Originally Posted by
jr59
The wheels and crank on the complete bike are not that good. Pretty bad in fact. Make no mistake, they work, but ...!
The drive train, ie; shifters, and Tiagra stuff works, the brakes, not so much.
I think, if you ride the bike for any amount of time, you would want the upgrades as quickly as you can.
I bought a complete nearly 2 years ago. My wheelset has seen plenty of abuse, and they are still true as can be. The crank seems fine. The brakes aren't the best, but some proper tuning and brake pads made a big difference. The stock saddle was torture. A Brooks was fitted on day one. The complete is a solid value and it's plenty reliable. Upgrade when/if things break.
I've changed: Saddle (Brooks Imperial), Seapost (Easton EA70), Stem (Bontrager), Handlebars (Salsa Woodchipper), Shifters (Ultegra STI), Brake Pads (KS Salmon), Tires (Schwalbe Marathon Cross), Cassette (11-28).
I've added: Tektro Cross Levers, Front and rear racks, fenders, lights, etc.
Next upgrade will be conversion to triple, using the stock crank.