Hi. I have a mid range carbon road bike fitted with Tiagra groupset (non disk) and basic Shimano wheels. I have a budget of £1000 (maybe £1100) and I was thinking of upgrading the groupset to Ultegra and upgrading the wheels to Mavic Kysirium.
Would this generally be considered a worth while use of my funds? My next question is, is it acceptable or a complete no-no to ask an LBS to strip the Tiagra off and refit the new Ultegra groupset? To get the groupset and wheels in at around £1000, I'd have to shop around on the internet for my purchases.
I don't feel very comfortable asking an LBS to do this but I feel less comfortable swapping the parts over myself. Hence the reality check as to the feasibility of my intentions.
If what I'm considering is not worth £1000 - being that the improvement is not worth the money and/or asking a shop to fit my internet purchased parts is a huge faux par, I'll forget the whole idea.
You can only ask, and they can only give you a price, If I wasn't confident, I'd have no issues asking one of the many shops round here to do it for me.
I think Madison were making an effort to support price matching, so I'd give your LBS a chance to quote. There is no harm in pricing up things online and saying can you come close? If your not happy fitting they will sort that and may also give you guidance on tuning etc if you ask.
Most of the group sets we fit at work are purchased mail order by the customer as we can’t get even close to the prices at the moment.
Don’t feel bad about asking , if the shop has a poor attitude just find another.
We have found some internet group sets only come with gear inner cables and none of the others so you may need to pay for a few little bits on top. Just check first
If you went to Evans they might price match the online stuff if you’ve got good prices from the likes of CRC - then fotnit no problem.
Or find a bike shop happy to just charge labour and fit parts as mentioned above. Some of the smaller bike shops seem more set to that kind of model anyway for higher end parts. I’d imagine it’ll cost a decent whack to fit and adjust the group set and wheels - a good few hours work.
Obviously they’d be quicker than me but I’d allow for at least 3-4 hours by the time they fitted inner tubes and tyres as well as stripped the old kit off and then you’ll need new bar tape wrapped and cables routed etc. If internal routing that can be a right fiddle etc.
So as the others have said, go in to some shops and ask. Some might not want to take it on, other will give you the workshop price. Some places will fit for free if you buy so I don't know how that would cost out. Given you can pick up ultegra stuff at 50% rrp occasionally I'd say they'd not get that close.
I'll give you my 2p though. Is it going to be worth it? Tiagra works, ultegra feels a little bit nicer but the main difference is weight and bling. You might get most of the weight savings simply changing the cracks and cassette. A bit more performance in braking from new calipers but I find good pads (koolstop salmon) to make as big a difference.
Wheels and nice tyres would probably make a difference (depending on where you are starting from). Having played around with various wheels over the years (deep section, carbon, aluminium, shimano ultegra) I've ended up with a set of aluminium prime wheels for CRC/wiggle. Without going carbon they are as light as you'll get for sensible money and not going carbon. They've proven tough an reliable (2 seasons road racing). They were <£300.
What are you hoping to get out of the upgrades? If it were my money I'd keep riding what I had and save up so when the bike reaches the end of its life you can get something nicer next time.
Some lbs won't price match as such but will fit for free, mine does anyway. That way it costs you similar but you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
I'd buy the new r7000 105 groupset to save yourself a chunk of cash. Then spend the extra on wheels. You'll not notice much difference between ultegra and 105 and it'll save you about £200.
Fair points on the upgrade hing - better wheels will probably make more difference than the tiagra to Ultegra change. Is tiagra 19 or 11 speed?
105 very similar to ultegra - I needed to change mech from short cage 105 to something longer for a lower feared cassette. I spent ages looking at the differences and picked a 105 r7000 rear mech in the end to save on cash. Very little difference in weight.
Maybe go for 105 level sti’s / keep your existing front mech / 105 level cassette and if you want the bling stick on an Ultegra rear mech (not that you’ll notice any functional difference). Hem go bigger on wheels.
Hunt make some wheels that according to their listed weights are lighter than the Mavics for an equivalent price (unless you find a bargain higher spec Mavic in a sale) so might be worth a look.
We would no problem, it's why we have labour prices and a re build price.
And it's far nicer for us to be able to fit brand new Shimano and new wheels than it is to fit some used tat from Ebay.
So no problem at all. And it's correct Maddison were doing some very good groupset deals, I've bought and fitted a few.
It's what LBS's are for.
What are you hoping to get out of the upgrades? If it were my money I’d keep riding what I had and save up so when the bike reaches the end of its life you can get something nicer next time.
I'd take the same approach.
As a workshop manager of course we'd happy quote you to fit it. Lots of customers bring in stuff for us to fit.
For us it's nice to work on some bling rather than rusty Apollos and it saves me having to order all the parts outwith our stock order.
Whether or not it's worth it though - only you can decide!
Groupset will not be a huge improvement. Is it 10 speed Tiara with external cables? New Ultegra is nice but so is 105 now. Very nice in fact. You can’t go wrong with Mavic ksyriums but budget another £100 for decent tubes and tyres.
Then just ask for a quote and do it. Any good LBS will be very happy to fit. I’ve had them do no more than finish my internal FD cable, fit old 6600 to a frame and lots of other fiddly stuff. Fitting a Rotor SRM power meter is the next job, I can’t be fussed with the BB standards.
I'd probably buy just wheels and tyres or save for a new bike, this is an expensive way to upgrade without much tangible benefit.
Not much more would get you a new bike with 105/Ultegra and decent wheels, inc. disc brakes if you like. I'd save the faff, maybe save a bit more, get a new bike and relegate the old one to winter/pub bike.
Thank you all for your thoughts. All very interesting perspectives. It's 10 speed Tiagra. It's not often I have £1000 handed to me to spend on my hobby and I suppose I just wanted my bike to feel a little more 'special'. My mountain bike is just as I'd like it, so no thoughts of spending there.
I'm heartened that it is reasonable to ask a shop to fit my parts but.... you've all got me thinking... . I could maybe get some wheels and buy a single speed road bike and start commuting! It's pan flat and only 6 miles each way.
I think I may have had my head turned by keeping the perfectly functional 10 speed Tiagra on my bike, buy some wheels and a single speed.
Any recommendations for a road legal single speed road bike for around the £500 to £600 price point?
Something from State Cycles for half that.
Why do you even need a single speed for that - just commute on your shiny new road bike? You could sell your current one for a few hundred quo’s and put that money with your £1000 and go bargain hunting.
Last year I found a Cannondale Caad12 105 disc for £1100 in a sale. With a few hundred quid more you could either go bling carbon with rim brakes or alu with Ultegra in a sale.
Whilst not a bling brand there was a Boardman road bike with a carbon frame and a hydraulic disc groupset for about £1300 when I was looking. The Cannondale sale price was what swayed me that way - plus I’ve always loved Cannondales and the brand did help in the decision.
Saying that I did have a Boardman rim braked team carbon road bike before and that was very nice and lighter than the caad.
I’d question if it was worth adding the groupset.
18 months ago I was looking to upgrade my Giant Defy advanced which was a 2010 model. I ended up getting a Cannondale Supersix Ultegra for £1250 in the sales.
If you were to sell your current bike and add the £1000 you may benefit not just from a group set but different geo, a better frame and everything else.
All very good points other than, I very much like my current bike and I don't very much enjoy selling a bike and buying another, particularly if it's like for like ie. sell a road bike to buy a road bike.
I'm really warming to buying some new wheels and a single speed bike for my commute for around £500 each although I'm struggling to find something around this price with drop bars and corresponding brake levers.
my LBS was recently advertising that they'd fit any parts purchased from them for free.. so definitely worth pricing up options.
As others have suggested - the latest 105 is so good you've got very little to gain by going any higher.
I'd agree with the suggestions of looking at a new bike - if you could get £300-£400 for yours + £1k you're into discounted £2k bike territory... many of which will come with 105 or even an Ultegra rear mech.
