Have a road bike with a full 105 drivetrain bar crankset and RS80 wheels and have taken to thinking of upgrading something. Not that I’m unhappy, I just know that at some point I’ll want to see something new on it.

If you had the same bike and were satisfied with everything else, Which Would You Upgrade First? Crankset or Wheels?

But you haven’t said what the crankset is or what you want to achieve from the upgrade?
How worn is the chainset?
Do you want different gearing etc?

Sorry, to a 105 crankset or better. Current is some unbranded Shimano crankset. 105 derailleurs, STI levers and unbranded brakes.

Want to lose some weight on the bike, perhaps a smoother ride.

Wheels for certain.

Would deep section rims make a difference? And do they need more maintenance? To be fair, the RS80s have been bombproof and have only needed trueing once in the 3 years I’ve had them.

Get a bike fit 😉

skills course and some picolax sachets ?

that‘s how stw I am

Wheels will make the biggest difference, deeps don’t need more msintanence but IMO unless you spend big money or never ride up hills I’d avoid. They’re generally heavier.

What do you weigh? superstar have some good looking 1500g for not much money currently.

105 cranks are certainly rather nicer than anything below them, but if your current cranks are HT2 they won’t make much difference in reality apart from being lighter and prettier.

105 brakes might well be rather better than unbranded ones.

If you want to affect the ride, it’s wheels. Not sure what RS80s are like, though – you might have to spend a pile to make a worthwhile improvement…

Tyres make a fair difference to ride, certainly they’re the first place to look if what you want is for it to be smoother. Tried GP4000S?

neither, go for tyres. Proper good tyres.

Don’t bother with your chainset until rings or BB wear out. Its often cheaper buying a new chainset than individual rings, and though I’ve not seen it for a while, some places include BB with a new chainset.

Wheels… don’t believe the hype. Better wheels are better but you have to spend a to of money to really feel a difference (at least I did) If the RS80’s are addequate stick with them. Easiest way to lose weight and get faster on a bike is ride more, so maybe some mud guards too.

Gp4000s fast rolling and no flats this year
Ultra remo even lighter but just as fragile as the super sonics they replaced

Tyres are not the most bling of upgrades but not to be over looked
That and maybe the brakes , great stopping power always give confidence

Weight is 66kg. Could probably drop 2-3kg, but I’m not exactly a “tons of fun” build! Currently put 200km a week. Could probably do 250km if I were a bit more committed, so I’m there or thereabouts on how much riding I want to fit in weekly. Will up this in spring/summer. Hopefully can do twice this in the summer.

Tyres. Got Continetal Gatorskins on at the moment. Road bike is also my commuter, so a bit shy of putting some fancy lightweight racing tyres on them. Skeptical of how much better GP4000s would be over Gatorskins, but I will think on it. There’s a pair of Aksiums with GP4000s I can borrow if I wanted to.

Looks like deep section rims are out then. Good. Don’t want to look like a poser.

And skills course for road riding? Would rather pedal harder and MTFU!

A pair of wheels with modern wide rims like Hed Ardennes on hope hubs. And don’t scrimp on the tyres either.

RS80s are ultegra level wheels and unless you spend a ridiculous amount of money you wouldn’t get that much of an upgrade

as the others have said, good tyres, good inner tubes

Whoops, they’re actually R500s!

Have taken a look at the Superstars and I reckon if I went wheel-wise then those would be what I’d go for.

How much difference is there between Gatorskins and GP4000s? Would it be noticeable?

I’m trying to recall whether the old Contis I had were Gatorskins or something else. But the difference between those and the GP4000S is night and day. They’re delightfully supple, at least by the standards of everything I’ve tried.

Time to ride them Aksiums with the GP4000s then.

Mechanic!