Hi everyone,

I'm planning my next roadbike from a 15 year old Pinarello running Ultegra 6600.

I'm slowly weighing up the options of buying complete vs building. I understand building will always be more expensive, but with recent price drops across the industry it's difficult to see the value in Chinese bikes.

Take this Merida Scultura 6000 as an example. $3,600 AUD for a bike with 105 di2 is a fantastic price. Cheapest complete 105 groupset down here is $2,000 AUD leaving me with $1,600 for basically everything else.

On the flip side, I'd buy a complete bike for $3,600 then be inclined to spend another ~$1000 on wheels and tyres. Plus a couple hundred on bits and pieces over time to have the bike fit just right.

If we look at a budget of $4,500 then a build from scratch could be much more feasible. 1k frame, 1k wheels, 2k groupset leaves $500 for all other bits. The shortfall being the lack of dealer support and manufacturer warranty.

I guess the question from all of this is: Financially, where does a Chiner build excel over a name brand, complete bike?

Hi all,

I have a running Ultegra SL, I'm pretty sure it's 6600. I'm in need of new chainrings but 130BCD is near impossible to find (and for a decent price).

There's a handful of 130 chainrings on AliExpress, but given the cost of a light crankset I'm considering whether to replace the whole unit.

What would you do?

Cheers

Amazing, thank you so much for all that info!

I can't believe there's next to no options for TT disc brakes. The shift to discs is such a shame.

Building up a rim brake TT bike, while cost effective and practical, leaves me with hesitation considering parts
Cheers

Ended up getting the Elita One 63D, paid about ~$30 aud for it and received in a week.
First impressions are it's quite impressive, it saves over 100g over my previous carbon wrapped aluminium seat post even though it's 50mm longer

Won't be able to ride it until early next week

Cheers

Hi everyone,

In the market for a zero offset seat post. Long story short, my current road bike I've had since a teenagee (30 now) is just too long for me.
I've changed saddle and the rails aren't long enough to push all the way forward. Being one of nostalgia, and given this bike has an exceptional amount of sentimental value I want to keep using what I have

Any recommendations on zero offset seat posts? This bike is circa 2009 so I'd assume the seat post diameter is 31.6mm?

Cheers

Does anyone have recommendations for women's bib shorts?

I just bought a haul of mens bibs from YKYWBike and I'm really impressed, so much so my partner now wants a couple pairs. I've found the women's side of bibs really lacking?? Apart from YKYW I've been looking at Cheji and Darevie - though without ordering those two brands I'm worried I'll set my partner up to fail

Hi,

I'm tossing up between these SuperTeam wheels https://a.aliexpress.com/_mNHmJL4 for about $575 AUD shipped

Or ProX r98 wheels for about $630 shipped. Not including taxes

The ProX has an engraved braking surface and their own hubs. Should I spend $80 odd more for ProX?

Cheers