Originally Posted by
rifraf
As to what you've already got..... ride em till they drop would be my advice with the caveat of keeping them maintained with a tension check before each tour. No point in going to the expense of new wheels till the old ones die (unless of course you fancy a bit of retail therapy which we all enjoy from time to time)
Agreed. It occurs to me that these wheels have served me well. When I do replace them, I'll keep the rims and practice building my own wheels with them. I will content myself with overhauling them again - I haven't done this in years - and inspecting the bearings.
As for the groupset, I've acquired a Shimano SLX groupset for the transmission (derailleurs, shifters, BB, cranks, cassette). I've also got a Cane Creek S-1 traditional threaded headset and new Avid levers (the headset on my old bike won't fit). I'll be transporting the stem, bars and seatpost from my old bike. Total cost including the frame is still less than $1000, although I did spend a bit more than that on a fancy Italian torque wrench and Giant 7nm torque key.
Labour costs might be a bit more - I'll probably have the LBS seat the crown race, star nut and headset. Too much trouble to do it myself.