Upgrade steel frame vs new bike

[ilima]

I think the shop is right. That being said, only you can decide whether it's "worth it" to upgrade your frame. Nothing wrong with steel. I just bought a brand spanking new steel road frame this year. But you don't seem particularly enamored of the frame, calling it 'nothing special'.

Do the math and then decide whether it is "worth it" to you. To upgrade to a ten-speed gearing you'd need to replace the STI shifters ($300), crankset+bottom bracket ($200+), cassette ($80), front derailleur ($40), rear derailleur ($80), chain ($30), plus labor to take off the old parts and put on the new ones ($150+). That's a lot of moola.

As to the Madone, $2K doesn't seem like such a great deal given the Madone changed drastically for 2008. It's not a bad deal, just doesn't seem like anything special. If the shop will swap out the stock wheels for a set of Ksyrium SLs or upgrade you to the Shimano tubeless wheels for a couple hundred bucks more, that would be a decent deal.

[dex]

Since you want to stick with Campy, I'd suggest contacting Branford Bike to get a good picture of what would need to be changed out in your current setup to achieve what you want. They're considered by many to be Campy experts. (http://www.branfordbike.com/)

Also, eBay and ProBikeKit are both good places to find good prices on parts.

Good luck!