Originally Posted by
Senior Vagabond
I am a little uncertain about what to do. Being almost 70 years old I have ridden the same Specialized Roubaix bike over 13 years. It was custom-fitted to me along time ago and still rides well. My issue is that certain critical mechanicals and components are starting to wear out. My groupset set is Ultegra 6600 and finding replacement parts is quite difficult. I scour the internet and e-bay but that is even getting slim pickings. I did something stupid this week and now need a new triple shifter. So my dilemma is, do I give in and buy a new bike (Specialized Roubaix Comp or Di2) or keep trying to find antiquated parts and throwing money in my current bike which I am comfortable on? I only ride about 80-90 miles a week so I am having a difficult time with the justification for a great new bike and experience.
I went searching for some 10 speed Simano/SRAM parts recently and I was shocked with no one carrying anything other than chains. I was finally able to find some chain rings and replaced my SRAM red 50 and 34. I also needed an 11-32 lightweight cassette and finally found one made by an European company. Next time I might be facing a whole grouppo change. I’m surprised how fast they’ve abandoned 10 sp.
All this was going on while I was trying to replace my 2009 Campy super record 11sp chain rings.Campy stopped making the 2009 stuff in 2011 and the newer parts weren’t compatible. I figured out a solution but had to spend an extra $50 just for different chain ring bolts. Frustrating!!!