Upgrading 2nd hand bike

virtualmystic said:

hello everyone I am new here and new to cycling. I bought myself a 2nd hand fuill carbon bicycle nd am thinking about collecting new parts to upgrade it. It has mostly Shimano Sora parts on the drivetrain, Alex wheels and Continental tyres. I am planning to slowly buy new parts from Ebay, namely Shimano Ultegra. I am wondering if there are any considerations I need to think about? Will I be able to fit Ultegra Chainrings and sprokets on the current hubs?

Sora = 8 speed, Ultegra = 9 speed (unless you opt for the new 10). Thus, you won't be able to add a part here and there regarding ther drivetrain.

What make/model is the frame? Curious who would spec a full carbon frame with Sora.

virtualmystic said:

hello everyone I am new here and new to cycling. I bought myself a 2nd hand fuill carbon bicycle nd am thinking about collecting new parts to upgrade it. It has mostly Shimano Sora parts on the drivetrain, Alex wheels and Continental tyres. I am planning to slowly buy new parts from Ebay, namely Shimano Ultegra. I am wondering if there are any considerations I need to think about? Will I be able to fit Ultegra Chainrings and sprokets on the current hubs?

Minimum you need to change would be your right shifter, chain and cassette. Ultegra chainrings only or entire crankset? Sora and Ultegra BBs have different interfaces, so you might have to change the BB as well. Do a search regarding component upgrades and try to learn from the posts...

capwater said:

What make/model is the frame? Curious who would spec a full carbon frame with Sora.

Someone who blew all their money on the carbon frame and left nothing for components, thinking that "it's all about the frame" 😄

e_guevara said:

Someone who blew all their money on the carbon frame and left nothing for components, thinking that "it's all about the frame" 😄

Maybe the frame is as cheap and worthless as the parts on it?

virtualmystic said:

hello everyone I am new here and new to cycling. I bought myself a 2nd hand fuill carbon bicycle nd am thinking about collecting new parts to upgrade it. It has mostly Shimano Sora parts on the drivetrain, Alex wheels and Continental tyres. I am planning to slowly buy new parts from Ebay, namely Shimano Ultegra. I am wondering if there are any considerations I need to think about? Will I be able to fit Ultegra Chainrings and sprokets on the current hubs?

Yeah, you can fit ultegra chainrings on a bottom of the barrel sora crank,but why bother? You can stick a ultegra cassette on cheap 8 speed hubs too. Best advice, rather than trying to mess around a piece at a time, throw away the whole drivetrain, get new wheels and ultegra 9 or 10 speed shifters,FD, RD, cassette and chain, and a new crank and matching BB.

I speak for a lot(including myself) when I say not all of us have the resources on hand to just 'throw it all out'. There is merrit to the bit by bit if it is done in a well thought out manner.

Conniebiker said:

I speak for a lot(including myself) when I say not all of us have the resources on hand to just 'throw it all out'. There is merrit to the bit by bit if it is done in a well thought out manner.

Yeah, and that assumes you know what you are doing(as in well thought out). The poster obviously doesn't. Maybe you would care to attempt to articulate the whole senario of which parts can be switched in what order.You don't even know if he's thinking double or tiple or compact or anything else.Go for it....I'll help ya out when ya get in over your eyeballs. 🙄

Conniebiker said:

I speak for a lot(including myself) when I say not all of us have the resources on hand to just 'throw it all out'. There is merrit to the bit by bit if it is done in a well thought out manner.

Installing each bit one at a time, and trying to get it all to work together at each stage sounds like a big exercise in frustration to me. I'd ride the bike as is, and save my money until I could afford to do it right.

But, that's just me. I like to know in advance what it's going to cost to do a job right the first time, and not be nickeled and dimed ($100 at a time) forever. May even turn out that the bike isn't worth upgrading when the whole bill is laid out.

capwater said:

Sora = 8 speed, Ultegra = 9 speed (unless you opt for the new 10). Thus, you won't be able to add a part here and there regarding ther drivetrain.

Well, actually you can,but primarily the rear shifter, cassette and chain have to be able to dance to the same tune.

dhk said:

Installing each bit one at a time, and trying to get it all to work together at each stage sounds like a big exercise in frustration to me. I'd ride the bike as is, and save my money until I could afford to do it right.

But, that's just me. I like to know in advance what it's going to cost to do a job right the first time, and not be nickeled and dimed ($100 at a time) forever. May even turn out that the bike isn't worth upgrading when the whole bill is laid out.

I have built almost all of my race rigs bit by bit. It does take research and planning. At the same time, the building is more than half the fun to me, so I look at it with a different perspective. If you are to pay shop labor for installing things, then yeah it is way cheaper to do it all at once. But if you do it yourself, sure there may be some screwups along the way, but you will learn in the process. In the long run that saves a lot. By doing bit by bit my rigs cost me less than 40 percent of the value of the parts normal price. And last I checked, 3rd place XC was a decent score😎

Conniebiker said:

I have built almost all of my race rigs bit by bit. It does take research and planning. At the same time, the building is more than half the fun to me, so I look at it with a different perspective. If you are to pay shop labor for installing things, then yeah it is way cheaper to do it all at once. But if you do it yourself, sure there may be some screwups along the way, but you will learn in the process. In the long run that saves a lot. By doing bit by bit my rigs cost me less than 40 percent of the value of the parts normal price. And last I checked, 3rd place XC was a decent score😎

Yeah, I put mine togehter cheap and a piece at a time too,but I also know what I'm doing. As another poster pointed out, knowing what it's going to cost upfront, the tools and expertise to do it right, or have someone else have to do it,can put a real big rainstorm on someones nice parade.....

Virtualmystic may have studied http://sheldonbrown.com/k7.html#up7 to get some ideas and as the number of speeds planned is not identified the ultegra 8 or 9 speed upgrade via ebay for near new item purchases seems do able and low cost. The shifters generally being the most costly item. I used to ride a Look carbon 105 14 speed bike and the rear wheel spacing made upgrades difficult, but was still fun to ride till the frame got soft 🙄. Should the rear wheel spacing be ok eg 130mm then upgrade kits for less than $300 are available online for all new components, shifters,chain, cogs and rings.

I also agree with getting a good tune up and riding the bike as it is. After getting some experience you will be able to plan better as to what upgrades you really want to spend the money on. I found that through the years my preferences changes a little, therefore my component selection (and frame selection).Its a constant learning process. If the bike needs some sizing changes you might upgrade those components. That brings up another point. If your not familiar with sizing it would be a good investment to first take the bike to a good shop and have them help you size it for yourself. You will get your moneys worth with a properly sized bike.

Thanks for all the replies to my question. I hope to learn as I go along. Actually I am planning to buy Ultegra parts, Double ChainRings, 9 (probably) or 10 speed sprockets, chain, BB etc as I find them on Ebay or elsewhere for a bargain but NOT fit them all until I have a complete set. I am just wondering if I have to upgrade the hubs and rims too. Being a rookie, there might be other considerations that I overlooked, but I am willing to learn. By the way, the whole bicycle except for the pedals was bought 2nd hand from a bike shop. I paid Malaysian $800 for the Proton frame ( i believe it is a rebadged Giant).

virtualmystic said:

Thanks for all the replies to my question. I hope to learn as I go along. Actually I am planning to buy Ultegra parts, Double ChainRings, 9 (probably) or 10 speed sprockets, chain, BB etc as I find them on Ebay or elsewhere for a bargain but NOT fit them all until I have a complete set. I am just wondering if I have to upgrade the hubs and rims too. Being a rookie, there might be other considerations that I overlooked, but I am willing to learn. By the way, the whole bicycle except for the pedals was bought 2nd hand from a bike shop. I paid Malaysian $800 for the Proton frame ( i believe it is a rebadged Giant).

A 9 or 10 speed shimano cassette fits on an 8 speed shimano hyperglide hub.