I have a GT grade tiagra, I’ve upgraded the wheel to kinesis crosslight with Ti skewers and light rotors and lighter tyres. I’ve also fitted a carbon seat post and a ti railed saddle and a 105 chainset. To save any further weight would involve a new fork at which point there would very little of the original bike left.

Instead I was thinking of buying a summer road something like a Defy Advanced 1 or a Defy 0 and use the grade for bikepacking and as a winter road bike. But I started thinking about fit the Grade is by far and away the comfiest road bike I’ve every had it fits me perfectly i did 140 mile audax and 100 miles and 4000 metres of climbing in the Pyrenees and had no back or neck pain.

Does it make sense to buy last years GT grade Sora for £500 sell everything except the frame, stem and flared bars. Stick an Ultegra hydro groupset and Kinesis tripster full carbon fork and the nice bits of my Grade. I reckon it would be sub 9kg and fit me perfectly with a good spec and would about cost £1300 before I sold the bits of the Sora.

The Kinesis fork has the same rake and is tapered like the grade is there any reason why it wouldn’t fit ?

Just got to convince the wife this is a good idea

I’ve done much the same with my grade – the 105 one. Bought on bikes to work, I’ve changed the chainset to ultegra, the seatpost to a salsa ti one and the saddle to a fabric job. It’s perfect now although I’d like full hydros rather than the trp’s and a pair of those zipp service course disc wheels

I can’t see the point in having two – just upgrade the one you have with some nice kit or buy something completely different. If you have a second bike similar to the first you’ll just use the winter one all year round. Or save up and get the carbon one!

Madness. For £1300 you could get something cool like a Cannondale Supersix.

Does it make sense to buy last years GT grade Sora for £500 sell everything except the frame, stem and flared bars. Stick an Ultegra hydro groupset and Kinesis tripster full carbon fork and the nice bits of my Grade. I reckon it would be sub 9kg and fit me perfectly with a good spec and would about cost £1300 before I sold the bits of the Sora.

It does make lots of sense, But then…

just upgrade the one you have with some nice kit or buy something completely different. If you have a second bike similar to the first you’ll just use the winter one all year round. Or save up and get the carbon one!

Also makes total sense…

On Balance I would suggest you apply your suggested upgrades to your existing grade, perhaps have a couple of different wheelsets for the different uses you have in mind? One lightweight and svelte, one heavier and robust for loaded up trips…

Flogging off the tiagra kit might generate a wee bit more surplus funds, keeping the missus on side and/or helping finance some bikepacking kit or trips away with your lovely bike…

What do you want from your bike(s)? Or do you just want to spend money?

It won’t be difficult to get a road bike to fit like your grade. It’s just numbers.

But I wouldn’t be as comfortable on the supersix, my rides are sometimes 10 hours plus in the saddle I’ve had racier bikes in the past and not been happy with them.

I like Cannodales but like slippers i prefer something comfy than cool. Plus I don’t think the supersix has hyro brakes and a 1500g wheelset.
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After this winter riding in all the shit I thought i would be worth having a summer and winter road bike one with 28mm tyres, full guards, sturdy wheels and one lighter with nicer wheels etc. I could get a different bike but as everyone says comfort comes first I thought i could be worth sticking with the Grade

I did something similar with my Diverge.

Super cheap A1 Sora model. Loved it. It felt perfect shape and size and fit.

So I bought

Kenesis Wheels
11spd 105
Hydros
SWorks Post
Ultegra SPD SLs

The whole thing has cost me maybe £1200 all in.

Post some pics of your GT, then everyone can tell you what to upgrade.

105 chainset not the lightest.

It’s a tiny bit lighter than the Ultegra but half the price.

£ for lbs it’s the best choice.

Upgrade what you have.

Use the wheels you have for bad weather and others for nice.

Spec down the chain/cassette if you have too for winter.

Keep it clean and all will be fine.

my rides are sometimes 10 hours plus in the saddle I’ve had racier bikes in the past and not been happy with them. I like Cannodales but like slippers i prefer something comfy than cool

I’ve done over 24 hours of saddle time a couple of times on my CAAD9, and plenty of other >10h rides, and it’s been beautifully comfortable. Fit is everything. YMMV, I guess.

Anyway, returning to your original question: I have a pair of bikes both based on a platform similar to the Grade. One is built as an “all-road”/CX bike and the other as a dedicated tarmac bike with rather lighter kit. Works for me. If a platform works for you, why not use it for two bikes? Just make sure you do actually have a valid reason to have both bikes: I’ve had a winter road bike and a summer road bike for a few years now, but I’ve been itching to merge them into one. If it wasn’t for enjoying going off-road with drop bars, I’d have no need for two.

Campag Athena chainset/bb over 200g lighter than 105

Not much good if everything else is Shimano and that kind of thing bothers you.

It would bother me.

i’m not that light so I don’t think a few grams won’t make a difference. A winter drive train is another option. I

From your 1st post it sounded like you wanted to make your bike lighter.

I’d just stick to one bike you seem very happy with it.

Or save for a carbon one!

+1 for an additional set of nicer wheels.

Why not change the fork to a lighter model?

Have you ridden a Defy ? Reputability one of the comfiest bikes around, it might be better than the Grade….