Shimagnolo

Exactly.
And it looks better w/o the ugly logos.

velociraptor

Performance-brand bib shorts, bought on sale for $20.

Bib. Short. Nirvana.

rmfnla

Oh, I also swapped out my CF Syncros bars for a pair of cheapo Al eBay specials.

I originally went w/ crabon for the vibration thing since I have a steel frame but didn't like the hand position.

Love the hand position on the new ones and haven't noticed any more vibration.

Guess I'm just a downwardly mobile kind of guy...

HTupolev

That's why Shimagnolo didn't say Chinese manufacturers, but rather Chinese sellers.

Wileyrat

I went from a Fizik Aliante R5 (stock with the bike I bought) that would best be described as a sharp hatchet, to a much cheaper Forte Pro SL saddle that works well for me.

OmegaWolf

Not sure if this counts. I bought a 2013 Specialized Crossroads Elite and gave my 1997 Trek 800 Sport to a friend. I want to sell the Crossroads and get my Trek 800 Sport back. Especially since it's just been sitting in my friend's basement for 3 years.

79pmooney

Yeah! (But my reasoning is probably different then most. I don't like tempting fate. Expensive gloves - glove destroying crash soon? Cheap gloves - stuck with them for a year or more? Which option do I want? Done my crashes. I'll go cheap. (Thank you Performance for making that option quite bearable.)

Ben

79pmooney

Tektro brake levers. Some (sadly, not all and I have never kept track of model numbers and am not sure that would help anyway) fit my hands really well, nearly as well as anything I have ridden.

Ben

k_kibbler

Interesting question, had not thought about it before...

Conti Race 28 Light > Race 28, fewer punctures
Expensive gel whatever gloves > whatever is cheap or on sale

I predict if one day I go from SRAM Red Aero-Link back to older SRAM Red or current Force dual-pivot calipers, I will be much happier. They stop about the same, but the current Red calipers are fiddly. The older Red calipers came in black and match my frame better, too.

Darth_Firebolt

honestly, adjustable square taper bottom brackets. they spin so smoothly and are basically infinitely rebuild-able as long as you keep some grease in them. and they don't creak. close second would be hollowtech 2. bb30 and such really suck.

HazeT

Garmin 820 to Garmin 500.... it is $300 lighter.

silversx80

After my carbon frame was totaled when I was hit last summer, I went back to metal (a Ti and a CAAD). It never really occurred to me how loud the carbon frame was until I got back to riding in silence.

Dean V

Square taper bb's can certainly creak on the crank arm to axle interface if everything isn't right.

kbarch

Which carbon frame was that? I definitely notice the difference in timbre between carbon and metals, but the volume not so much. My loudest frame is Al, but I think that's because it has the fattest tubes.

silversx80

A Scott Addict R3 frame from 2009, which was the lightest frameset in its day. Loved the bike immensely, but it was noisy and the tubes acted like echo chambers for every little thing. Cable rub, water bottle rattling, the creaky BB86, even a slight click in the headset after water ingress would seem to be amplified. It never really bothered me (except the BB creaks and clicks), and I never realized how loud a ride was until my maiden voyage on my Lynskey, which is whisper quiet (all I hear is wind and tires on the road). Even though the CAAD10 is a little louder, it's still quieter than my old Scott.

The last carbon frame I rode was a SuperSix, which reminded me of my Scott (super nice, but noisy).

Sidney Porter

Not on road bikes but my favorite down grade would be thumb shifters. They are light, intuitive durable.

Nachoman

I forgot about that one. I'm extremely happy with my downgrade from the 800 to the 500.

bikecrate

In some ways I've been downgrading my road bikes. Started at Ultegra level and now at 105. Don't notice any difference. Also, I regularly bust the stock wheels. Generally I replace with more durable, but cheaper.

aubiecat

Yes, you are correct, the feel is virtually the same but 105 is a lower model in the Shimano line than the 6800 so you could classify it as a downgrade.

Shimagnolo

The CF frame, or the CF wheels?
My CF frame is no louder than my steel, titanium, and aluminum bikes.
But any time I'm riding near someone with CF rims, I can hear the noise.

Dan333SP

Fair enough, I thought you were saying you intentionally switched a bike with 6800 to 5800. I get choosing 5800 up front rather than Ultegra, but swapping the parts after you already have 6800 seems a little silly since the net $$ gained by selling the higher end group wouldn't be all that much.

silversx80

Wheels were HED Kermesse; nice Al rim, which was one of the first introductions into wider rim widths. They did a bit to quiet things up from the Kysrium Elites I had on it before. I never rode with carbon rims, so I can't attest to noisiness of those.

I'm not complaining about how noisy my experience with carbon was, just stating that I appreciate the relative quietness with my Al and Ti frames.

aubiecat

This season I was going to build a new bike and use my Ultegra components on the new frame. In January Ribble was having a 10% off sale on group components. It was a heck of a deal with their already low prices. I purchased the 5800 gear to use on my old frame as a trainer and backup bike. As luck would have it my new frame took much longer than expected to arrive. I had already changed out the group to the old frame so I ended up riding most of this year on 5800. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality and that there was zero drop off in performance from the 6800.

Jakedatc

I'll add to the saddle downgrade.. went from San Marco Regal to Prologo Kappa 2. when i switched from 9 to 10 speed i went from old ultegra to newer 105 and the improvements had trickled down

69chevy

Downgraded frames to an 80's Schwinn, threw on some modern components and love it.