Road Bikes and Upgrades

[james]

       I have a road bike and I am looking to try to improve it. What improvements are most important to really make an upgrade on a stock road bike. I have heard wheels make a big difference.

I have a cannondale with an aluminum frame and front carbon fork. With tiagra/105 mixed components. Are there any upgrades any one would recommend?

Thanks,
James

[ALF]

throw the bike away and get something other than a cannondale!

JK! but not really.

wheels make a difference and so does the rear derailleur and crank w/ BB.
what is your budget and what do you want to gain from it; less wight, looks, added performance?

[james]

definitely not looks lol. Performance more than weight but weight would be nice. I was thinking to upgrading My handle bars to carbon fibre and my budget is around 200-250.

[Afton!]

Hey James! I will also step in on this conversation.

Carbon bars are good... but there are a lot of people that do not reccomend carbon road bars... You crash wrong once, they will break on you really easily.

I agree with trey on the rear d... you said you have tiagra/105 mix? What is your rear d? If its tiagra I would reccomend an upgrade to 105 for sure... a ceramic bottom bracket would also be a good upgrade.

Wheels do make a big difference, but they are expensive. A good set will run you around 700+. Having said that though, I did manage to get us a deal with HED wheels. If you look at their website, we will be putting in a team order in a month or so, and it will be 45% off retail price on wheels. So something to keep in mind on the wheel end. If you have any questions, let me know!

[ALF]

ya, having carbon bars is iffy. depending which ones you get they can be good but like Afton said, one crash you might be replacing a new set of bars. most road bars are aluminum with a carbon outer layer, i could be wrong... also, some have flex to them which you do not want. I am about to move back over the a aluminum bar because I cant stand the flex in mine.

get anything above 105, ie: ultegra or dura ace. you can pick up a used rear derailleur off ebay easy and cheap. make sure you get the right speed.

[Afton!]

ya, having carbon bars is iffy. depending which ones you get they can be good but like Afton said, one crash you might be replacing a new set of bars. most road bars are aluminum with a carbon outer layer, i could be wrong... also, some have flex to them which you do not want. I am about to move back over the a aluminum bar because I cant stand the flex in mine.

get anything above 105, ie: ultegra or dura ace. you can pick up a used rear derailleur off ebay easy and cheap. make sure you get the right speed.

Go with the rear D, dura ace or ultegra like trey said. Agreed.

Carbon bars are just iffy.