Another upgrading thread.

[Owlie]

This conversation could probably be included in Owlie's other thread: http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=35960. Not necessarily any reason to have two such similar threads by the same poster going on at the same time

Hah, I completely forgot that I'd posted this. Posting while jet lagged is a bad thing! I plan on upgrading the Giant eventually, but the new bike would come first.

Catriona, I'm not such a purist that I won't mix component makes. I'd just want to put 105 or the equivalent on the bike. Whatever SRAM's or FSA's equivalent of 105 is fine. This will be a project bike--I'd be buying components one at a time. I'd really only be interested in changing the cassette, rear derailleur and shifters, at least initially. I'd like to change it to a 9- or 10-speed, hence the need to change the shifters.
The comfort thing...right now, I think the bike needs a little tweaking, but I'm talking more about things along the lines of, say, road vibration. It'll probably be more than it's worth to put carbon bars on it, wouldn't it?

[Cataboo]

Hah, I completely forgot that I'd posted this. Posting while jet lagged is a bad thing! I plan on upgrading the Giant eventually, but the new bike would come first.

Catriona, I'm not such a purist that I won't mix component makes. I'd just want to put 105 or the equivalent on the bike. Whatever SRAM's or FSA's equivalent of 105 is fine. This will be a project bike--I'd be buying components one at a time. I'd really only be interested in changing the cassette, rear derailleur and shifters, at least initially. I'd like to change it to a 9- or 10-speed, hence the need to change the shifters.
The comfort thing...right now, I think the bike needs a little tweaking, but I'm talking more about things along the lines of, say, road vibration. It'll probably be more than it's worth to put carbon bars on it, wouldn't it?

ha. I have carbon bars on my bikes. Totally worth it. My wrists are SO much happier. They do come up cheap sometimes on bonktown.com. Cheap is of course relative. YOu can also check ebay for them and geartrade.com

If you don't want to invest in carbon bars, especially on a bike that you might commute on - try looking for specialized handlebars with zertz inserts on ebay. People sell theirs after upgrading their bike and they usually don't sell for very much. Or specialized stems with zertz in them. The zertz work pretty well at dampening road vibrations. You can get buzzkill bar ends and try those. Gel padding is also very useful.

If you want to change to a 9 or 10 speed, I'd say probably go ahead and just do 10 speed - but you technically only have to change out the rear shifter & cassette at first. The derailleurs will probably work fine and you can upgrade them later over time.

you may luck out on ebay or craigslist with someone who has just upgraded their bike beyond 105 level.