Road bike advice

eamonn4711

Hey all. I would be what would be considered a novice cyclist. I have a Felt z100 aluminum frame, carbon fork and it's a shimano sora groupset. I usually do a 2 hour cycle on Saturdays and an hour or 2 during the week. I am looking for some advice from you all.

1. Is it worth getting a carbon frame bike for what I'm doing?

2. Is it worth getting a bike with 105 or Ultegra either?

3. I'm 176cm tall and unsure if I should be 56cm frame. My current bike is 54cm.

07Lapierre

What’s wrong with your current bike?
If your current bike is a size 54 and fits, stick with it?

BTW getting a new bike is always a good idea!

iwillhtfu

eamonn4711 wrote: »

1. Is it worth getting a carbon frame bike for what I'm doing? - If you want carbon and can afford it go for it. Plenty of very good aluminium frames out there also.

2. Is it worth getting a bike with 105 or Ultegra either? Both very similar these days. If I saw a frame colour way I preferred but it only came with 105 it wouldn't be a deal breaker. Both at the same price point it'd be ultegra for no other reason that it being a higher level.

3. I'm 176cm tall and unsure if I should be 56cm frame. My current bike is 54cm. - I'd stick with a 54 I'm 179cm and have a mix of 54 & 56 frames. Try before you buy though if you can.

My 2c

billyhead

For the type of cycling your doing OP i.e duration and number of rides a week I wouldn't bother upgrading.

iwillhtfu

billyhead wrote: »

For the type of cycling your doing OP i.e duration and number of rides a week I wouldn't bother upgrading.

He's clearly broken, ignore him.

07Lapierre

billyhead wrote: »

For the type of cycling your doing OP i.e duration and number of rides a week I wouldn't bother upgrading.

Ah here! I know people who have Di2 and full carbon bikes who do less than the OP!

rolling boh

Kind of depends whether you really get the cycling bug and want to do more cycling its then an upgrade is worth it but you can get nearly all the benefits with a bike you have already have but if you have the money spare you will get the use of both bikes if you get the bug .A better bike comes in handy if you start going on longer spins and you will have your other one to fall back on even just for the wetter days etc .

Mr. Cats

If it will mean you ride more or you get more enjoyment from your rides out, I say go for it. I found moving from an alu frame on a one grand bike to a carbon frame that there was definitely an improvement in comfort over bad roads. It probably won’t make you much faster directly but if it motivates you to get out and use it more that will lead to you improving. I’d say.

eamonn4711

07Lapierre wrote: »

What’s wrong with your current bike?
If your current bike is a size 54 and fits, stick with it?

BTW getting a new bike is always a good idea!

There's probably nothing wrong with it. I got it online a couple of years ago for a steal and it has served me well but ideally of like to get out more and I have this idea in my head that a better bike will entice me to do more

eamonn4711

iwillhtfu wrote: »

My 2c

Thank you for that. Very helpful. What is the benefit of 105 & ultegra over sora? I previously had a carrera with claris and I found a huge difference moving to sora. Should I expect the same from 105 and ultegra?

What kind of money are you thinking of spending?

eamonn4711

rolling boh wrote: »

Kind of depends whether you really get the cycling bug and want to do more cycling its then an upgrade is worth it but you can get nearly all the benefits with a bike you have already have but if you have the money spare you will get the use of both bikes if you get the bug .A better bike comes in handy if you start going on longer spins and you will have your other one to fall back on even just for the wetter days etc .

Thank you. That's the idea I have in my head that the better bike will make me want to go out more. At the moment I'm wondering if upgrading to a bike with 105 or Ultegra alone is sufficient or should I be looking for carbon too

eamonn4711

Mr. Cats wrote: »

If it will mean you ride more or you get more enjoyment from your rides out, I say go for it. I found moving from an alu frame on a one grand bike to a carbon frame that there was definitely an improvement in comfort over bad roads. It probably won’t make you much faster directly but if it motivates you to get out and use it more that will lead to you improving. I’d say.

Brilliant. You read my mind. That's the idea I had in my head but didn't know if there was any point. My most recent cycle was 42k but I wondered if I had a better bike would I have done more

eamonn4711

[Deleted User] wrote: »

What kind of money are you thinking of spending?

I'm not sure tbh. I've been looking on adverts etc and there seem to be some decent bikes from 700 upwards

ED E

eamonn4711 wrote: »

...and it's a shimano sora groupset.

..

2. Is it worth getting a bike with 105 or Ultegra either?

IMO, yes, this is the reason I'd upgrade. Probably go for 105, the ROI drops as you go up the ladder.

07Lapierre

eamonn4711 wrote: »

There's probably nothing wrong with it. I got it online a couple of years ago for a steal and it has served me well but ideally of like to get out more and I have this idea in my head that a better bike will entice me to do more

A new bike will always motivate you to get out more. A full carbon bike is a good upgrade...go for it. Keep your old bike, stick mudguards on it and now your good to go for 12 months of the year!

Type 17

Sora has a 9-speed cassette, 105 and Ultegra have 11-speed cassettes.

More sprockets means that the individual gears can be closer together and still cover the same overall range, which is nicer (less of a jump when you change gear) - example: I have a hybrid with 9-speed, and a good road bike with 11-speed. I enjoyed the 'tight gearing but still big range' of the (11-34) 11-speed and found the 9-speed to have annoyingly big gaps between each gear, so I changed the 9-speed cassette from an 11-34 to an 11-28 and it improved matters somewhat, and the loss of range wasn't a problem as I usually use the hybrid for relatively flat social trips with my wife, but now I would find a 9-speed road bike annoying (either the flatter terrrain would be a problem with big gaps in the 11-34 cassette, or big hills would be a pain with the 11-28), so 11-speed is better than 9-speed, but you'll only appreciate it after a while, or with a back-to-back comparison.

105 vs. Ultegra (vs. Dura-Ace) - once you're using an 11-speed setup, the only real difference is that the materials get lighter and the price goes up. Dura-Ace is only for professionals who aren't paying for it, and for show-offs who want to boast that they bought the most expensive version (sorry!), Ultegra is worth buying if you want to pay for the cheapest version of Di2, but if you can't justify Di2, 105 is the best-selling of Shimano's road groupsets for a reason...

CantGetNoSleep

As someone who currently has too many bikes, I'd always recommend an upgrade, but I'd also first learn exactly what you want.

Maybe set yourself a goal for the year or end of the summer (e.g. a certain amount of km or time on the bike), if you make it, treat yourself to an upgrade.

While you are waiting, read a bit or look on YouTube about what you want - geometry & type of bike, frame material, groupset, wheels etc.

magicbastarder

as per the gearing mentioned by Type 17 - where do you live?
if you live at the foothills of the wicklow mountains, you may choose your gearing slightly differently than you would if you live in athlone, say. it's not a huge difference, but depending on where you live, you may want to make those different choices about the range of available gears.

rolling boh

It could depend on budget and with a big delay on a lot of new bikes a decent second hand could be the better option if one can be got so can be used this summer .

this.lad

I went from an 8spd Claris Defy 5 I have since 2013 and upgraded last august to a TCR Advanced Pro1
I haven't been off the bike since.

I have done up to 160km cycles on the old bike and was well able to get around and up hills etc.

The new bike is just a dream to ride handles so well and has given me more confidence on descents. I'm not sure if it's the bike or me but I definitely feel that I'm pushing harder and getting stronger every time I'm on it.

I was all on for doing the other up for winter but rose this one all through, I will get the winter bike ready for next year.

If you have the budget and think you're missing something, go for it.

rolling boh

The tcr advanced is a big upgrade not sure what the op budget is is the tcr north of 4k price range .

this.lad

rolling boh wrote: »

The tcr advanced is a big upgrade not sure what the op budget is is the tcr north of 4k price range .

Oh yeah I know all about it!

The point I was making was that the new bike with better components would be worth it.

Before I went for that I nearly bought a carbon bike with ultegra in decathlon, which followed from me nearly buying a 105 aluminium bike there, they were all upgraded on what I had and I'm sure I'd have noticed the difference in them all.

rolling boh

Would be better to know the budget range the op has in mind that would narrow down any ideas people might suggest.

eamonn4711

I would probably say my budget would be sub 1000. I live in south wexford so my cycling is pretty much all on flat roads. I would do 30-40 km for now usually but feel with a better bike I would easily do more.

harmless

eamonn4711 wrote: »

I would probably say my budget would be sub 1000. I live in south wexford so my cycling is pretty much all on flat roads. I would do 30-40 km for now usually but feel with a better bike I would easily do more.

At that price I think a good aluminum bike tops a cheap carbon one. But I've done 140km rides on a bike similar to what you already have.
I've always gone for 56cm frames and I'm 1.82

Maybe some new wheels?

rolling boh

You may have to look at second hand at that price if not aluminium would be better plenty of choice at would be described as entry level road bikes but Supply is still an issue with new bikes .I have a couple of cube bikes they do good bikes for a bit less than 1k .Also bear in mind you may need some money for bits and pieces as stock tyres on a lot of new bikes are poor and not very puncture proof .

eamonn4711

Is Tiagra much of an upgrade on Sora? I've seen a few cheap bikes with Tiagra. I've seen a few makes that I don't know about but look decent. Anybody know if Corratec, Sensa or Bhoss are any good?

iwillhtfu

eamonn4711 wrote: »

I would probably say my budget would be sub 1000. I live in south wexford so my cycling is pretty much all on flat roads. I would do 30-40 km for now usually but feel with a better bike I would easily do more.

Looks like a very nice bike gone up in the adverts section there. Might be worth an offer.

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=117056950#post117056950

*Edit - Seems to be taken down now it was a giant TCR advanced, white with dura ace 7900 for €1400. Might have been a tad to big at M/L

rolling boh

THAT GIANT LOOKS GOOD MUST BE WORTH NEAR THE ASKING PRICE THOUGH BUT DEFO WORTH CONSIDERING

magicbastarder

unfortunately that ad is no longer there, it fell foul of rule #1 of the cycling adverts charter.