Paint, wheels or group set?

Di2 for me is a huge plus. Perfect shifts every time, super consistent, no maintenance, no concerns with riding in poor conditions and gunking up cable housings, easier on the hands to click a button vs throwing a shifter, and doesn’t suffer from the problem where mechanical will disable a shift if you accidentally graze the downshift lever while trying to upshift. Also since there is no cable to stretch your chain will never rub nearby cogs and make noise, it’s truly a set it and forget it affair. I’ve had my di2 for 3 years and it had never, not once, missed a shift (except that time I forgot to charge it :rofl:)

I wouldn’t buy mechanical again

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Thats a really nice bike you got there! If I may ask, what do you expect from your 10spd to 11spd upgrade?
Asking because performance-wise that will not change much for you. To me, the bike you got there looks like the perfect crit racer. No need to put more money into it. I’d rather put that money into things like a training course on cornering or descending :slight_smile:

A new, very nice bike on the other hand for many years to come - I’m not gonna lie, that sounds great! One last thought thogh: looking at the shot of the bike you posted it seems to me that you are on the border for a great fit on this bike.
Choosing one with a stack even lower would result in even more spacers between headset and stem. And with this bike you already have it looks like there are already at least 30mm of spacers. You don’t really want to end up with even more spacers.

The reach on that bike looks fine for you though, also the long (12cm?) stem seems to match nicely.
If I were you, I’d look for a bike with 15-25mm more stack than the current one. And maybe the same reach or up to 5mm more reach (i.e., a 5-10mm longer horizontal top tube). In that case I’d opt for a stem with 1cm less. But that would really just be to correct the longer top tube in that case.*

*note that I’m assuming that the fit on your EASTWAY is the fit you are used to.

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Not sure why this would be a concern, even if they do get bought out they’re still going to exist as a business so it’s not like you’re going to be left without customer support or warranty. I think they’re a great option if your budget means you’re having to choose what to compromise on. Though they’re not known for their beautiful paint jobs so maybe not the best if that’s what your heart is set on!

Other than that I’d agree with others above, get the frame/colour that you love and upgrade the rest later. I actually think if your bike doesn’t come with nice race wheels then cheap alu wheels are the next best option as at least you can run them as a winter/beater/spare training set at some point, and know that they’re not worth much. Worst wheels in my opinion are mid range “meh” ones which aren’t nice enough to put a smile on your face but are still quite expensive. Ultegra mechanical is a lovely group set.

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It’s a good time to not buy a new bike. With covid19, supply chains having been disrupted, and the demand for bikes at an all time high, I’d hold out for more normal times if you aren’t desperate for a bike.

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I keep reading: “Pain, wheels or groupset”. I’m not sure if that is even a choice.

Bianchi is not good value for money.

HOWEVER

If you are considering a Bianchi and you really want a Bianchi, buy the Bianchi. If you buy something else for some reasonable reason, you will not have the Bianchi, but you will still want the Bianchi and eventually you will sell whatever you bought and buy the Bianchi anyway.

PS I had two Bianchis so far. :slight_smile:

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It sounds like you need to choose between frame (including paint), group set, or wheels. Of those 3, the group set and wheels will be the easiest and least expensive to upgrade should you be able to do so at a future date.

I’d look at the length of time you plan to keep it and ease of changing part X.

If it’s a longer term purchase get the frame you like, then choose the drivetrain, and finally wheels. Since painting a frame is a ballache but swapping wheels all of 30 mins including tyres.

If you get a new bike most years then a frame colour you’re not enamored with is okay and get the wheels/drivetrain you like more.

Thanks for all the responses! These are extremely useful in consideration.

So re my current bike, the spacers are there because I do have a neck issue caused by shoulder alignment after it was pinned and plated in 2010. But if I understand Reach and stack properly, the Bianchi is less aggressive, right? See here: Compare: Eastway Emitter R2 2016: 56cm -VS- Bianchi Oltre XR3 2018: 570 -VS- Overall the bars would be higher/closer to me than my current bike by a small amount.

Re 11 speed - Its not “11 speed” I want, I’m just thinking of an Ultegra groupset to refresh my 4yo bike and 10sp seems very difficult to source. My hub (Hope RS) will take an 11sp cassette so thats an easier path IMO. And actually I can’t count, my bike is 5800 11sp.

looking at the shot of the bike you posted it seems to me that you are on the border for a great fit on this bike.

I’m interested how you know this without seeing me on the bike, but other than my own neck issues, it does feel “right” to me. in all positions.

I have had a Bianchi before - a 2012 Sempre - and actually the chain stay snapped on that and becuase Bianchi messed me and the retailer (wiggle) about, Wiggle asked if I’d like to take the Eastway - with Cosine wheels not these carbons - in lieu of the frame warranty., which is how it arrived at my doorstep.

This is the actual bike: Get Your Wiggle On | Cycle, Run & Outdoor Shop | Wiggle

And finally, no crits, ever. I’m an MTB endurance racer 4-12hrs with a physiology away from raw power and having experienced the crash-fest of UK Cat 4 crits in the past its not for me. :blush:

The more this thread goes on its convincing me away from N+1. My bike is good, light and fast and the 105 works fine. Why do I need to spend north of £3k on a new one?

Thought about getting a custom paint job for your existing frame instead?

And if you have money burning a hole in your pocket, how about a di2 upgrade for your current bike? (You could even transfer that later to a new bike, if you still want one…)

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I’m currently in the n+1 dilemma, and funnily enough considering a Bianchi too.

I have reluctantly held off so far, on the grounds that there may be some hard times ahead (not that I have any immediate reason to believe my job is not secure) and if everything goes very wrong, 3.5k could come in handy.

That aside, I have Di2 on my current bike and like it, and if money was no issue would have it over Ultegra, but Ultegra is absolutely fine and I’d rather put the money into wheels.

I’m 98% sure my next groupset will be mechanical Campagnolo however. I’m not a fan of Etap; much as I love the ideas, I just don’t think it actually works that well.

You absolutely will see the difference in braking moving to disks.

Of the bikes you list, the Giant is the best value but I can see how it perhaps wouldn’t get the juices flowing.

Finally (and sorry for the long reply) can you actually get a canyon in the uk at the moment?

To be fair, you do have a point here. :wink:
My assumption was that you made the Eastway frame fit to your needs and set it up with the amount of spacers, saddle setback and stem length that would be appropriate for your size.

So, to phrase my statement slightly different: if your fit is dialled in properly on the eastway, then a “better fitting” frame would have to have more stack while remaining similar or slightly longer with respect to length (being saddle setback, horizontal top tube length + stem length. (sometimes this is referred to as more “reach”, but setback, horizontal top tube + stem length seems slightly more precise to me since it considers possible changes in seattube-angle as well) - thats a detail not considered when only looking at the distance to the bottom bracket.

From the geometry you listed it looks like the Oltre would indeed be slightly less aggressive. Did you consider the Oltre in 59 as well?

With the Oltre in size 59 you would end up with a slammed stem, maybe a 1cm shorter stem to compensate for the longer horizontal toptube.
The steering angle of the 59 is slightly less agressive, but still 73°, so thats proper racy and made to go fast. The Oltre in size 59 also seems to have a wheelbase of slightly above 1m.

Of course, I wouldn’t recommend you to buy this without giving it a testride. (Don’t forget to slam the stem in that case though, otherwise the 59 will likely feel like you’re riding a tank!)

But IF you made the eastway fit you perfectly and would love to have a frame that fits your settings without many spacers: the Oltre 59 could well be the way to go.

Well I made my choice. After some careful thought, I already have a decent, light, carbon, semi-aero, fast and modern road bike outside of the “generic catalogue” bracket. I’m not gaining anything but doubt/experimentation by changing bikes for its intended use (club runs and training rides).

So I’m keeping my bike. I’ve bought a replacement 11sp* cassette & chain to replace the worn ones and will carrying on loving this bike until the carbon rims wear out, then likely use that expensive replacement idealogy as a justification for moderation to discs. Thanks for the advice thats helped me come to this conclusion - that’ll be a couple of years at my usage levels. Its always lovely to have new shiny things, but this was an expense I couldn’t get comfortable with.

*I realised I have a 10sp cassette on the bike with the 11th indexed out because I used the wheels for a prior 10sp bike.

If you have 10 speed gears I don’t see how you can use an 11 speed cassette. The spacing is different (narrower).

I have 11 speed gears (105 5800). But currently have a 10sp cassette with a spacer out back.