New Bike - Is it worth Spending Loads?

You are paying for the Brand name with most. Cube have a nice Ultegra at circa €2200 and if I was in the market I would go for that. I run Ultegra on both bikes but usually use 105 cassettes and chains due to the price difference but the extra weight doesnt change the fact its a harder wearing cassette.

You could buy a new Cube with 105 and then spend the money saved off a Trek on a set of handbuilt disc wheels.

What about changing to a gravel or CX bike to give you a different option for cycling as either one of those would let you mount panniers and do some bike packing.

I have a similar spec bike to yours (carbon, 105 etc...). I might be open to correction here but my understanding is that 105 is mechanically the same a Ultegra - the difference being some parts are carbon on Ultegra. When my drivetrain wears out I think I'll just replace like for like - a few hundred grams saving pales into insignificance compared to the heavy lump that I am. When my BTW came up last year I decided on a hardtail MTB, turned out to be a good call particularly over winter. I found it complementary to the road cycling as my club has a pretty active off-road crew.

Why are Cubes so much better value? Is it really just the name?

My two main bikes are a Cannondale Synapse 105 disc which cost me 1199€ in 2018, and a Giant TCR Ultegra Di2 disc which cost me 4000€ in the middle of the first lockdown before bike sales went crazy. Both were good deals and you wouldn't get them for that price now, especially the Synapse.

The TCR feels a bit more nimble, it's maybe a kilo lighter, has slightly more aero wheels, and Di2 is a nice to have, but at the end of the day I can keep up with the same club groups as easily on either, and if I was ever short of money I'd sell the TCR and it would maybe impact my enjoyment of cycling 5-10%.

I'd go for whatever geometry you feel most comfortable with (endurance, race, aero) and whatever bike looks nice at a good price with a minimum 105 groupset. Maybe keep some budget for a wheelset upgrade depending on what comes stock.

Only thing to watch is weight - some of the new disc road bikes are pushing 10kg (and I'm not talking about the cheapest bikes)

I simply cannot reconcile myself with the current market. Prices are gone crazy and modern expensive bikes are unacceptably heavy. So unfortunately, spending "loads" doesn't necessarily get you the performance or top end componentry you would have expected in the recent past.

My money is wholly on the 2nd hand market. The window is closing for picking up an absolute top end previous-gen, pre-disk brake, peak-bicycle. Cos the next gen of sub 6.5kg bikes are gonna cost you 15 grand+.

glad i bought my Di2 cannondale synapse early 2020 great bike but not sure i would have bought it at 1k+ more ! that replaced an 11 year old focus, its a serious setup up from the entry level focus

just picked up and 9 year old full suspension mtb a couple of months ago for 500 which for the amount i use a mtb was perfect, needed some new bits but its a hoot to ride ! (that replaced a knackered 25 year old orange !) and it only has 26 inch wheels , 9 speed bits are relatively cheap as well 😁

I switched from my first bike with Sora to a new bike with 105 - massive difference.

Careful is right!

See the new sram rival axs groupset is 3.5 kg in weight???!! My ten year old SRAM red is 1650g. - Is that progress?

If it were me I'd go for the frame you like the best over the components. If you keep the bike as long as your older one you will probably end up changing most of them anyway. Frame is the key for me, one that fits.

Fatbloke, I think your being a bit generous with your weight of your SRAM red vs the new rival. I'd guess the rival includes chain, hoses, cassette, BB. It's still an anchor of a groupset and not one I'd go near myself, but I can't ever say I've seen a full (including BB, chain, cassette, cables) red groupset coming in at that weight!

My answers to some of your questions based on my experience.

1- Is it worth spending loads? No, it is not worthy.

2- Is the aero bike going to make me go faster? Not significantly. The biggest object in the bike is your body. Get in a more aero position which you can sustain and keep your power and you will def go faster.

3- Are wheels important? Yes, this is where my money would go if I were you.

I think the basis are:

• Light enough carbon frame (old frames seem to be lighter as someone else mentioned)
• Ultegra/105 groupset (not much difference in those two since shimano introduced 5800/6800)
• Good/decent carbon wheels
• Keep the bike clean and well maintained

I prefer a mechanical groupset and rim brakes but that is just my preference.

I personally think but bike industry in order to keep selling bikes has gone for fancy unnecessary stuff like di2 etc.......but most of these things do not make any significant performance differences. Unless you are a pro and need those extra marginal gains! :-)

I bought a Canyon Ultimate SLX last year, got it in the outlet section down from 7k - 6k, I lost so much sleep over it once I hit the purchase button, now I'm thinking it was a savage bargain. 6.5kg SRAM Red etap, powermeter and 50mm DT Swiss, a lot of bike. Raced it all season and absolutely loved it, she'll be turned in for hibernation soon and will be dearly missed

I'm not blown away by electronic shifting, I don't see any advantage over mechanical Ultegra. Love everything else

I deffo benfited from the lightness on Hill TTs and felt like (cause who knows) I benefited from the wheels in sprint finishes

So is worth spending loads?

Yes, if you're going to use it a lot and get excited walking out to the shed

Well your link above actually puts sram red 22 ar 1741g, mine is the second gen 10 speed, which was lighter. When everyone else went 11 speed, sram stayed at 10 and just seriously shredded the weight.

I'd argue I'm exactly comparing like with like. It's groupset v groupset. In its day that sram red was packaged on bikes costing 3 to 5 thousand euro. Here's a list of some of the bikes being built up with that rival axs groupset for next year, all costing between 4 and 7 thousand pounds sterling. There's one thing sure, if you value your bike in grams then there's absolutely fantastic value on the horizon! :D

https://road.cc/content/tech-news/17-bikes-equipped-sram-rival-etap-axs-groupsets-282555

On di2, I always think of it as an unnecessary luxury that I would recommend. I don’t think it aids performance, it has a little bit easier maintenance (no cable changing, indexing is simple) but the main thing for me is it just feels a bit nicer. So unnecessary? Yes. Recommended? Also yes if you have the budget.