New bike?

i think the frameset you have is a keeper for a while, there are a number of upgrades you could do with the 1,5 K its quite fun to upgrade a bike bit by bit,

Ive already got pedals and shoes. What would be my next upgrades. Most noticeable and about what kinda prices for a good upgrade.

I'm very new to all this. I got a bike and started riding and havent done much research on parts and bikes. I've been looking but all I see are prices and different parts that I'm not sure are worth upgrading. Id hate to replace something I already have and not notice it on my rides.

AND I think partly why I want to get a new bike is color. I know thats a terrible reason but the black and white got old so fast. I do go through vehicles every two years.

for color there are nice colored quality clinchers tires for example by vitoria or continental, or the more obvious handlebar tape, on every possible color, you could also upgrade the brake calipers you have, or the STI levers into shimano 105 for example, an extra pair of wheels can be quite handy too, a new stem if you need to tweak your siting position, and off bike stuff also like an indoor trainer but the obvious upgrade in your case would be to shift into a 10 speed drivetrain,

Just noticed my bike shop does a trade in and was looking at the Allez Elite Mid-Compact.

http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/road/compare/#/1164-13Allez-13ALLEZAllezC2/1164-13Allez-13ALLEZAllezEliteM2/

Would this be worth it?

It seems like you are trading up parts to the same frame (maybe just a little newer and a different color) so depending on the trade in value you may be getting a good deal, but it may not using your available assets in the best way to achieve an increase in ride quality or speed if that is what you are after. The bike with the upgraded parts may function slightly smoother but I don't have experience with those two groups. The bike will not go any faster (although it will be a little lighter) and will likely not feel much different on the road (on the same frame the main ride quality difference will come from the wheels and tires tires but the two bikes have the same).

Personally in an upgrade, unless there was an aesthetic improvement I was after (which is an entirely valid reason to upgrade), I would be looking for a functional upgrade in either speed or comfort, or useability. Your consideration does add a couple gears and I like more gears.

I would personally go for wheels and tires. Those could add speed AND comfort. Barring that a quality set of tires is the easiest way to greatly change how a bike feels and behave on the road. And if one wanted speed, free speed, I would go with latex inner tubes. Save about 15-20 watts over regular butyl tubes which translates into about 1-1.5mph increase for the same riding effort. Of course you can throw new tires and tubes on any bike, even the new bike.

I'm curious what you'd get for a trade-in. No bike shops in my area do that.

Josh7171 said:

Just noticed my bike shop does a trade in and was looking at the Allez Elite Mid-Compact. specialized.comcompareOpen ↗ Would this be worth it?

how much money do they ask you to put in the table for the trade in ? i would be in favor eventually, you get the 10 speed bike

danfoz said:

It seems like you are trading up parts to the same frame (maybe just a little newer and a different color) so depending on the trade in value you may be getting a good deal, but it may not using your available assets in the best way to achieve an increase in ride quality or speed if that is what you are after. The bike with the upgraded parts may function slightly smoother but I don't have experience with those two groups. The bike will not go any faster (although it will be a little lighter) and will likely not feel much different on the road (on the same frame the main ride quality difference will come from the wheels and tires tires but the two bikes have the same). Personally in an upgrade, unless there was an aesthetic improvement I was after (which is an entirely valid reason to upgrade), I would be looking for a functional upgrade in either speed or comfort, or useability. Your consideration does add a couple gears and I like more gears. I would personally go for wheels and tires. Those could add speed AND comfort. Barring that a quality set of tires is the easiest way to greatly change how a bike feels and behave on the road. And if one wanted speed, free speed, I would go with latex inner tubes. Save about 15-20 watts over regular butyl tubes which translates into about 1-1.5mph increase for the same riding effort. Of course you can throw new tires and tubes on any bike, even the new bike. I'm curious what you'd get for a trade-in. No bike shops in my area do that.

+1. The trade-in deal would have to be a smokin' deal, and by smokin' I mean smokin' like the Chelyabinsk meteor flyin' across the sky. Consider that it wouldn't take much money at all to buy a full Shimano 105 group on ebay (or alternatively just the shifters, front derailleur, and rear derailleur) brand new. Also it wouldn't take much money to buy a new set of wheels that was more robust and lighter. It all hinges on the deal they're offering. So, what is that deal?

I'll know on Friday when I take my bike in for them to look at it. They only do it if you purchased the bike from them. And the bike is in almost new condition so Im curious what they are going to give me.

http://www.gearheadcyclehouse.com/pages/faq.htm

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by Josh7171 [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

I'll know on Friday when I take my bike in for them to look at it. They only do it if you purchased the bike from them. And the bike is in almost new condition so Im curious what they are going to give me.

http://www.gearheadcyclehouse.com/pages/faq.htm

I think that if you are lucky, then they will possibly offer you HALF of what the MSRP was for your bike ... but, don't count on even THAT much ...

• UNLESS they are desperate to move an odd-framed size bike off of their showroom floor ...
  
• in which case they may pretend they are offering you more while actually not telling you the discount which you might receive in the high-zoot ($4000+) bike which you might be looking at ...
  
• which ISN'T the case since your stated budget is $1500 ...
  

To echo what others have suggested, you may want to consider going to COLORADO CYCLIST's website (or, any other wheelbuilder) and having them lace up a set of wheels for you which have some Shimano Ultegra hubs ... or DT hubs if you want to spend more ...

• buy some BETTER tires & tubes than whatever you are currently using, too
  

PLUS, buy a set of Campagnolo 11-speed shifters (!!!) ...

• buy them off of eBay
  
• sell whatever shifters which are on your bike through eBay to offset the cost of the UPGRADE ...
  

And, new handlebar tape ...

Maybe, a handlebar with a different WIDTH and/or SHAPE would be beneficial to improving your riding experience.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by alfeng [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

To echo what others have suggested, you may want to consider going to COLORADO CYCLIST's website (or, any other wheelbuilder) and having them lace up a set of wheels for you which have some Shimano Ultegra hubs ... or DT hubs if you want to spend more ...

Boulder Excel Sports also builds very nice wheels. I picked up a set from them last year. Also consider HED's C2 23mm wide rims for the build (or another wider clincher although the finish on the C2 is top shelf). There are plenty of kudos given from many different sources about the new rim width paradigm and you will actually feel a difference. Wider is indeed better.

HED sells their C2s on prebuilt wheels starting at around $750 but going the custom built route can get the same benefit for half that price.

In my initial post I was trying to be brand agnostic but truth be told I cannot recommend these rims enough. Btw, your current Allez frame is actually vey nice and a great platform to upgrade.

danfoz said:

Boulder Excel Sports also builds very nice wheels. I picked up a set from them last year. Also consider HED's C2 23mm wide rims for the build (or another wider clincher although the finish on the C2 is top shelf). There are plenty of kudos given from many different sources about the new rim width paradigm and you will actually feel a difference. Wider is indeed better.

Yup, both on custom built wheels and wider rims. There a quite few wheel builders online and elsewhere (perhaps even your own LBS) that can also build you a relatively inexpensive set of awesome wheels. Here are a few:

• Fair Wheel Bikes
• Speed Dream
• Ergott Wheels
• Odds and Endos
• Wheelbuilder.com
• White Mountain Wheels