Last year I bought a Cannondale R600 and love it. I've done quite a few upgrades, wheels, seat, etc. I'm thinking about upgrading the 105/ultegra components to full ultegra 10sp group as I plan on doing some racing next year. My question is if you think it is stupid to keep adding more expensive compnenets to a relatively inexpensive bike? Should I forget the upgrades and just look at getting a nicer bike?

"Should I forget the upgrades and just look at getting a nicer bike?"

Yes...IMO. You can always keep your wheels and the new saddle. I think once you start looking at component groups you are better off selling your bike since it is relatively new and stepping up. It's your $ though, so ultimately its your call.

Let me ask you... My current bike has a CAAD 5 aluminum frame. Being it is my first road bike I don't have much to compare it with - but I really like it. Components asside - would I notice a big difference with a higher end frame?

I'm really not the expert to answer that question. I've only ridden aluminum myself. I'm a new roadie myself after several years of ridding mtn. bikes. I ride a Specialized Allez Elite with 105's.

I would suggest you test ride some other bikes and form your own opinion. I'm not sure what your ultimate goal is with the upgrades(speed, bling, etc.) but there are plenty of posts that say the main thing you can improve is the motor. I'm a full believer of this. A 1 or 2 pound weight reduction will not make much difference at our skill level. I ride in a group ride with a couple guys that have bikes that are literally so old they make me laugh. One guy has a bike with front hubs bigger than my frames bottom bracket, mountain bike looking breaks, and a nice head light mounted to his forks! But at the same time I know these guys have probably been riding for years and they kick my but on a 30 mile ride that averages +20mph.

A caad 5 frame is good enough to hang anything you want on it.It may well be better than you will ever be.

I have an old 1996 AL frame that I love, and over the years I have gotten this and that for it, but have done so after the other stuff was on its way out. If I got the stuff all at once and for reg. price I would have been better off with a new bike. But I just rode the hell out of the thing and got stuff that was new old stock or really really on sale. The bike lives.

If you like the frame ride the thing and just save for a new race bike b/c your going to use your cadd 5 for training and when its bad outside.

Why not just forget the upgrades? What's wrong with the bike you have now?

You are probably right. I figure if I'm going to go get my butt kicked it would be less humilating to do so on a cheaper bike than some top of the line thing.

Yes.....I love smiling at the guys on the $2500 Litespeeds as I blow by them up the hill. I'm not that fast, but I'm faster than some who have spent a whole lot more cabbage than me!

whenever you don't feel like tinkering with your bike anymore... thats when its time.

Well, some of the componets really suck on it... The brakes for example are these Cannondale things that are total crap... But the main thing is that after I'm done riding at night and polish it all up. I'll stare lovingly at it and think to myself... Man, if this thing had a full Ultegra group on it - it would totally rock!

I'm a dork, I know.

I know exactly what you mean. I feel like if I were to get a really nice bike, it would be like putting a bulls eye on my back - everyone would be gunnin' for me.

I'm a dork, I know.[/QUOTE]

Not at all. It's an addiction that only members of this forum would understand.

"Hello, my name is Nashville Man, and I'm a bikeoholic"

"Don't buy upgrades, ride up grades" - Eddy Merckx

One of my favorite cycling quotes. Of course, now his name is own some of the highest end bikes in production, but whatever...

I'd replace the junk components as Ultegra stuff goes on sale (always does) and keep the 105 stuff until it wears out. Seriously, it ain't that different and it'll cost a lot to do it. If you ride/race as much as you say you will, you'll need new stuff eventually. Replace it then.

Unless you're rich. In that case just Ebay the Dale and replace the bike. And buy from a mfgr that doesn't spec production bikes with no-name calipers, seatposts, stems, cranks. We all know who they are. It might look like a good price, but once you get done replacing the above mentioned components, you've spent a pretty penny. And nobody will pay you more than [enter small #]% of it's orig MSRP, no matter what you've done to it.

That's a good idea. Actually that is kind of what I've been doing. I had to put in a new bottom bracket last month. I was looking at prices and I think I can save a lot of money if I keep it 9 speed too.

I'd back up bsyptak.

No sense in replacing functional stuff with similar, slightly better (?) stuff at great expense. Also consider re-sale value. You are highly unlikely to get a lot more for your bike with an upgrade - certainly not what you laid out for the components.

However, if you replace stuff that's worn out I don't see any harm in getting better stuff, especially if you plan to keep the bike. If it fits you well and you like it, just ride the bejeezus outta the thing and treat it to some upgrades when replacing whatever needs replacing.

Another benchmark; if the upgrades are so expensive that you could just waltz into a shop and buy a new bike with same quality frame and components for the same $ - or less (highly likely since you will always pay more for parts retail than a manufacturer will) it clearly makes more sense to just sell your old bike and put the money towards the new one (or keep the old bike for a winter/beater/trainer).

Frank Berto wrote a great book on upgrades , out of print, alas, but worth hunting for: https://www.thedancingchain.com/More%20Books.htm

The components he tested are long obsolete (6 & 7 spd drivetrains) but the book is solid on upgrade logic and worth reading.

CAAD 5 frame is better than any other manufacturers entry level Aluminum frame that I can think of. That used to be Cannondales very best frame not too long ago.

That's a benefit of buying the lower C-dales is they don't give you a purposely built cheap frame. That exact frame was raced at the highest levels less than 5 years ago.

Now the question is should you upgrade it? Depends on what the price difference is between your parts cost and a new R1000 (CAAD 8) which comes with ultegra 10 and K-elites.

Ultegra 10 brifters have dropped in price to about $210 new from sellers on Ebay. I don't know about the other parts?

Most of the time your best bet is not to sell the bike as a whole. Parting it out on ebay seems to yield more dollars.

P.S. I think ultegra 9 is pretty damn good.

what is caad? what would my trek 1000 be?

what a dumb thread. Obviously it depends on the person, and how much money he has. If you were bill gates, and you LOVED cycling. EVERYTHING is worth upgrading. If you are my dad, and would never pay more than 70 bucks for a bike. NOTHING is worth upgrading.

Some people who don't have a lot of money at once, find it quite satisying to upgrade their bike slowly, and keep the older components. Eventually, when you have the bike completely upgraded, the only thing to do is buy a new frame. Then strip the old bike, revert it back to its origanl configuration, and install all the newer upgraded parts onto the new frame. Now you have two bikes.

The truth is that equipment upgrades seldom make economic sense. Bicycle manufacturers can buy everything much cheaper than you can. So much so that I've known guys to buy a whole brand new bike just to move the components to another frame. As a general rule, you can buy a new bike for less than you will spend obtain similar quality components.

For lots of guys like me, however, there's more to it than just the economics. We get a degree of satisfaction by doing it ourselves. For us, economics isn't such a big deal because those same components are likely to get shuttled from bike to bike for years.

I think that there's a third group too. That would be the shoppers. They claim that by carefully shopping the internet and maybe ebay they can acquire components for near manufacturer prices. I suspect this group gains their satisfaction from the purchasing process.

Figure out which group you belong in and have at it.

Caad is a Cannondale line. Your Trek 1000 is aluminum as well, but the frame is (probably) not as high quality as the Caad series.

CAAD 5s came with dura ace 9 speed not too long ago and they do have a racing heritage at major cycling events.