I have a carbon gravel bike that I love and I’ve have spent a lot of time (and money) upgrading over the past few years. It’s one of my prized possessions and as a result I’m never comfortable keeping it out of site, regardless of the chains/locks I’ve invested in. This is not that bike. This is a bike I’ve recently put together that I can leave chained up and not stress about. This is my new (to me) budget road bike.
Like many of you, I keep an eye on my local used bike market for fun. That’s where I saw this bike in its stock spec for $200. I had to drive a few hours round trip to get it, but it was worth the deal. It had some sticky muck on the drivetrain but I didn’t care and didn’t ask because I knew I was going to rebuild/grease the everything as part of the tune up anyway. A little bit of dish soap cleaned everything easily. Coincidentally my dedicated Zwift bike has 9 speed Sora, so I had some spare parts in the bike shed just waiting around. I was able to put on a fresh chain and a cassette with a wider range, and I already had the top tube bag and pedals. I also already had the spare Elite Wheels carbon tubeless wheel set as an easy swappable set for my gravel bike to become a road bike, so I put them permanently on this bike. Fortunately they came with hub adapters to be either thru axels or quick release. As far as the new things, I upgraded to a carbon seat post, 3D printed saddle, carbon stem (-17 degree), carbon handlebars that internally route the cables out under the stem, a hidden airtag stemcap, spare derailleur hangers, and cable actuated hydraulic brakes, all very inexpensive from AliExpress (under $170 for everything). Thanks to creators like TraceVelo on youtube for inspiring these budget upgrades. From amazon I got the new bar tape, bottle cage mounted pump, a 180mm rotor, and adapter for the flat mount brake to work on the post mount rear (which required upping to a 180mm rotor), and the new cables for the derailleurs and brakes ($92). So all totaled, a pretty decent budget road bike that only cost me $462. If we count the stuff I already had like wheel set, tires, valves, sealant, chain, cassette, and frame bag, adds another $600 of value. Still a pretty great deal if you ask me and I’m way more comfortable leaking this bike properly chained up instead of my gravel bike that is 4x that price. In the bit of riding I’ve done with it since getting it built up, I’ve PR’d some of my regular flat and climbing segments, so it’s proven itself as a capable steed to boot. Down the road I’ll probably upgrade to a 11 speed R7000 Shimano 105 group set, which is around $250 on AliExpress. Until then, it’s great for now!
TLDR: Have an expensive bike but wanted a cheap one for the ability to lock it up with less value at stake. Used bike cost $200 + $262 in new parts + extra parts already on hand of around $600.
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I have a carbon gravel bike that I love and I’ve have spent a lot of time (and money) upgrading over the past few years. It’s one of my prized possessions and as a result I’m never comfortable keeping it out of site, regardless of the chains/locks I’ve invested in. This is not that bike. This is a bike I’ve recently put together that I can leave chained up and not stress about. This is my new (to me) budget road bike.
Like many of you, I keep an eye on my local used bike market for fun. That’s where I saw this bike in its stock spec for $200. I had to drive a few hours round trip to get it, but it was worth the deal. It had some sticky muck on the drivetrain but I didn’t care and didn’t ask because I knew I was going to rebuild/grease the everything as part of the tune up anyway. A little bit of dish soap cleaned everything easily. Coincidentally my dedicated Zwift bike has 9 speed Sora, so I had some spare parts in the bike shed just waiting around. I was able to put on a fresh chain and a cassette with a wider range, and I already had the top tube bag and pedals. I also already had the spare Elite Wheels carbon tubeless wheel set as an easy swappable set for my gravel bike to become a road bike, so I put them permanently on this bike. Fortunately they came with hub adapters to be either thru axels or quick release. As far as the new things, I upgraded to a carbon seat post, 3D printed saddle, carbon stem (-17 degree), carbon handlebars that internally route the cables out under the stem, a hidden airtag stemcap, spare derailleur hangers, and cable actuated hydraulic brakes, all very inexpensive from AliExpress (under $170 for everything). Thanks to creators like TraceVelo on youtube for inspiring these budget upgrades. From amazon I got the new bar tape, bottle cage mounted pump, a 180mm rotor, and adapter for the flat mount brake to work on the post mount rear (which required upping to a 180mm rotor), and the new cables for the derailleurs and brakes ($92). So all totaled, a pretty decent budget road bike that only cost me $462. If we count the stuff I already had like wheel set, tires, valves, sealant, chain, cassette, and frame bag, adds another $600 of value. Still a pretty great deal if you ask me and I’m way more comfortable leaking this bike properly chained up instead of my gravel bike that is 4x that price. In the bit of riding I’ve done with it since getting it built up, I’ve PR’d some of my regular flat and climbing segments, so it’s proven itself as a capable steed to boot. Down the road I’ll probably upgrade to a 11 speed R7000 Shimano 105 group set, which is around $250 on AliExpress. Until then, it’s great for now!
TLDR: Have an expensive bike but wanted a cheap one for the ability to lock it up with less value at stake. Used bike cost $200 + $262 in new parts + extra parts already on hand of around $600.