cycling
21. Juli, 21:31 Uhr
Hey all, I'm looking for opinions from the hive-mind to determine what the best upgrades to get for my bike would be. I'm currently riding a 2021 Trek Domane Al 2 Disc. I love my bike, it takes me to amazing places and I bought it in October of 2021, after I totalled my Dad's old bike and I got a bonus from my job. I would have preferred to get a slightly nicer build (Al 3) but my options were incredibly limited. So far I've put almost 4k miles on the bike, it's taken me through centuries, group rides, commutes, and a few triathlons, but I feel like I've kind of outgrown it skill wise. I am very attached to my bike though, so I'd like to make it the best possible bike that it can be (slowly over time I mean, because I don't have limitless money).
Most everything is still stock / I've replaced some excessively worn down components. What would you all upgrade?
finding bike stuff still seems to be like a massive pain though, but one day I'd like to upgrade the groupset (like tiagra/105 maybe?). The current 8 speed cassette feels limiting, I'd like a few more options on the higher end, and I'm tired of the constant mechanical brake adjustments. On the plus side, the bike is definitely geared for climbing, which I love to do. Next, Get race / event tires (I've heard 28C are a good size? I currently run 32 because that was stock and my roads are terrible). I just use gatorskins for my training rides because of the puncture protection (but I don't like how they feel on fast descents, and I don't like their traction in the wet). I also want to shorten the steerer tube a little bit because it feels too high currently. Maybe upgrade the wheels? But to my understanding new wheels get expensive quick. I dislike my old school aluminum bottle cages, maybe some plastic ones would look less dorky. Narrower handlebars and/or turning the hoods inwards sounds interesting as well. I'm generally a fan of cheating the wind and I'm incredibly flexible. Finally, maybe one day make the jump to nicer road shoes/pedals (I currently use the mtb style cleats and they're fine for now, but one day I want to use those for mtb/cyclocross, and have a dedicated performance pair for the road).