You’ve had your road bike for a while and you still love it. But now you’re thinking about how it could be better and which components you’d add or swap out. We asked one of our team roadies, Olly, for his top recommendations for tweaking your bike spec so here’s the Big Bear Bikes guide to scratching your upgrade itch.
Ask any roadie what their top priority is for an upgrade and most will say the wheels. Olly’s ultimate wheel upgrade is a set of Zipp 404 Firecrest Carbon Tubeless disc wheels. They are super-light and aero, a top end addition to any road bike, coming in at £1,685 for a set of two. If you want the best for ride feel, comfort and speed then without doubt these should be top of your list.
These are great value versatile tyres which are designed to race but also for everyday riding. They offer excellent grip and good puncture protection too, rolling really well over the road surface. Olly likes the way they offer more grip while being a slick tyre, giving him confidence heading into turns at speed. Also, as a tubeless tyre he can run slightly lower pressures to reduce road vibrations and keep him fresher while not losing pedalling efficiency. The price is reasonable too!
The 830 is Garmin’s mid-range cycling computer. It’s brilliant for navigating pre-planned routes and also GPS tracking your distance, speed and so on. The screen is clear and there are lots of customisation options so you can have exactly what you want in front of you without touching any buttons or looking at your watch. We love the colour mapping and the touch screen which enables you to zoom in and out easily and explore where you’re heading. It’s also much more compatible than its predecessors with tech like Bluetooth and wifi.
When it comes to bike saddles, one size definitely doesn’t fit all so the saddle your bike came with may not be right for your body shape and riding preferences. Ergon’s SR AllRoad Core series offers serious saddle comfort, minimising lumps, bumps and vibrations so you can keep on riding for hours and hours, and jump on again the next day. The SR AllRoad Core series is available in a range of weights with tailored ergonomics for male and female riders. In store we have the Ergon Digital Sit Bone Width Measuring Station which, combined with their online saddle selector, enables us to pick out the perfect saddle and size for you.
We think the PD-R8000 Ultegra SPD-SL carbon road pedals and PD-R7000 105 SPD-SL carbon road pedals from Shimano are a brilliant choice. It’s nice to be able to match up your pedals with your groupset so your Shimano product range runs through parts of your bike spec. Olly has added the carbon 105 pedals to match the groupset on his Trek Emonda SL5 and praises the excellent quality bearings and the light weight. They also hang well for you to capture your cleats in really quickly. These pedals are great for your confidence as a rider and you can easily adjust how tight they hold onto your cleats according to your preference.
If any of these sound like they fit into your upgrade path – or you’d like to discuss some other ideas – come and see us in store to talk to our friendly team. We’ve got loads of experience and expertise in road and mountain bike riding so we can answer your questions and make suggestions that fit your style of riding.
