Upgrade groupset to Ultegra 6800 and Fulcrum Racing 3's or change bike?

[shortone]

Firstly me and my bike.

38 years young. 154 pounds / 11 Stone. 5 foot 5 inches short.

My bike is a Merida Lite 93 2013 alloy frame and carbon forks with Tiagra Groupset and Alexrims on Tiagra Hubs. Deda stem. SMP selle saddle.

Road riding for pleasure. Several mid week rides of anything fro 25 to 45 miles.
Sunday morning ride anything from 50 to 75 miles.
Charity events around 100 miles several time a year.

My goals are 50% fitness 50% all round improved cycling ability. So far this year I have lost 35 pound in weight.
I find the rear wheel has too much flex in it. When putting the power down in short sharp burst the wheel flexes and will rub on the brakes on the left hand side.

I'm currently looking at upgrading after crimbo to the 11 speed Ultegra 6800 full groupset for approx £600 and a wheelset of Fulcrum Racing 3 wheels for approx £350.

I'm in a position where I have my frame set up just the way I want it, Saddle, Height, Reach, I can ride for as long as I want/can and for as many days as I want without any pains or aches, so changing would put me back at square one again. My good lady has 105's on her Trek SLX and are a lot smoother in operation to the Tiagra, so I would like to upgrade to the best I can afford. I will have £1k for upgrades or bike but from my observations a full Ultegra bike with half decent wheels is going to cost a lot more than £1k.

So am I being foolish in upgrading? Will it not be money well spent?
Should I continue to save for another year and get a new bike at the end of next year and just put up with the wheel flex and Tiagra Groupset?
I understand everyone has different needs and wants but would like a general consensus.

Andy

 

[smokeysmoo]

You seem to like your Mrs's 105 so why go for Ultegra? (there's no noticeable difference between them in the real world, not IME anyway).

I'm sure you could get a full bike with 105 for around £1k.

I don't have any examples sorry, but I know others will have.

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

If the frame is comfortable and does what you need. I would upgrade as quality component's can always be moved from one bike to another

 

[shortone]

Ultegra, Only because if I can upgrade I would upgrade as much as I can afford.

If the frame is comfortable and does what you need. I would upgrade as quality component's can always be moved from one bike to another

I was also thinking along these lines. Nothing stopping me from finding a nice carbon fame that suits me as well as the merida.

 

[tigger]

Is this your only road bike? If so, you are clearly hooked and you state your goals are year round riding so you do need a second bike. If that's the case, I'd keep the Merida as it is for your winter/old faithful and invest up to £1,500 on a new higher specced bike.

I know your reservations about changing frames when they are set up just right, but, if you buy something with similar geometry and are adept with a tape measure, plumb line and spirit level it really is dead easy to set any new bike up with pretty much the same position, you may just need to change stems that's all. It takes 30 mins and maybe one persons help and that's it.

 

[Cyclist33]

i would sod the ultegra gruppo and blow a lot more on the wheelset, but mainly coz i love the look of the more expensive wheels!

 

[jayonabike]

I'd go for down the 2nd bike route and use the your existing bike as your winter bike.

 

[the_mikey]

Hmm, I vote new bike..

 

[HLaB]

Most bank for buck IMO would be new wheels, however IMO after a certain point (value they offer decreasing returns) and its only a bling factor. FWIW I've never been tempted to change my 105 bike for Ultegra (but I did want to change my Sora to Tiagra). Being sensible I'd say spend most of your money on new wheels but the other part of me says n+1

 

[musa]

Buy a second bike tbh Ive got the 10 and 11 speed ultegra not much apart from the extra gear but for that sort of money save a it more and get something up