hubcyclist

hogwash. I ride a pretty recent model of the base model Allez with Claris and it has great 'bones' it's the same frame as a 105 equipped Allez, has internal cable routing, carbon fork. If someone wants wheels, why not. I'd argue that you wouldn't get much more out of wheels and I'd put my money into aero helmet, kit, tires and tubes if one wants to be faster before buying wheels. In fact, I just bought new handlebars for my Allez, only cost $75 shipped from chain reaction, as I wanted to go more narrow to 38cm from the stock 42 bars I have and I bought aero profile handlebars.

I promise I'm faster than a lot of folks with much more expensive bikes

Koyote

I'm glad you like your bike. I still think it's not worth upgrading beyond the normal items like new tires (when old ones wear out) and a more comfortable saddle if necessary. If you want a better bike, it's more cost-effective to buy one.

Good for you. You should wear that with pride, rather than defensiveness about your bike.

hubcyclist

I'm not defensive, I just push back against the prevailing dogma that some bikes are 'starter bikes' and meant to be disposed of at a certain point to get something 'better' when he reality is entry level bikes are 90+ percent as good as higher priced bikes and allow most riders to accomplish the majority of their riding goals. As I said in my post, the frame of an Allez is exactly the same in the Claris equipped model vs the 105 equipped Elite. If I needed new wheels, why wouldn't I just get the new wheels as opposed to tossing my entire bike for a new one? Or in my case, I wanted narrower handlebars, so I just went for it. I think wheels are generally an overrated upgrade, so I wouldn't recommend them over better tires, but I stand by my point that the Allez Sport that the OP has is a perfectly good bike and that it's 'worthy' of any additions if the user wants them. Just because it has Claris or Sora doesn't make them that much more inferior to 105 (and I ride 11 speed on my CX bike so the differences between group set quality is also a bit overblown).

Koyote

No one suggested that the OP "dispose of" or "toss" his bike. In fact, I posted this follow-up:

With that, let's (hopefully) end this interaction.

Rolla

Think of the money we all could have saved if we'd only known that it's all about the hats and shirts.

mrwang199432

Didn't realise how long this thread was haha.

Just an update, I purchased some GP5000 transparent to put onto my current wheels. Ive planned to re-ride a previous 50k route with the new tyres and see how it goes!

Truth be told, before I started cycling i've competed in sprinting and played rugby for the best part of 10 years and I can quite easily cruise past most cyclists so perhaps tyres will make the most difference and help tame some power in my legs haha

Bald Paul

It's much easier to look fast than to be fast!

Kapusta

Crushing it in Cat 6, are ya?