serpico7

Here's where I am on specs:
- Mark V frame + fork
- Sun Swift rims laced to Formula hubs (upgrade)
- Sugino RD-48 crank (upgrade)
- Profile Design Airwing bullhorns (swap, not $ upgrade)
- Cane Creek brake lever (add-on)
- Shimano 105 caliper (add-on)
- Shimano freewheel (add-on)
- Soma fixed cog
- comfy saddle (upgrade)
- alloy seatpost
- Kalloy Guizzo stem
- Aheadset
- Shimano UN53 BB
- my clipless pedals (upgrade)

Bike to be used mostly for training and winter riding, maybe a bit of errand-running. Going to hold off on expensive upgrades like carbon seatpost or carbon fork for now.

What would you upgrade on this setup (I marked the stuff that is already upgraded from the stock Mark V at my LBS)? The headset maybe? Is it even worthwhile? I was also thinking of upgrading the BB from the UN53 (solid spindle) to the UN73 (hollow spindle).

Thoughts appreciated.

chrisj

I would upgrade the Cranks and get Aeroheads instead of the Sun rims. And ditch the freewheel!

ka12na

Get a complete Mark V and go from there?

(It's not NECESSARY to upgrade anything.)

serpico7

Upgrade cranks to what? Sugino 75? I like the Sun rims - they're aero, and a couple of messengers told me they're bomb-proof.

serpico7

Of course it's not necessary to upgrade anything. But like many on this forum, I suffer from GLD (gear lust disease). So if I get the stock Mark V from IRO directly or from my LBS, within a couple of months, I'll want smoother hubs, a better front brake, a lighter crank, and a saddle that fits me better, so I'd rather buy that stuff at "upgrade prices" rather than buy them new and toss/sell the old stuff. I don't mind going $200-$300 over the stock config price - as long as the money is going into bits that will improve ride comfort and speed.

deathhare

You cant currently buy a Mark V. According to the IRO website i mean. Maybe some shops still have stock

apt13

according to iro, the mark v is sold out for the next 2 months. i just got the angus complete. it aint bad. definitely parts i'd like to upgrade eventually, but for an out of the box ride, it's nice.

dirtyphotons

if you're gonna use that freewheel (and i'm not at all against freewheels) you should really upgrade a second brake on there. you'll probably have to upgrade some zip ties too, or get creative with your cable routing.

ryand

upgrade your tires. the hypersonic ones that come on there are garbage.

and if you get an angus, no rear brake. its not drilled for one.

chillywater

Just got a slightly upgraded stock Jamie Roy. The stock hubs are nice, very smooth, I upgraded the rims, deep V because our roads are bad and I'm fat. The stock tires need upgrading, I used them to learn how to skid. The stock front brake provides plenty of power. I upgraded to the B17 Brooks saddle and love it, my first brooks, a great buy. The stock seatpost really needs some heavy tightening to get it to stay, I'm trading it out and the stem which is zero degree and ugly, Tony only factors in about $25 for the pair so it's not alot of money wasted though, I'll throw them on a beater eventually. So, get a stock Angus(Mark V sold out) with a brooks saddle and go from there.

ryand

oh, they are fantastic skid tires arent they?! actually they skid well but are not durable, so i guess that means they arent fantastic skid tires, but yeah, they slide!

Grunk

The two most important components on a bike are the seat and the wheels (IMO). Get a Brooks saddle.

serpico7

Agreed, which is why I upgraded both. No Brooks for me though, I prefer the firm racing seats with a cutout.

isotopesope

why? sun ringlé products are great. those swifts seem nice. they're really sharp! i've had a wheelset with sun venus's for years now and they have held up great to tons of abuse. i also had some sun rhynolytes on my 26" ss mtb, that were equally as great. sun makes lots of high quality rims.

i would definitely go with the un73. the 53 is a BRICK!!

if you're going to be doing a lot of freewheeling, i would HIGHLY recommend a white industries freewheel. or at least an acs one. shimano freewheels are horrible.

i HATE the aheadset i have on my cross bike. it's one of the worst headsets i've ever dealt with. there was one on my 29"er too, but i had to ditch that pile. chuck's bikes has a fsa orbit x for $25. those headsets are wonderful.

Aeroplane

I would first ditch that lame and crappy Soma cog and get something substantial. Unless your cockpit is already where you like it, maybe some new tape or grips. If you really want to pointlessly drop coin, get a fixed/fixed rear wheel, so incase your dumb ass strips the lockring threads you won't be out a ride.

Aeroplane

Yes, the BB is the most critical area to save weight, especially on a bike that is already equipped with the utmost in lightweight componentry. WTF?

mattface 

The stock hubs are Formula. So if you want smoother, upgrade to something different.

serpico7

The hubs included in the stock config by my LBS are cheap unsealed hubs, not Formulas. I could buy from IRO directly, but there's value in buying from the LBS even if it costs a little more - I get free servicing for quite some time. As good as Tony at IRO is, he can't do that.

isotopesope

whoa, cool your jets cowboy. shaving nearly 100 grams for something around 10 to 15 extra dollars is totally outlandish?

dirtyphotons

this

is why i like hollow axle bottom brackets

chillywater

How well does your shop build wheels? Tony's wheels are very well made and that is very important. Service on a FG or SS is very simple with a few good tools and very satisfying. I'd buy a stock bike from Tony and use the extra $200-300 for some quality tools.

redfooj

get koolstop brake pads

serpico7

Is the weight difference nearly 100g? I checked weightweenies. They don't list the UN53, but the 2000 UN52 was 310g and the 2004 UN73 was 264g, so 46g diff. If the difference for current BBs is near 100g, I agree with isotopesope that $10-$15 is worth it (not to mention dirtyphotons' skewer trick). After all, people spend in the hundreds of dollars to shave 400g off their wheels, even if a decent amount of that weight difference is in the hubs (non-rotating mass). Upgrading the BB is also cheaper on a per gram basis than upgrading to the Angus frame.

serpico7

Agreed wheelbuilding is important. I'm sure the shop doesn't build their own wheels (too small an LBS). A lot of bike messengers use this shop, so I'm guessing they're selling wheels that can stand up to a lot of abuse.

I do my own wrenching on my road bike, but the fixie is going to get a lot of winter riding, which means that it's going to need a lot of tlc, and I just can't be bothered with frequent cleanings, greasings, etc. And I live in an apartment - cleaning a bike when you don't have a garage/backyard/driveway is a real PITA.

serpico7

I put a pair of those on my old mtb, and from the day I put it on, to the day I sold the bike, the front brake howled like a banshee. And I tried everything to silence it - toeing in, running braked through water, cleaning rims, etc. I got the cheaper version of the Koolstops, maybe the more expensive version is squeal-free.