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What to do with damaged bike?

pfcpfc Posts: 3
in General Chat
Hi,



I've taken the plunge and signed up for the stratford sprint tri next year and intend to do two/three more sprints before the end of the season. The bike element is where I have least experience so i've bought myself a cheap bike to get some miles in on over the winter with the view to trading up next year if needed.



Unfortunately I had a run in with a car a couple of days ago and have damaged the crankset, the rest of the bike is (almost!) unscratched but obviously unrideable. Is it worth taking this "opportunity" to upgrade the groupset from the Camapag Xenon 9 to a Shimano 105/Ultegra or Campag Centaur and hold on buying a new bike for another couple of years?



Any thoughts welcome! Cheers

Comments

  • loonytoonloonytoon Posts: 673
    Is it worth taking this "opportunity" to upgrade the groupset


    I'd say not...If you are thinking of upgrading the whole why spend £200/300 on a new groupset now when 30quid will have you back on the road?





  • rpopper65rpopper65 Posts: 171
    For what it's worth, I think that sometimes the opportunity to upgrade a component on a "cheap" bike adds a lot more longevity to that bike. As Lance is often quoted as saying, "It's not the bike, it's the biker." Maybe an extra £50-100 to go from a mid-range component to a higher-range component (especially something like the groupset, which you can "feel" quite a lot when you're riding and changing gears) will give you a better feeling on your training rides. If you have extra money to spare on it, then it might be well spent.



    I bought a second-hand Specialized Sirrus to use for training and fully intended to trade up after doing a few triathlons and making sure I was in it for the long-haul. That was 2.5 years and about 10 triathlons ago and I haven't traded up on that old Sirrus yet. I grew quite attached to it after all those hours of training and it's stood me well. I put a carbon front fork on it last Spring and the guys at the bike shop said I was crazy, that I should just take the plunge and buy a proper racing bike (the Sirrus is a hybrid with flat handlebars and v-type brakes, although it's a pretty darn skinny, light hybrid in my books). But, hey, I could swing £200 (also had to change the front brake) for a nice upgrade, but I couldn't swing for the full £700-800 for the sort of proper racing bike that would raise me up to the next level of lightness and speed.



    Of course, it depends on the base bike that you're talking about. If you've got a heavy frame (anything heavier than aluminum), then don't go for top-end components like the Ultegra, and stick with mid-range components that work well. What is the bike that you're working with (when someone on this forum says they got a "cheap bike" I don't know if they mean something that came in under £1,000 or what)?
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