Which will make me faster?

[thatguy]

Thoughts wanted for the upcoming season. Which will make a bigger difference, upgrading from bar-cons to STI or from clinchers to tubulars? I'm thinking I can do one or the other for ~$100-200. Background: I race in Florida and Georgia where courses are warm/dry, flat and fast. Thanks!

[Milice]

I would worry more about mounts and dismounts before i worried about shifters and tires. Also I would spend more time running barriers and hills and sand.

[Ronsonic]

Interesting question. If you're comfortable with the barcons and don't find yourself suffering in the wrong gear then I guess go with wheels and tires. Fat sewups really smooth out fast bumpy stuff and do great in sandy patches.

Ron

[thatguy]

I would worry more about mounts and dismounts before i worried about shifters and tires. Also I would spend more time running barriers and hills and sand.

Well, that's a good point, but I want to upgrade because it's fun. Besides, aren't 90% of the threads on BF about buying stuff we don't really NEED anyway?

[dzinehaus]

Well, that's a good point, but I want to upgrade because it's fun. Besides, aren't 90% of the threads on BF about buying stuff we don't really NEED anyway?


at that point nothing is really "NEEDED". But that comment reminds me of someone who will buy the ferrari over a jetta and justify it with 'because it just looks nice, i figured i would drop the extra $$$' as opposed to 'I need a vehicle to go from point a to point b, and I can invest in something else later' Hell if you got the cash and like being wasteful then upgrade them both. I mean at that point, why be wasteful huh? If you are racing your bike then you might as well get as much bang for your buck.

go out and see if your LBS can hook you up with a sweet deal. They most likely will because of the time and labor costs to build you a nice tubular wheelset is worth pinching a few bucks here and there.

[thatguy]

Hell if you got the cash and like being wasteful then upgrade them both. I mean at that point, why be wasteful huh?

How is this being wasteful? None of us really NEED bikes at all, so let's not waste our time arguing about that. I think I asked a pretty legit question. Investing a few hundred bucks into my bike this season is pretty modest and reasonable. Trust me, my bike is no Ferrari.

[Haschen]

I need my bike.

[dirtyphotons]

i prefer sti's to tubulars. and yes, i'm slow and don't really need either.

if you do go that route be careful not to crash!

actually, be careful not to crash anyway.

[dutret]

How heavy are you?
Tubulars will give a larger advantage to a bigger rider who wouldn't be able to run low pressure with clinchers even when it's mostly dry.

Are the bar-cons bothering you?
If you're kneeing them, having trouble shifting or have ever caught one on the shin going over the bars change them. If they're working why worry about it. They are a lot less likely to get trashed in a crash then STIs.

[bitterken]

I would go STI's... I used to run barend's, and switching to STI's improved my times on the same course. Tubies are nice, but a PITA to deal with if you don't deal with them often.

[dzinehaus]

How is this being wasteful? None of us really NEED bikes at all, so let's not waste our time arguing about that. I think I asked a pretty legit question. Investing a few hundred bucks into my bike this season is pretty modest and reasonable. Trust me, my bike is no Ferrari.


You are right, I apologize, there was no point in arguing need and not need. The point I was trying to make was that if you have the cash of only a few hundred then maybe go for the brifters because that's what it will cost. If you go for the tubulars, I myself am aware of the cost of a decent set of tubular wheels (which is a bit more then the cost of brifters).

Best bet if you have at least 350 - 400$ go on ebay and invest on both. You can easily find either dura-ace, ultegra or 105 brifters (used to even new) on there ranging from 100-200$ and a decent pre-built wheel set on there also for aprox. same price. For the wheels at that point, just bring them to your LBS and get them trued.

[damocles1]

Training will make you faster...

[dzinehaus]

Training will make you faster...

I think that said it all ;)

[thatguy]

Thanks for all the input. I'm thinking STI is the way to go. If I built the tubies, they would be old, box-style rims and probably only see use about 6-8 times a year. My cross bike is also my rainy-day road bike, so the STI would probably make more sense. But what if I considered a single front ring....? Hmmmm....

[Walleye]

STI's and Midge bars....

Mmmmmmm. Comfort on the hoods.

I'm building my Surly CC back up w/ a hodgepodge of stuff, and considered a single barcon for the RD since I use a single 42 chainring. I scrapped the barcon idea 'cause I spend a lot of time on the hoods, and you might as well be able to shift while you're there.

Get some On One Midge Bars---big, big difference over standard drops.

And spend five bucks on some PVC pipe and make a barrier to practice dis/re mounts. That will make you faster.

[dzinehaus]

too bad aero (bullhorns) aren't competition legal otherwise i would go for these brake levers w/ trigger shifters underneath.

Can you picture it?

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=104&subcategory=1194&brand=&sku=18891&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=Shop%20by%20Subcat%3A%20Shifters%2FBrake%20Levers%20%2D%20Road