The budget has finally been approved by High Command for Operation New Roadie, so plans are underway.

I have about £1500. Ideally I’m after a Ritchey Road Logic (which I can get for about £630) and a Force groupset (£575), which leaves me about £300 for, well, everything else, which feels a bit tight…

I know Ultegra is cheaper, but the crank is fugly…

Shimano R501 Wheels, £80

That leaves you with £70 for the rest which is, to say the least, ambitious. If you have a reasonably well stocked spares box it is certainly possible but it’s not going to be very good stuff if you’re buying new.

Edit, ignore me, for some reason I thought you had written £150 budget. In that case, yes, yes you’re fine. I am an idiot.

Wouldn’t they leave me £220 for the rest..? Or am I missing something?

Eh? You mean £220 for everything else. Which seems doable…

Mavic Aksium wheels from broadribs for 144. That includes tyres. Pro plt bars and stem and a cheap saddle to finish it off. Upgrade the saddle after a few weeks because ‘the one you got is horrible’! Slip it in under the radar and jobs a good un.

what sizes ae you after? I have some bits that I could do you cheaply.

Thing is, the post/bars/stem need to be Ritchey really…

Why?

donor bike?

😀

To match the frame. Yes, it is a bit tarty.

Sokin / Mr Ride / novatec / unbranded hubs off ebay for £60/pair, DT Rev’s, A23/archetypes, should be ~£180 , Continental ‘sport’ tyres made in the East aren’t bad IMO another £25/pair, Ritchey alloy bar/stem/post to match the frame, WCS might be a stretch for all three and a saddle < £100 though.

What about a 105 or ultegra groupset without the crank (it’s usualy not actualy a discount buying the groupset, maybe the cost of cables), and get a crank from elsewhere if you want soemthing more traditional looking? Depends if you actualy like SRAM/Shimano shifting but a 5800 groupset is £300 less than force, even 6800 is £100 less! Which makes the budget more manageable. Old dura ace square taper cranks would look good?

Or retro-new? http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CSHOCNC/holdsworth-retro-crankset

Well I wouldnt. I think it would make it look a bit cheap. But that’s just me I suppose. Each to their own.

Binners, I thought/hoped that was going to be link to a Classifieds ad for Hora’s 🙂

Give it an hour or two 😉

Yeah, I thought about the Ultegra miunus the crank option. Maybe I’ll look at pricing the bits up separately.

Who are the usual suspects for good deals on that kind of stuff? Merlin? Probikekit? Ze Jermans?

I looked at it a while back, merlin were as cheap as the germans (or within a tenner or so).

I have a wcs bar stem(110) and post 31.6 (post is short) I am about to take off the Ribble Gran Fondo I will be splitting this week. I also have a used but perfect condition set of the 32 spoke PX road wheels that weigh a mere 100g. Just saying….

Mr Spoon; can you point me in the direction of these Novatec wheels please?

Can do you some new Ultegra 6800 wheels with new Bonty R3’s and a Ritchey WCS stem for £260, got a new Selle Italian saddle I can chuck in as well. Email address in profile if you’re interested. Only selling wheels after one ride as I got some carbon clinchers I couldn’t say no to 😆

Some of you have mail…

Don’t bother with the Force stuff, get Rival instead (or Ultegra). Spending on wheels, tyres and finishing kit is more important.

Have a look on Merlin. Currently they have a sale on Shimano wheels.

RS21s £124

Shimano 105 Groupsets also at very low prices:

OEM 105

If you went with the 105 Groupset you’d be able to get better wheels which would make a bigger difference than going up a groupset.

Finishing kit – Deda or 3T are good choices.

Ribble

Richey bars stem and post, mavic aksium one wheels, continental gatorskins and a charge saddle £300.

I agree with others though go 105 and spend more on wheels/bits.

I got used ritchey wcs bars and stem and planet x carbon seatpost for less than £60, saddle was the absolute cheapest specialized did and is actually really comfortable, tyres and tubes were decent and came to about £50, so I would say that lot is doable for about £130 but you won’t get a brilliant set of wheels for what’s left over

imo if the ultegra is cheaper then go for it, or even 105, I’ve just switched from last years rival to the new 105 and the perfomance difference is unbelievable, I think the 4 arm cranks look brilliant too

that reminds me, I saw a deal recently for full ultegra 6800 group AND ultegra wheels and it was £600 or so

Merlin had full ultegra and wheels at 675 iirc

So, I’ve had a bit of a rethink and have some more fag packet calcs:

Frame – £635
Ultegra group – £450 from Ribble
Wheels – Something like Ultegras for £250 (Merlin) or Fulcrum Racing 3s for £315 (Ribble or Merlin)

That leaves £100 – £170 for everything else. Sounds much better.