Originally Posted by
American Euchre
A couple of other possibilities...
...a wheel set upgrade. New wheels and tires can save you anywhere between 3/4 and 1 and 3/4 lbs.
...a component group upgrade. I believe ultegra 6800 retails for around $450 overseas.
A component group + wheel set upgrade could easily drop 3-4 lbs. off your current setup.
Agree with this. Don't believe its the frame holding you back. The Secteur comes with a Roubaix carbon fork. A nuance about the Secteur now discontinued for 2016 is...the redesigned 2014 Elite model with brake cable routed through the top tube honestly is a better bike than the '09 model...ride and stiffness. Side by side, the redesigned Secteur has a frame geometry including tube shape closely analogous to the Roubaix excepting the bottom bracket which is more bulbous on the Roubaix. The latest Secteur has what I call a Cadillac ride, in fact, I find friendlier than my SL3 Roubaix Pro which is a bit stiffer and lighter bike.
But the wheels that come stock on the Secteur are boat anchor heavy. Btw, you don't have to take a second mortage for a decent set of wheels. Fulcrum 5's ordered from the UK can be purchased for $300 and their latest redesign weigh 1,645g with a Campagnolo freehub and 1,690g with a Shimano/SRAM freehub for the Racing 5 wheelset. They are extremely robust...have owned 3 sets and have never gone out of true.
Fulcrum Racing 5 and Racing 7 wheelsets lighter for 2014
Tires are important for rolling resistance relative to punction protection. Get higher thread count tires....like Conti GP4000 II's or Vittoria Rubio Pro III's...good tires for training and centuries.
Then pick a groupset you like. I prefer Campy but others are very happy with Ultegra 6800 or say Sram Force 22.
Now you have a comfortable bike with a bit more performance that won't break the bank. And if you want to change, you can strip the components and put them on another frameset.
Choice of the Secteur really comes down to your body honestly. A very fit rider can ride a slammed racing geometry for 100 miles and feel good. For the average rider, a bike with geometry like the Secteur and Roubaix will be more comfortable with a bit more upright position.
If not handy with a wrench, simply Craigslist your Secteur and buy a new bike. Btw, there are many mid spec carbon bikes on Craigslist with low miles as well. No reason to pay retail for a bike with all the barely used carbon bikes on the market that owners just don't use.