close look at a viking on saturday (singlespeed only), looked like a bloody good bike for the money.

I can understand your concern re the brakes as no-one wants to be hurtling along at 40mph and then find the brakes dont work right, but maybe yours just need a bit of adjustment. Setup makes a lot of difference.

 

[Cheddar George]

Perhaps the most ideal upgrade will be Soft brake pads.

The Salmon Kool Stop pads are very good and will happily send you over the handlebars with a decent tyre up front.

The only upgrade on my Specialized road bike is the Kool stop brake pads. From memory they are the intermediate/medium compound ? but so much better than the lumps of hard black plastic that came with the bike.

 

[Rob3rt]

If the brakes are crappy, you should make sure that its not the brake calipers that are shoddy and flexy, if they are and you want to improve your brakes its a waste of money buying nicer brake pads. Nice brake pads in a flexy brake caliper will still be sh*t.

Crap blocks in a decent caliper > good blocks in a flexy caliper

 

[MacB]

Guys, I was only taking the mickey about the upgrades bit, don't be spending for him in advance

My real advice would be only to upgrade/replace as parts wear out.

 

[apollo179]

Guys, I was only taking the mickey about the upgrades bit, don't be spending for him in advance

My real advice would be only to upgrade/replace as parts wear out.

On consideration i agree with you Mac and Angelfish should have just bought a more expensive bike to begin with.

 

[Rob3rt]

Nothing wrong with the bike he bought.

 

[gaz]

On consideration i agree with you Mac and Angelfish should have just bought a more expensive bike to begin with.

If that was the bike he could afford then how could he buy a more expensive bike? He got a great bike for good money.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Lighter in some cases, arguably absorbs some road buzz (depends on the seat post how well it will dampen road buzz) which is a bonus on an aluminium frame and most importantly it often looks better!

My 1st upgrade on your bike angelsolofish would be some nice gel cork bar tape, it will help with your hands. You could also look at some of the gel systems to go under tape. Personally I think they are a bit of a rip off and I would make my own using the old bar tape. I recently tried this, I cut 4 strips from the tape I was removing, one for each of the drops, and one for each of the tops, stuck them on along the length of the bar where my hands rest then taped over it with the new tape, cant see where it is as I wrap tightly and its nice and comfy.

You will get many miles on that bike before needing to upgrade anything significant - tyre upgrades are always worthwhile from stock cheap tyres (better puncture resistance, better grip, lighter) but the actual wheel, wait until the wheels are borked then upgrade them. I had a close look at a viking on saturday (singlespeed only), looked like a bloody good bike for the money.

I can understand your concern re the brakes as no-one wants to be hurtling along at 40mph and then find the brakes dont work right, but maybe yours just need a bit of adjustment. Setup makes a lot of difference.

I like the idea of re-doing the bar tape. Thank you. The brakes have been tweaked but are just low grade (unbranded) ones. I have ordered some Kool Stops from the time being and will get a 2nd hand set of 105's at some point

Dave

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Guys, I was only taking the mickey about the upgrades bit, don't be spending for him in advance

My real advice would be only to upgrade/replace as parts wear out.

I know mate. I bought cheap expecting to upgrade a few bits. I was actually surprised with the overall quality TBH.

 

[Rob3rt]

The bar tape on your bike is most likely fine and doesnt need swapping, I only suggest it as you are finding it uncomfortable on longer rides, feeling the road buzz and bumps, its a cheap way to try make it a bit more bareable. The hood between thumb and index finger is something you will just have to get used to, different brands have different fits and textures, but at the end of the day perservere and you will get used to it. I found the shimano hoods made my hand sore at 1st.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

On consideration i agree with you Mac and Angelfish should have just bought a more expensive bike to begin with.

Er why. Please can you explain that statement? I had a budget of £350. I spent £200 as the only difference in bike for the extra would have been cheap STI shifters. I would rather have good quality ones than bottom of range. The SIS shifters on the bike are fool proof and can be swapped out (should they break) in minutes.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

If that was the bike he could afford then how could he buy a more expensive bike? He got a great bike for good money.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

The bar tape on your bike is most likely fine and doesnt need swapping, I only suggest it as you are finding it uncomfortable on longer rides, feeling the road buzz and bumps, its a cheap way to try make it a bit more bareable. The hood between thumb and index finger is something you will just have to get used to, different brands have different fits and textures, but at the end of the day perservere and you will get used to it.

I read a good post on some DIY padding using a gloss roller. Thinking of giving that a try

That bar tape is pretty basic and it has crossed my mind to re-do it already. That said it is not urgent