Top 5 | Expensive Road Bike Upgrades You Don't Need 2020
Top 5 | Expensive Road Bike Upgrades You Don't Need 2020
Whether it’s cool to admit it or not, upgrading your bike can be an addictive pastime. But some upgrades are more cost effective than others, so here are 5 we think most of us don’t really need.
Before we get on with the show, remember, bikes are meant to be fun, so don’t worry if you have one of these upgrades, we do too, all that matters is you’re enjoying your riding.
Let us know which upgrade you’d put on this list.
Justin Setterfield / Staff
Tim de Waele / Staff
Top 5 | 2021 Road Bike Trends
→ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2naBg…
Top 5 | Cheap Road Bike Upgrades That Will Make Your Bike Better
→ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXadzfpLuVs&t=1s
Follow BikeRadar on our social media channels:
→ https://instagram.com/bikeradar
→ https://facebook.com/bikeradar
→ https://twitter.com/bikeradar
BikeRadar is supported by Mountain Biking UK and Cycling Plus Magazine –
For more information and to subscribe please visit
→ https://bit.ly/38NBrxZ
For more content like this see our latest subscription offer –
→ https://www.cyclingplus.com/subscribe-today/
→ https://www.mbuk.com/subscribe-today/
#roadtech #buyingadvice #bikeradartop5
1. Unless you are a top echelon racer, any indexed groupset is perfectly fine.
Carbon Bars by Ritchey, especially with a “flat” top surface. I ride Gravel bikes and the flat surface under the new tape took a lot of the pain from the beating away! $105 US. Great investment! Ride Hard-Live Long!!!
Expensive kit is where I save money. Some lesser known manufacturers like Santic or lower end from the big companies or clearance rack stuff. I can’t justify $300 for a set of bibs that will end up in the bin the 1st time I fall.
Double-wrap your bars, or gel pads. Way-easier/cheaper than carbon bars! 9n my Specialized Roubaix, anyway.
Ohhh…better padded gloves big-enough to fit properly. And bibb-britches, too!
Still trying to decide on the best horn or bell 🙂
Wanna know if a light extra will make you faster? Do a time trial with 2 full bottles. Do it again later without bottles. Faster? Didn’t think so.
3:14 Remortgage my house? What house?
Indeed 💯
No mention of clothing?
Carbon fiber bottle holder
Best upgrade .loose weight,and don’t be a bike snob 😂
Most cost efficient aero upgrade for me – fitted and quality jersey and shorts / tights. Aero efficient clothing can be ver costly – like those track clothing, yet they save the most aero dragging. Being a 40-year-old man and ride at 20mph pace, normal shorts and Tees (fitting once, not relaxed) makes -1.5mph compared to a well fitted jersey + shorts. Same man, same bike, same route and weather condition (around home), AB tested tens of times. No bike upgrade will make such difference – except, say, lower drop bar to make a more aggressive form.
All i want to change is my thump shifter to sti cause my bike is an old bike passed down
Anything that the pros use for free! Advertising implies that we need to use it as well. When you do not cycle for a living, also have to pay for yourself, you don’t need to have that lastest piece of gear on a bloody club CAFE run on a SUNDAY! I never needed to save 3 secs per 1 km on a 300 km audax ride, training ride, my guess is that you don’t either.
I prefer upgrading my weight!loosing pounds while building up your stamina and strength.Thats the best upgrade
2:11 re 3: where do Hambini’s BB rank
1,000% right…. But I still want carbon wheels.
These are all 100% necessary. Stop being cheap.
Heres a tip, if you have 105, upgrade to a Dura Ace chain. It’s a lighter chain with a better finish, and only few bucks more expensive than the 105 chain.
It’s all about the rider and his or her thigh… saving that 100-400g or even a kilo isn’t going to make any average rider 10km/h faster or 10mins faster. Please just work on yourselves before upgrading your bike. Simple logic, if you weigh 150kg with a BMI of 35, how much faster do you think you can go even if you are on a Pinarello F8 or a Giant Propel SLR? Work on your own physique and power, train your endurance and strength and THEN maybe when you are at your best form, you can think about how to breakthrough your limit with that extra bit of overpriced weight saving parts on your bike. That’s the blunt truth and fact and it’s the same for any type of sports. Have you ever seen a typical couch potato wearing a $800 swimming trunk and swim as fast as an Olympic swimmer who is wearing a swimming trunk from Costco? NO!
The point is, if you’re not racing, you don’t even need a new bike. I still use a 1984 frame with Shimano 600 EX, which was quite good at the time. If it was good then, it is still good now for amateur touring. I don’t mind the weight, or the shifters on the frame, the goal is to give it my 100% on the road, and the bike is working like a charm.
The biggest air brake is the rider who is potentially a barn door as far as drag is concerned 🙄
You should demonstrate qualification for the Tour de France to get allowed to purchase anything above Shimano 105.
You forgot about how coco puff just dont taste the same no moreee….
I am in the process of upgrading from Sora to 105 based on a genuine need for more bloody gears… the last few sportifs I have done have seen me run out of gears on the climbs. So 105 front and back will do me. Love my Boardman 8.6 Alu its bomb proof, changed to a decent set of Mavic Askiums front and back, decent tyres and now all I have to loose is a couple of stone and I can smash the whippets on the climbs….. as long as I can double back on myself to scrape my lungs off the tarmac 1st 🙂
I guess aero is not everything.
No café stops during rides is a surefire way to not get fat of all the cake you’re eating and hence it’ll make you faster
well atleast i will never upgrade my handle bars because there already carbon when i got it
A bicycle arms race. These days it’s a good thing I’m too old and slow for these upgrades. I’d rather have a Rolls Royce with pedals than a Ferrari with pedals.
This is almost spot on correct. Get a great frame without compromise, great wheels that are aero dynamic enough but light hoops, and the rest is bling. Its not about the weight on the handle bars but rigidity and comfort. Flats are nice for the comfort alone.
Oh the vast gulf between need and want. I want the best of everything but only need good enough to get me out with the pals. Speed is left behind.
If you are slow, the best fastest upgrade for your bike is a new rider.
Even a decent alloy handlebar can make ones hands feel arthritic. Carbon bars all the way.
why does everyone say carbon bars are not worth it because of the marginal weight gains? no mention of the improved ride quality that carbon offers? or is the equally marginal?
Put a pro rider on an 80’s Schwinn and race them on your 8k bike. I guarantee you will lose every time.
How big is a large ?
I got Carbon Bars from Wiggle, Prime so not too heaby on price. these made a realy diference on road buzz on the bars. Carbon bars soaked up the bux a lot more than allu. Worth the change for me.
All upgrades are inevitable, when you have excess money. Every premium products target those affluent super rich.
Aero sock
The best upgrade would be taking the typo out of the thumbnail of this video, you can only use which if preceded by a comma, otherwise it’s that. I thought that professional journalists worked for BikeRadar, but apparently not.
What brand is the burgundy bike?
While I understand the nature of this video at its core, sometimes upgrades are just for me. I have expensive carbon wheels, the highest-end drivetrain, and carbon bars. They make my bike really light and comfortable, but they also make me happy knowing how nice they are and how nice they make my bike look.
Shimano 105: Groupset of the people!
This video is not great, how about reduced vibration and improved comfort from carbon bars and wheels? How about durability?
This whole video is subjective. Tubeless tires aren’t for everyone and in the essence of the video why not suggest tubular wheels as they are often cheaper and again more durable..
The video should be titled if you don’t want to spend too much here’s some upgrades for you, not here’s the worst upgrades because again completely subjective
Get your upgrades of FB market place. Upgrade from Reebok to Carrera no questions asked 😂
for me it’s the motivation of being back on a bike after 20 years I was hit by car in 2004 and I have not been comfortable riding a road bike but I have bought a new road bike and I’m going all out so I’m going all out to get my motivation back together so there’s no way you can say that somebody is buying something that doesn’t motivate them. I ride my bike every time I feel motivated to forget good night almost lost my life so there’s no value of filling motivated. by the way I just spent $1,000 on some handlebars bitch
upgrading from rimbrake to diskbrake fitted frame (to me) is the most unnecessary for ordinary mortal cyclist like me .. 🙃
Upgrading to carbon seatpost or carbon handlebar for comfort?
What do you think about our list? Can you think of any upgrades we missed? Lets us know in the comments!
I upgraded my handlebar to a carbon alternative, this was too get better vibration absorption, not primarily to lose weight.
The nice thing about being into bikepacking rather than road cycling is that I focus on logical and sensible upgrades, like that frame bag I totally need cause it just looks so cool, or that awesome anodized titanium bottle cage that I most definitely need cause it’s just better than my current plastic one because reasons.