Sharpy
Active Member
Nearly a year ago now I joined the road bike band wagon and I have loved every minute of it, I have created this thread to show you the progress my beloved bike has gone through right from day one. Enjoy 
Day one started out well with only a short ride from work to home I already noticed the difference between it made on the road compared to my mountain bike.
My first ride consisted of a familiar local route where I knew I could get used to the gearing and handling, the only hiccups consisted of the pain that trainers and caged pedals gave me which I knew where going to be changed sometime in the near future.
After the first week I persuaded a friend of mine to join the club and buy a road bike which he promptly did and with my new found competition we started attempting longer rides and improving from here.
A couple of weeks into riding and pay day arrived so it was time to start upgrading! I started off with the basics which came in the shape of some continental gatorskins which not only looked the part but there was a noticeable difference.
As the british summer rolled in it was quite obvious that the white finish kit was not going to stay clean forever so after a little hunting for a bargain I purchased a black saddle to go with bike. Along with the saddle I decided that I was getting fed up with the pedals so clip less pedals were a must so after a lot of research I bought some Look Keo Classics along with some Shimano R067's which worked a treat.
Like the saddle the tape was constantly grubby so out went that too, which was replaced with something comfier and more durable. Along with the bar tape an offer came up which I couldn't refuse, full 12k carbon forks that were half the weight of my current forks so they were purchased and installed.
A couple of months had now passed and I thought I would join in on the carbon front, new seat post and stem were on the agenda, and as I was already changing these I thought that I may as well upgrade the saddle too to something that looked the part.
http://tinypic.com/r/2ld7r6p/8
Now for all those reading who are looking for cheap carbon this stuff is very good!
By now the winter had drawn in and it was just too cold and slippery so the bike went away for the winter. But here is where it all changed, with the arrival of a carbon frame for my dad there came a decision of buying a complete group set, handlebars etc, or transferring everything from my bike to his and upgrading mine. With christmas around the corner I thought my bike was worthy of an upgrade.
So with some extra income I bought a complete ultegra group set, FSA carbon handle bars, a Garmin 800 and some Campagnolo Zonda wheels with Shimano free hub of course.. and here are the results..
She went out on her maiden voyage this afternoon and due to the poor weather was covered in mud and crap before I even knew it...
Thank you for reading
Day one started out well with only a short ride from work to home I already noticed the difference between it made on the road compared to my mountain bike.
My first ride consisted of a familiar local route where I knew I could get used to the gearing and handling, the only hiccups consisted of the pain that trainers and caged pedals gave me which I knew where going to be changed sometime in the near future.
After the first week I persuaded a friend of mine to join the club and buy a road bike which he promptly did and with my new found competition we started attempting longer rides and improving from here.
A couple of weeks into riding and pay day arrived so it was time to start upgrading! I started off with the basics which came in the shape of some continental gatorskins which not only looked the part but there was a noticeable difference.
As the british summer rolled in it was quite obvious that the white finish kit was not going to stay clean forever so after a little hunting for a bargain I purchased a black saddle to go with bike. Along with the saddle I decided that I was getting fed up with the pedals so clip less pedals were a must so after a lot of research I bought some Look Keo Classics along with some Shimano R067's which worked a treat.
Like the saddle the tape was constantly grubby so out went that too, which was replaced with something comfier and more durable. Along with the bar tape an offer came up which I couldn't refuse, full 12k carbon forks that were half the weight of my current forks so they were purchased and installed.
A couple of months had now passed and I thought I would join in on the carbon front, new seat post and stem were on the agenda, and as I was already changing these I thought that I may as well upgrade the saddle too to something that looked the part.
http://tinypic.com/r/2ld7r6p/8
Now for all those reading who are looking for cheap carbon this stuff is very good!
By now the winter had drawn in and it was just too cold and slippery so the bike went away for the winter. But here is where it all changed, with the arrival of a carbon frame for my dad there came a decision of buying a complete group set, handlebars etc, or transferring everything from my bike to his and upgrading mine. With christmas around the corner I thought my bike was worthy of an upgrade.
So with some extra income I bought a complete ultegra group set, FSA carbon handle bars, a Garmin 800 and some Campagnolo Zonda wheels with Shimano free hub of course.. and here are the results..
She went out on her maiden voyage this afternoon and due to the poor weather was covered in mud and crap before I even knew it...
Thank you for reading
