Felt F95 Road Bike - Upgrades or Upgrade?

[Brucey]

are you sure that there isn't any double accounting going on? (I'm thinking of the QR skewers here)

Also have you looked into lightweight cassettes?
Lightweight rim tapes?

Better (lightweight) tyres are doubly valuable because they will usually have a lower Crr and actually this is more important than any weight reduction. They are often more comfortable to ride on too.

I don't think the weight reduction that you are seeking is a very big deal in the grand scheme of things. There are other ways of going faster.

If you do buy new wheels I'd suggest retaining the old ones for training and/or to sell on with the bike if/when you upgrade.

cheers

[nathb]

Faster tyres make a huge difference to the bike definitely a worthwhile upgrade.

The rest I'm not convinced. By all means get some lightweight tubes at the same time as they cost bugger all.

Whether the other 362 grams is worth it depends on what you weigh and what you carry on the bike. I'd almost guarantee you could save more than that for nowt.

I want to lighten my bike a bit but I need to lighten myself by the weight of my bike first.

Yeah, I've switched from wire beaded 23c zaffiros to folding rubino pro 3's 25c, which have a much higher tpi so i'm hoping they roll much better.

Definitely getting some lighter tubes in there, but I'm not rushing to do anything else - was just intrigued is all

I went through a lightening stage last year, I'm 6ft tall and went from 90 odd kgs with a 36" waist to 70kg with a 32" waist in 8 months - couldn't be happier for it. Good luck with your loss!

are you sure that there isn't any double accounting going on? (I'm thinking of the QR skewers here)

Also have you looked into lightweight cassettes?
Lightweight rim tapes?

Better (lightweight) tyres are doubly valuable because they will usually have a lower Crr and actually this is more important than any weight reduction. They are often more comfortable to ride on too.

I don't think the weight reduction that you are seeking is a very big deal in the grand scheme of things. There are other ways of going faster.

If you do buy new wheels I'd suggest retaining the old ones for training and/or to sell on with the bike if/when you upgrade.

cheers

Current skewers weigh 122g, found some ti ones for £20 earlier that weigh 44g.

My current cassette is a sunrace 9 speed, which according to the manu weighs 280g. I found a Shimano Ultegra 6500 9 Speed Cassette that weighs 210g for £28. Not looked into rim tape etc.

I decided earlier on this thread (with the help of comments) that I wasn't going to upgrade the bike, bar the tyres, as it was pointless.

Tonight's calculations were just a geeky way of explaining how much I'd need to spend to lose a few g's off a bike, which other than the inner tubes seems a bit pointless.

Cheers.



One thing that does annoy me about the looks of the bike, is the chain rings, I really dislike them being silver! I may not be able to stop myself swapping them for black ones.

[reohn2]

I notice you have two bottle cages on the Felt,if you want to lighten the bike take one off,you'll have saved to weight of the cage,but more significantly you won't need to carry an extra 500g or 750g of liquid.
Use one bottle(preferably a 500ml one) and fill it up again when it's empty,saving you weight and money at the same time

[nathb]

I notice you have two bottle cages on the Felt,if you want to lighten the bike take one off,you'll have saved to weight of the cage,but more significantly you won't need to carry an extra 500g or 750g of liquid.
Use one bottle(preferably a 500ml one) and fill it up again when it's empty,saving you weight and money at the same time

I'm using two 750ml bottles, but only actually only go through circa 1.2l in my 3 1/2 hour cycle.

[mig]

the only quality you want from quick release skewers is that they hold the wheel securely.

[nathb]

As for the 'upgrades' completely unnecessary and will offer no increased 'performance',as Brucey says it's the 'engine' that make the thing go and it's there that improvements are made and the only upgrade to the bike that'll improve it are tyres,learn about tyre pressures to improve comfort and performance, here:- http://www.bikequarterly.com/images/TireDrop.pdf
Ride it,enjoy it.
Enter sportive's in the full knowledge that anyone with the same engine and ability as yourself,won't go any faster,change gear any quicker,corner any better on a bike costing £5k let alone £1k!

I've been using that article.

Me (70.5kg) + bike (10.3kg) = 80.8kg

I'm using 25c tyres.

Following the chart for "racing" bikes I've come up with:

Front: 32.3kg = 60psi
Rear: 48.5kg = 95psi

Didn't expect that!

[hondated]

I am not going to argue against all the advice you have already received as I agree with it all, but... and the but is you clearly really would like to upgrade so do it.

Start saving those pennies now and within a reasonable time you can have another nice shiny new bike in the shed or garage or indeed if its that expensive in the living room. Not sure my wife would agree to that either.

You can use your old bike for the Winter months so its got to make sense hasn't it !.

There are many of us on here that own more than two bikes so you wouldn't be alone.

You can never have enough bikes and my latest desire is to get at least a Colnago Master Frame and Forks to build another bike but at £2000 its going to take a bit of self discipline to get the money together.

I just don't have the heart to stop giving the grandchildren pocket money though !

[nathb]

I am not going to argue against all the advice you have already received as I agree with it all, but... and the but is you clearly really would like to upgrade so do it.

Start saving those pennies now and within a reasonable time you can have another nice shiny new bike in the shed or garage or indeed if its that expensive in the living room. Not sure my wife would agree to that either.

You can use your old bike for the Winter months so its got to make sense hasn't it !.

There are many of us on here that own more than two bikes so you wouldn't be alone.

You can never have enough bikes and my latest desire is to get at least a Colnago Master Frame and Forks to build another bike but at £2000 its going to take a bit of self discipline to get the money together.

I just don't have the heart to stop giving the grandchildren pocket money though !

It's too late for me, I've promised her indoors that I wont add to my collection of 3 bikes (2xmtb, 1xroad).

I have a feeling I need to wait until I've put a ring on her finger to get my own way bicycle wise. I'm struggling to quantify the amount of ££ I need to spend on a tiny metal thing, when I could buy a reallly nice bike.

Colnago Master Frame - that's retro! I really like the look of the Colnago V1R!!!

[reohn2]

I notice you have two bottle cages on the Felt,if you want to lighten the bike take one off,you'll have saved to weight of the cage,but more significantly you won't need to carry an extra 500g or 750g of liquid.
Use one bottle(preferably a 500ml one) and fill it up again when it's empty,saving you weight and money at the same time

I'm using two 750ml bottles, but only actually only go through circa 1.2l in my 3 1/2 hour cycle.

But I was being as serious as you are about the 'upgrades'

[reohn2]

I've been using that article.

Me (70.5kg) + bike (10.3kg) = 80.8kg

I'm using 25c tyres.

Following the chart for "racing" bikes I've come up with:

Front: 32.3kg = 60psi
Rear: 48.5kg = 95psi

Didn't expect that!

How are you finding the change?

[nathb]

I've been using that article.

Me (70.5kg) + bike (10.3kg) = 80.8kg

I'm using 25c tyres.

Following the chart for "racing" bikes I've come up with:

Front: 32.3kg = 60psi
Rear: 48.5kg = 95psi

Didn't expect that!

How are you finding the change?

I'd already set it all up by that point for today's ride. I'll try it out next weekend!

Feels odd ignoring the "inflate to minimum of 100 psi" on the tyres.

Definitely feel the improvement using the new tyres, even though I was battling 20mph winds.

[Thomas125]

Not sure if this has been mentioned or not. But a lot of things on your bike will naturally wear out with mileage.

Chain cassette even chainrings and eventually bb. I can only afford to run one bike so whenever something wears out I just try to get a better bit to replace it.

Its also a good carrot to get out there and put more miles on the bike.

[nathb]

Not sure if this has been mentioned or not. But a lot of things on your bike will naturally wear out with mileage.

Chain cassette even chainrings and eventually bb. I can only afford to run one bike so whenever something wears out I just try to get a better bit to replace it.

Its also a good carrot to get out there and put more miles on the bike.

Yes to this, the more miles I do the more upgrades I can purchase without feeling guilty

Bring on summer!!

[hondated]

I am not going to argue against all the advice you have already received as I agree with it all, but... and the but is you clearly really would like to upgrade so do it.

Start saving those pennies now and within a reasonable time you can have another nice shiny new bike in the shed or garage or indeed if its that expensive in the living room. Not sure my wife would agree to that either.

You can use your old bike for the Winter months so its got to make sense hasn't it !.

There are many of us on here that own more than two bikes so you wouldn't be alone.

You can never have enough bikes and my latest desire is to get at least a Colnago Master Frame and Forks to build another bike but at £2000 its going to take a bit of self discipline to get the money together.

I just don't have the heart to stop giving the grandchildren pocket money though !

It's too late for me, I've promised her indoors that I wont add to my collection of 3 bikes (2xmtb, 1xroad).

I have a feeling I need to wait until I've put a ring on her finger to get my own way bicycle wise. I'm struggling to quantify the amount of ££ I need to spend on a tiny metal thing, when I could buy a reallly nice bike.

Colnago Master Frame - that's retro! I really like the look of the Colnago V1R!!!

math fully understand now and also understand about spending money on a ring.
Its our 43rd anniversary next week and even buying a card seems a waste of money to me as its the price of an inner tube. With that attitude how has she stayed with me so long I don't know.
Yes I like that Colnago too but I only recently discovered you can still get the Master in the multi coloured they used in the 90s. Its also steel and ever since being a kid Colnago has been the bike I have always wanted. As each year passes I keep questioning whether I still need my motorbike because it could be my route to finally getting a Colnago.

[nathb]

math fully understand now and also understand about spending money on a ring.
Its our 43rd anniversary next week and even buying a card seems a waste of money to me as its the price of an inner tube. With that attitude how has she stayed with me so long I don't know.
Yes I like that Colnago too but I only recently discovered you can still get the Master in the multi coloured they used in the 90s. Its also steel and ever since being a kid Colnago has been the bike I have always wanted. As each year passes I keep questioning whether I still need my motorbike because it could be my route to finally getting a Colnago.

Haha, I ask the same question with my missus. For instance I took her to Michael Korrs to buy her a handbag for her birthday. I paid less for my Felt Road bike than a piece of leather!!

Ah go for it, if it's a childhood dream

I may have accidentally just purchased an Ultegra chainset