It does sound like your “Full sus mountai bike” has a hard life. To be fair, I don’t think you can compare a summer bike that is looked after with a mountain bike that clearly has a hard life and works in quite a different environment.
For my omega, road bike, well the wheels are still fine, so I transferred them to a steel framed bike that I built up recently. The cassettes are all decent, because I use waxed chains and regular cleaning. Still had original 6600 front and rear mech and shifters. I transferred all across to my winter bike, and wben though I have upgraded that to R7000, they are still good and useful. I did have a bit of play in teh headset but that was a £20 replacement.
I did this for my mom because I had very specific wants for her to give her a comfortable, smooth, safe ride that she would love. I was able to get the frame on a discount, so it didn’t hurt the pocketbook too much.
I love the feedback. I’m still at a loss but feel after 11 years tech has moved forward enough to justify the cost. albeit, the current costs are ludicrous. maybe I won’t notice the difference in a tremendous way but I just feel it’s time.
I live in a pretty flat part of the country. I’m thinking aero road bike, need some comfort as roads are trash, and Ultegra 12sp Di2. I prefer quality to cost cutting within reason. I have been eyeing the time scylon frame and doing my own build, maybe some win space hyper wheels. alternatively the new Giant propel is crazy light for an aerobike and has me thinking that’s the way to go.
lets here some feedback on what you would do if you were dropping $5-8k on an aero road bike setup today?
Moving up to 28mm tires (or even 30’s) might alone be worth the upgrade if your roads are rough. Add in going tubeless so you can run lower pressure while still reducing the risk of pinch flats on potholes and the comfort even goes up further. (I made a similar upgrade last summer and went from absolutely dreading some stretches of road I had to ride on to no longer giving them much of a thought).
Disc brakes and Di2 are not necessary, especially in the flat lands but they both provide noticeable improvements in several areas. Marginal performance gains get all the attention, but one overlooked benefit is that hydraulic disc brakes require much less lever pressure and it is nice to be able to slow down or stop fast with one or two fingers. Push button shifting is also easy on the hands. If you keep this bike for 10 years, your future arthritic old man hands will thank you
Folks that bought high end bikes during lockdown and aren’t riding anymore are selling. So a 2020 model at a very nice discount. Only thing is one must be a savvy shopper.
Not what you’re looking for but, I’d buy the smallest frame with the longest head tube to reduce stack; must have carbon one piece integrated bar/stem; must have 50mm or deeper wheels+the wider internal rim the better; eTap (no wires and I love it); if 12 speed 50/37 rings vs the standard 48/35.
I’ve managed to do all that ^^^ by buying a frame and building it up exactly the way I need/want. Inventory is slim so if buying new or ordering AND a princess like me get ready to settle on things you don’t want. For 5-8K I want everything exactly the way I like.
I was going to mention used as above but, man are the higher end bikes not cheap at all. I always sell used for 1/2 MSRP and go down from there depending on how beat up the part/bike is. I think a lot of folks bought high end bikes and for whatever reason don’t ride much and feel like they should recoup most of what they paid. Lack of new supply seems to have helped increase the prices in the used market. As @webdev511 said you need to be savvy.
It’s also very nice if you severely misjudge the weather and end up with very cold hands. Not that I’ve ever done that, at any point
This thread has me wanting to buy a bike. I’d been saving for a new TT bike but am tempted to upgrade my road bike as I spend a heck of a lot more time on it.
Of your stable, it is probably the winter bike where you might see the most qualitative difference. (with a very quick google search I found specs for a 2012 TK2, but not a 1998 model). A moderately spec’ed mechanical gravel bike with hydro stoppers would allow you to run say, tubeless 32’s with mud guards/fenders.
It may not be faster than your existing winter bike, but it is probably going to be significantly more comfortable with better grip and stopping in the wet, and better than 1:1 gearing. Of course, it will depend on how often and in what conditions you ride your winter bike as to whether this is worthwhile. And in summer you could swap the road slicks for some more gravel capable ones, like all the cool kids are doing.
Given you are already running modern 11s, I can’t see as much benefit from upgrading your summer or TT bikes.
I have a gravel bike with disc brakes and 1x 10/42. Works with 650cc wheels. 700cc makes the bike higher and I also find that for normal road riding the spaces between gears is too wide. It is OK for a short hop between sections, but it is not as comfortable, nor convenient as my TK2 winter bike with R7000 which has a 28mm on the rear. Winter bike comes out when roads are crappy.
I don’t baby my equipment, but I take care of it. E. g. I have replaced rollers, rear cage and many bits and pieces. The only thing I didn’t do were regular services of fork and damper unit — I did that once, and it cost me about $400 in Japan.
My main road bike has been the same frame since 2004. It’s had a couple different groups and currently sports 7970 Di2. Thats the O.G. Di2 groupset which is similar to the 7900 mechanical parts. I have enough spares to keep rolling for many years and it’s easy enough to source replacement parts on the NOS or used market.
You have a few options:
Source NOS or lightly used 7900 parts and refresh the bike the way it stands. 7900 is a great group and if 10 cogs are enough and you are happy with rim brakes no reason not to keep going with the same.
1.1) Upgrading to 11s Di2 is certainly possible, but I wouldn’t do it. Mechanical 10s 7900 is more than fine and unless your bike is already drilled for internal electric wiring it will be a more difficult install.
As the world migrates to disk brakes, there are many good deals to be found on rim brake wheel sets. Killer deals.
Bite the bullet and go new. The folks above have spelled out the putative advantages of disk brakes, 12 speed gearing and potential to run bigger tires (that’s the big win in the whole discussion IMO). Those are all significant changes. Depending on the terrain and road surfaces in your area that might be worth the cost. Only you can answer that though as it’s your money and your riding experience.
If you end up looking for NOS or mint used 7900 parts, Korby at CyclingUpgrades in Utah has a good selection listed and some that are not yet on his page.
Personally, for road bikes, if I like a frame and wheels then I’ll go to some effort to keep the same bike rolling rather than replace.
