New bike or stick with what I have?

D13exile

I bought my Trek Domane 6 years ago (can’t believe it’s that long since I got it!) under the bike to work scheme. I bought the best I could afford at the time which was a full carbon frame with a Tiagra groupset. I’ve since put better wheels on it but apart from that, and with regular servicing, it’s essentially the same bike I bought. I cycle 4-5 days a week averaging between 30km-80km each day. So the bike had gotten plenty of use over the years. I look after it well, clean it each week including a full degrease and fresh oil on the chain etc.

So after that long intro, would it be time to upgrade to a newer model? Would I see any new and real useful benefits such as a lighter frame, better groupset, perhaps disc brakes etc without spending a fortune? I love cycling but I do it for pleasure not for racing. Saying that I average 30kph+ on my spins and so a bit of performance would be nice, but on an endurance geometry frame.

I’m in a muddle whether to stick with my Domane or go for a newer model using the bike to work scheme again. My budget would be €2,000 to €3,000 with the btw Grant included. If I do buy new, I’d want a lighter bike (not that my a Domane is heavy) and better groupset. Not sure about the benefit of disc brakes yet though.

Luxman

D13exile wrote: »

I bought my Trek Domane 6 years ago (can’t believe it’s that long since I got it!) under the bike to work scheme. I bought the best I could afford at the time which was a full carbon frame with a Tiagra groupset. I’ve since put better wheels on it but apart from that, and with regular servicing, it’s essentially the same bike I bought. I cycle 4-5 days a week averaging between 30km-80km each day. So the bike had gotten plenty of use over the years. I look after it well, clean it each week including a full degrease and fresh oil on the chain etc.

So after that long intro, would it be time to upgrade to a newer model? Would I see any new and real useful benefits such as a lighter frame, better groupset, perhaps disc brakes etc without spending a fortune? I love cycling but I do it for pleasure not for racing. Saying that I average 30kph+ on my spins and so a bit of performance would be nice, but on an endurance geometry frame.

I’m in a muddle whether to stick with my Domane or go for a newer model using the bike to work scheme again. My budget would be €2,000 to €3,000 with the btw Grant included. If I do buy new, I’d want a lighter bike (not that my a Domane is heavy) and better groupset. Not sure about the benefit of disc brakes yet though.

https://touch.boards.ie/thread/post/114122125
Very recent (similar) thread. To summarise -new bikeðŸ™႒

07Lapierre

New bike.... now.. what was the question?

a148pro

Ordinarily I'd say no, because its in effect bad for the environment to get a new bike if you don't really need one and the difference between a functioning decent bike and a good one is small for most people and is a lot of marketing b'loks

However, you are cycling a lot, and very fast if averaging over 30 kph. So you are one of the people likely to get the most out of a better bike. A difference of a kilo in a better bike will be very noticeable and you'll get more of a kick out of better groupset.

The only problem is where you stop then. You won't get to Ultegra at that price I don't think, unless you go second hand or got an end of season bargain. Is 105 going to float your boat enough?

Maybe weigh your existing bike and see what a new one would come in at as that will give you something solid to judge the potential improvement by

coddlesangers

What Trek Carbon frame is on the Domane? Mine is from 2016, has OLCV 500 and isospeed front and rear - I'd guess yours is the generation before and does not. I personally would think it would be a worthwhile project to upgrade the bike if the frame is in good shape, which I'd imagine it is. You won't see a big weight saving with a newer bike with disc as the disc based bike is likely to be heavier all other things remaining the same than your rim based bike.

magicbastarder

a148pro wrote: »

You won't get to Ultegra at that price I don't think, unless you go second hand or got an end of season bargain.

For two to three grand I would expect ultegra, I would have thought?

cletus

Flip a coin. Heads you get a new bike, tails you stick with the old one.

If it comes up tails and you feel like flipping again, get a new bike

a148pro

magicbastarder wrote: »

For two to three grand I would expect ultegra, I would have thought?

So would I but I did a quick search for a Domane last night and one with 105 came up in that neck of the woods:eek:

Maybe that's Covid shortage premium

https://www.theedge-sports.com/cycling-c18/bikes-c19/road-bikes-c20/trek-domane-sl-5-2020-p27503/s153800?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=trek-domane-sl-5-2020-red-54-colour-red-size-54-colour-red-size-54-585489&utm_campaign=product%2Blisting%2Bads&cid=EUR&gclid=Cj0KCQjwvIT5BRCqARIsAAwwD-SE4yyjLnaYhrrvOXdE72bO6IGqfxgAPDmB6Av5oRfa0PojdIeHfu8aAgrbEALw_wcB

€3,800 Ultegra:

https://www.theedge-sports.com/cycling-c18/bikes-c19/road-bikes-c20/trek-domane-sl-6-2020-p26470/s148788?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=trek-domane-sl-6-2020-red-56cm-colour-red-size-56-colour-red-size-56-585550&utm_campaign=product%2Blisting%2Bads&cid=EUR&gclid=Cj0KCQjwvIT5BRCqARIsAAwwD-SGAWxdvw1ZaqgzBUM9xmz2JHFNUnVcm8hAXDVFLl2eMNBBf96ef-4aAhkzEALw_wcB

magicbastarder

A defy advanced with ultegra is 2.5k.

Tony04

Are you racing?

dahat

magicbastarder wrote: »

A defy advanced with ultegra is 2.5k.

That's extremely good value for someone not racing.

new2tri19

It's nice to have a new bike if you want one buy one. But I don't think upgrades like groupset and lighter frame ~1kg lighter frame are going to make a huge difference to speed. I remember watching a video comparing a 1k bike to a 7k bike and the difference wasn't that great. The biggest difference is wheels if you spent that kinda money on top spec wheels like zipp or something I'd imagine you would get a much greater difference.

cletus

new2tri19 wrote: »

It's nice to have a new bike if you want one buy one. But I don't think upgrades like groupset and lighter frame ~1kg lighter frame are going to make a huge difference to speed. I remember watching a video comparing a 1k bike to a 7k bike and the difference wasn't that great. The biggest difference is wheels if you spent that kinda money on top spec wheels like zipp or something I'd imagine you would get a much greater difference.

Think GCN did a video showing that lighter wheel don't actually make all that much difference.

*edit* here you go

new2tri19

cletus wrote: »

Think GCN did a video showing that lighter wheel don't actually make all that much difference.

*edit* here you go

Hmmmm.....
This GCN video showed a huge difference

cletus

Interesting, I'll have a look at your video. The guy in the first video was pretty convincing

cletus

So, it seems that your video is a comparison of a set of aero wheels against a standard set of aluminium wheels.

The video I posted suggested that aero was much more important than weight

new2tri19

cletus wrote: »

So, it seems that your video is a comparison of a set of aero wheels against a standard set of aluminium wheels.

The video I posted suggested that aero was much more important than weight

Yep thats why I suggested he get something like zipp, I never mentioned lightweight in fairness.

cletus

new2tri19 wrote: »

Yep thats why I suggested he get something like zipp, I never mentioned lightweight in fairness.

Apologies, I assumed you were giving the "lighter wheel" advice that often gets posted

Weepsie

new2tri19 wrote: »

Yep thats why I suggested he get something like zipp, I never mentioned lightweight in fairness.

Getting the wheels you suggested would be complete overkill unless your going for tts and tri though. Not saying zipps are overkill, but not 80mm ones are

new2tri19

Weepsie wrote: »

Getting the wheels you suggested would be complete overkill unless your going for tts and tri though. Not saying zipps are overkill, but not 80mm ones are

You could similarly argue gettng a 3-4 grand bike is overkill, each to there own just giving an alternative opinion.

Weepsie

I wouldn't trust a lot of people to be able to handle their bike properly with such deep rims to be hinest,. You'd want to be fairly confident in crosswinds which are not exactly uncommon.

That's just my 2c.

I agree with upgrading wheels, but zondas and the like are enough of an upgrade on most stock wheels to make a big difference. Then you can take into account tyres, pressures,. Rim wim
dth and geometry.

If you're not racing, those wheels are going to make cycling less enjoyable imo as they'll be an absolute slog in lots of conditions we have here.

new2tri19

Agreed I have 60mm wheels and they are horrible in cross winds, I have a TT bike with deep wheels a Giant Propel with ultegra and deep wheels and a Giant Defy aluminium with 105's and zondas. There is a power meter on all 3 bikes . The zonda's feel great on the Defy , it's my commuter and almost feel guilty using the zondas for commuting.

I used to only have the Defy and have aero bars on it , I ran zondas on the Propel before I got the deep wheels. I was expecting the carbon Propel to be much quicker than the Defy but it wasn't on 1 hour TT's there was almost zero difference between the defy and propel. Power numbers where the same roughly. I was dissapointed with the upgrade as I expected to be much faster. It wasn't till I bought a set of deep rims that I started noticing a difference in speed. Generally they are grand unless wind is significant or you pass a junction and get hit by a gust which is a horrible feeling. My opinion with the aero wheels is once your up to speed its easier to maintain it.
Now I took my propel wth aero wheels up a local climb and I suspect looking at my power numbers that the defy with zondas would be quicker or the quickest combo whould/should be Propel and zonda.

Sorry for my waffle. Basically I don't think you will get a huge speed advantage with a new bike coming from a good bike already. I would buy 1 or 2 sets of wheels and use the aero wheels in low winds and the zondas etc for day to day.

MojoMaker

Death by analysis - welcome to triathlon.