WWBTD With £500 To Spend?

“I always like to have a next purchase in mind, it seems to keep me focused on work and getting my bonuses. With that in mind I want to make the best of my two bikes.

If you had £500 to spend on improvements to my two, what would you do (not necessarily weight related)?

My thinking is some 50mm Farsports clinchers for the Cervelo, then swap the Prolite off of the Cervélo for the Khamsins on the Ribble… WWBTD?”

Frankly, personally… I think your focus is in the wrong place – a £500 wheelset isn’t going to make that much difference to either bike.  Visually, maybe, but not from a performance perspective.

Looking at your bikes (and I say this with the caveat that clearly I’ve never seen you and so am purely speculating) if you haven’t already done so I would spend a good portion of your budget getting a decent bike fitting done.  There are places that will do fittings for two bikes so that you can get both done at the same time and ensure your position is the same – or as near as damn it – on both.

Why do I say this?  Well, for one thing the saddle-to-bar drop on both bikes is significant.  If you’re very flexible and/or have long arms then this won’t be an issue (one thing that is good to see is that you’re running spacers so this clearly isn’t a ‘slam your stem’ thing [phew]).  The other thing I’m seeing is that the stem on the Cervélo looks to only be around 90mm, perhaps 100mm at best.  Knowing how Cervélos handle (I’ve had a Soloist Team and an R3 in the past) I would suggest that the handling with that short a stem is… lively, to say the least.  Finally, your saddles are both quite a long way forward.  Again, you may have short femurs or prefer your knee to be a little bit forward of your pedal spindle; but if this is being done to effectively shorten your reach then you’re possibly / probably riding in an inefficient position, and perhaps even risking injury.

If you’ve already done the fitting thing then ignore all of the above.  Read on for other considerations…

On the Cervélo you’re running an Ultegra crank with a Campag shifter and derailleur setup.  Sod changing your wheels sir, this is an abomination! I’d spend the entire budget on a replacement Campagnolo chainset, or something aftermarket that has no affiliation either way (Rotor 3D would seem the logical solution for a Cervélo).  Mixing groupset components is a complete no-no.  It’s not a ‘rules’ thing, it’s just plain WRONG!

In all honesty, that aside I think I’d probably hold onto your money until you can do something with it that will make a bigger impact.  Cheap carbon clinchers sound like a really bad idea to me, and whilst the difference in weight will probably be noticeable it wouldn’t be a huge difference (I’d guess at 150-200g at best?) and it’s arguable whether that difference would be actual or perceived.

Patience is a virtue.  Admittedly one that I don’t really have… but if you can do as I say rather than do as I do, and hold onto that money for a bit longer you could find yourself owning a really nice set of wheels that actually will make a difference to the looks, feel and weight of the bike.