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Break-even

OK, so I am currently working for £6.50 an hour and wondering whether a bike upgrade is necessary/worthwhile.



Currently riding a Felt F90 with clip on profile tri-bars - estimate the weight to be somewhere around 11kg, triple chainset, 8 gears - sora.



my options are - spend nothing - take a few days off here and there to squeeze in more training and spend nothing on bike



upgrade - a whole minefield here, am thinking first upgrade would be chainset/bb, probably want to accompany this with lever upgrade - 8 to 9 or 10 gear setup. Have tiagra rear mech so thinking tiagra chainset, casette, levers, front mech and chain. Probs about £150 to gain an extra gear and hopefully lose 500 grams or so.



New bike now - could use for last 2 races of season - know a mate who can get me a deal on fuji aloha 08 costing approx £750. Pros - lose 2kg, gain some aero advantage, keep old bike for training/commuting.

Cons - not sure about compact chainset, may have to change, will def have to nick brakes off old bike if 220 review anything to go by, only 9 gears. Lighter options available.



New bike later - wait for sales/save up for something really shiny, sell my soul and abandon any idea of a social life while I save.



Apologies for random stream of thought nature of this post but I am sure there are points on there everybody will have opinions on. I know there is a whole spectrum of people in triathlon from all the gear and no idea to rediculously fit individuals still pounding away on 10 year old steeds which do their best to destroy their times. ANd would like to avoid being either of these!



I do a 1'10" 40KM on a good day.

Comments

  • If money is tight (which it always nearly is!) then I would only upgrade if you have got to a point where your bike is holding you back. An Aero bike may improve your efficiency thus improving your run times. I think you need to decide how much are you willing to sacrifice for a few more positions up the results page.

    I currently have 1 bike for training and racing. I keep looking at an Aero bike for just racing, but it's a lot of money for something that is going to be ridden a few times a year. I'd still have one though! I think I'm going to try and save over the winter months and see how I feel next season before I buy anything.
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