First of all - that bike, especially with the new tires, is going to be great as-is. You really can’t do much to make it faster. The biggest issue with your setup would be the somewhat large gear jumps with the 11-32 cassette on 8-sp. My wife’s bike has those same brakes, which are excellent by anyone’s standard, and similar 9sp group - it’s great.
At your bikes pricepoint, it might be a lot cheaper just to get a new bike if you want an 11sp or 12sp bike. OEM pricing on bits is makes the price of the frame irrelevant, but if you look around you can find OEM groupsets for sale Groupsets | Sram, Shimano & Campagnolo | Merlin Cycles or find a donor bike… but rather than upgrade, try to sell the bike and buy new.
Spending money for Ultegra won’t be a revelation Sora, Tiagra, 105, Ultegra, GRX, and DuraAce are all great. Same with DI2 - good cables eliminate the desirability of DI2, I prefer my SRAM cable setup to my electronic. I usually recable all my bikes when I first get them (Jagwire Elite ultra slick cable FTW). If you’re running 2x on the road, 12sp really doesn’t make any sense at all, so save some money and just get 11sp - you’re really only adding a 10t little cog to the cassette, which is basically useless. Seriously… save some $$$ on 105 if you’re going this route - the only difference is weight and its only a few grams. Get 105 and a better seatpost and bars.
Note: I was just looking at Trek’s pricing; the AL2 spec is a SCREAMING deal compared to the AL5 (105) spec. If you’re making changes, I’d try selling the bike as-is and get a Canyon Endurance AL 8 105 for $1800 or Grail 7 if you want something more flexible.
It is useful, thanks @Mikeferguson1980. Once I get into the 11-speed world then more possibilities open up; just changing out the BB in the Claris case triggers everything else needing to be changed for example.
Edit - not exactly true. The RS200 crank uses the square UN300 but the R2000 crank uses the newer and more common RS501 BB. So inter-series updates won’t require everything else needing to go; I didn’t know this before today.
I ran the Rover on the trainer but using a MTB didn’t make sense due to the geometry being different. Train on what you will be riding on.
I’m a massive tinkerer when it comes to my bikes but perhaps this is being overthought(?).
Fitness, group riding skills, not dropping youself by pulling big turns on the front, etc. will get you around a group ride, not the absolute optimal cadence.
A good rider on reasonable terrain can stick with a fast group ride on a fixed gear bike.
Go on some group rides first (if not already) and then see how you feel about the bike.
To be perfectly honest, maybe I just don’t have enough road time to see what doesn’t work to need changing. Perhaps I’m caught up with too much armchair time vs saddle time, I’ll take the hit on that one.
The Claris HG-50 has the following steps, it would be trivial just to change cassette for “ride of the day” (road/climbs, etc)
11-13-15-17-19-21-24-28T (bf)
11-13-15-17-20-23-26-30T (an)
11-13-15-18-21-24-28-32T (aw) – what I have equivalent now with the 50/34 crankset
11-13-15-18-21-24-28-34T (Ca)
12-13-14-15-17-19-21-23T (U)
12-13-15-17-19-21-23-25T (W)
13-14-15-17-19-21-23-26T (V)
My AL2 has the old gen 2400 parts mixed with the newer R2000 ones. Maybe suttle changes within that Series might be good enough. I never thought the Tektro C550 were that bad either and mech disc have to sit between Rim and Hyd Disc anyway, right?
I wouldn’t recommend changing out the cassette too often -the lockring isn’t durable enough usually to take that many changes. The 8/9sp cassettes might be better, but the 10-12sp lockrings are light duty. On some hubs the freehub is easier to remove and replace, so I leave my cassettes on the freehubs and just swap. It looks like those Hunts have treaded endcaps and pawls, so it’s probably better just to pick a cassette and live with it. 50/34 - 11-28 is pretty good for most occasions, trading a low gear for an extra gear around your cruising speed. Bicycle Gear Calculator
I think a nice alloy frame with a good fork can be a better set up than an entry level carbon frame. Lots of people want a CF frame but the lower tier frames are usually heavier than a good alloy frame, just not as many alloy options out there.
@Topcat5 my experience with upgrading components is that can end up costing more than I initially expected. But 11 speed is really good, had great cross compatibility, and might be available at a good deal now that 12 speed is out there. retail pricing on group sets versus OEM pricing is silly.
Realistically, even the entry level group sets work better than bike used to not that long ago. I don’t think your current set up will prevent you for having a good time on group rides. Wheels, tires, and contact points will be the most noticeable changes and are all easy to swap over to a new bike or set up if you decide to upgrade in the future. I say ride the heck out of your bike, enjoy it, and upgrade on down the road.
OK thanks for all the comments. I’ve decided I’m going to stay with what I bought last summer and run it until parts need replacing. I printed out the “build sheet” and Trek did a pretty good job of spec’ing parts on this bike. Just got caught up in the spec charts and what people usually post online.
I’ll keep the money towards incremental improvements such as better brake pads, maybe a zero degree seatpost which my fitter suggested, an HG50 cassette (10-30) and maybe a power meter. All of these will benefit me both on TrainerRoad and outside once it warms up.
Stop buying, collecting, obsessing, and consuming. None of it will make you appreciably faster especially a groupset.
Find one of those online calculators and model out how much faster you’ll be on your favorite hill by saving 500 grams on your bike. It’s a pathetic amount of time savings. One time I modeled out how much time I’d save by losing 10 pounds and it was a small amount of seconds.
It’s nice to have nice things and nice bikes but just know why you want them and what they will really do for you.
Believe me, I’ve went down the path of upgrading every part on a bike only to end up wanting a new frame after all the parts were upgraded. None of it made me faster.
Yes, it would cost more, but in this situation, I think upgrading is still cost-effective.
I think you are pushing the analogy too far. In this situation, you wouldn’t get
I’m just saying that buying a used high-spec bike comes with risks, too. You don’t know the condition they are in and what parts need replacing. And when you need to replace parts, you might have to pay DuraAce, XTR or Red prices for them. Some parts (e. g. at least one of the bikes had a 10-speed drivetrain) might become scarce in the future. Moreover, I have always had my LBS go over a used bike before using it. Last time the owner of my LBS immediately spotted that I had ruined a carbon handlebar by overtightening the bolts (technically, I was completely within spec and used a quality torque wrench to tighten the bolts, but still, shirt happend).
Like I wrote, I think this is a sensible suggestion and worth considering. In fact, I did that last year, and am overall very happy. But it is not always the better option or always a no-brainer.
Are you? I think that price tag is a bit exaggerated. However, I take your point that just like with getting a used bike, the cost isn’t just the retail value of the groupset.
I agree with this sentiment. However, in this case, we are not talking about going from 10 to 11 speeds or 11 to 12, but 8 to 11. That’s very significant and will change how the bike feels and rides.
Maybe a bit? 1000-1200 for the groupset, $80-100/hr labor to strip the old bike down to the frame, run new cables and set it all up. Id be willing to bet thats gonna run 400 in labor. I guess 2k is on the high side, but its still a pretty penny.
Yes they have a lot on sale, but 42 items for UK currency and only 17 for US currency which removed all of the Shimano options when I changed that dropdown. I think the trick is to leave the search in UK, find the product then change the currency.
Still for a rim or mechanical disc setup it’s a great deal at 55% off or $306 US w/free shipping…tempting.
Hydro option right next to it for £449.99 or $535 but I question if outside of UK can get that price/availability.
I’ll throw in a couple of opinions for you. I would go 105-7000 11-spd, rim brake. It will be around around for a long time so it should “future-proof” as they are still selling 8,9,10 spd stuff so 11-spd isn’t dead yet. 105-70xx works great, reasonably light, not all that expensive.
I did say rim-brake because I absolutely hate the 105 hydraulics. Some might not care, but for me even when properly set up, I find them mushy and the brake lever stroke drives me insane and there is no adjustment. I would go rim brake levers with hybrid calipers (TRP HY/RDs or JUIN Techs). They are every bit as good as the hydraulics and way simpler to maintain.
If it were me (and they shipped Shimano to Canada) I would grab the rim brake groupset deal from Chainreaction, sell the 105 calipers and buy some hybrid calipers.
The other advantage of going to at least 105 (or Rival) would be for adding a power meter. There was another thread here in TR that spoke of when building up a frameset to be at least at 105.
