upgrading

slownsteady

hi all,just looking for advice,im newish to cycling,and i dont have much knowledge of groupsets,etc.i have a ridley orion,that i like ,its carbon,but still a weighty bike in comparison to my other bike(a dolan ares)with sram groupset.i was wondering is it worth upgrading the cranks,groupset,on the ridley,it currently has 105 levers and rear derailluer,as for the rest id say its fairly cheapish gear,its abike i bought new for arounf 1450,i have dt swiss tricon wheels on it also,any opinions ?i suppose im just asking is it worth it?thank you in advance for any replys.

petethedrummer

It's not worth upgrading if it all works. If it doesn't all work then replace the necessary parts.

If the entire groupset is beyond saving then it might make financial sense to do an upgrade. Or a sideways grade or even a downgrade as the modern tiagra is about the equivalent of previous 105 versions.

slownsteady

thanks for the reply,it all works,you see its an xxs frame which i find a great fit,where as the dolan im slightly stretched on,but i find a noticable diff in the weight of the 2 when riding,and was just wondering if the ridley frame would be worth the hasstle and cost of course,thanks for your reply.

petethedrummer

You could try a shorter stem on the Dolan AND/OR move the saddle forward to reduce the stretch.

As for weights of groupsets, you could check the weights online, here for example are the 2015 weights.
http://www.thebikelane.com.au/2015/06/2015-road-groupset-weights/

You have to spend ALOT of money to save a few hundred grams on a groupset. I wouldn't worry to much about weight unless you are racing hilly races or riding in the Alps regulary.

According to this review the weight is in the frame...

The frame itself isn’t designed to be an ultra light race frame either – it’s built from the slightly lower grade 24 ton modulus carbon fibre (which usually requires more raw material to hit the required strength & stiffness). Put all this together and we have a bike that tips the scales at 19lbs in the XXS size. However, to mark the Orion down on weight alone would be unfair – the Orion is designed and specced to hit a price point, which it does admirably.
http://cycle-art.co.uk/reviews/ridley-orion-review/

sin_26

petethedrummer wrote: »

You could try a shorter stem on the Dolan AND/OR move the saddle forward to reduce the stretch

Its not good advoce to chsnge saddle fore/aft to change reach. This saddle adjustment is made to set proper offset to bottom bracket. If you want change reach play with stems. Longer shorter slammed or not. Try different angles etc.

To the OP
One from my first upgrades might be the wheels. It might change weight and defo change bike feeling.

If you using your bike for leisure dont change anything. Just spin and with every kilometer will be sure what you need to change first.

slownsteady

thank you both for the replys,very helpful

Cee-Jay-Cee

petethedrummer wrote: »

It's not worth upgrading if it all works. If it doesn't all work then replace the necessary parts.

If the entire groupset is beyond saving then it might make financial sense to do an upgrade. Or a sideways grade or even a downgrade as the modern tiagra is about the equivalent of previous 105 versions.

Having had a spin on a Tiagra 4700 bike recently and having owned 5700 105 bike, I can say the 4700 is a significant upgrade over 5700. FD action is light and slick compared to the horrible stuff clunky 5700 FD. 4700 brakes also appear crisper ( but that could be down to their newness) Rear shifting is fairly comparable between the two. I'd take 4700 any day over 5700