2018 Emonda Sl5 Upgrades?

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ANo
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Sep 07, 2018 3:46 am

by ANo

Bought bike a little over a year ago when it first came out. Currently has 105 and all aluminum parts. Only changes made include swapping the wheels for a pair of 808 firecrests.
Want to make the bike lighter and also more aero.
What are my best bang for buck upgrades to improve this?

by Weenie


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FIJIGabe
Posts: 2241
Joined: Tue Sep 11, 2012 6:07 pm
Location: The Lone Star State

by FIJIGabe

Sell the 808's. Seriously, those things are almost 1900g. If you're riding an Emonda, aerodynamics isn't your top priority, weight is. Go with a set of 303's, or look at Hambini's aero post and pick something in the <50mm category. You'll get some aero benefit without the weight. A set of 303's will drop around 400g (and you can probably sell the 808's to some triathlete who wants bigger wheels).

Change your components to at least Ultegra (or Dura Ace, if you can afford it). If you want to drop more weight, go SRAM Red. Next, concentrate on contact points: saddle, bar/stem (you can go with the SLR seatpost, but it's only 9g saved, so not high on the list of weight savings).

Alexandrumarian
Posts: 795
Joined: Mon Mar 28, 2016 6:34 pm
Location: Romania

by Alexandrumarian

I rode one of these (stock wheels) and was totally impressed. Very stable, solid and smooth on good tarmac. Disregarding the weight, 105 shifts nicely so a lot - lot of bike for the money. But once the surface turned to rough, the front was terribly harsh. So perhaps I'd first look for a carbon bar and stem. Something like the Easton E100 will save 135g over the cheap alloy bar.

alcatraz
Posts: 4064
Joined: Mon Aug 29, 2016 11:19 am

by alcatraz

Hambini measured bontrager xxx 60 wheels as very competitive aerodynamically, and they are light.

Swap to carbon stem/bars. Swap seat.

Put some light brake calipers on. Get a dura-ace crank maybe. Get a sram red cassette.

Or swap to sram red components. The shifters alone are 150gr lighter and thats compared to ultegra.

With some upgrades there is a performance penalty. To avoid penalty you either have to go very expensive or reduce the weight savings.

Making it aero is all about your fit. You just need to get into a more extreme position without losing more power output than you save in drag.

/a

alcatraz
Posts: 4064
Joined: Mon Aug 29, 2016 11:19 am

by alcatraz

I forgot to write that the cheapest places to lose weight are tires, skewers, inner tubes.... rim tape... bar tape... cable housing.

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nickf
Posts: 1428
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2010 10:34 pm

by nickf

Grab a uno stem off ebay for $20. Wheels for sure, zipp wheels in general are porky as hell even the 303.

by Weenie


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jeepntrek
Posts: 21
Joined: Wed Jul 25, 2018 11:23 pm

by jeepntrek

i am flying around on an Emonda ALR. I picked all components so i didnt “waste” money on a stock bike that i would instantly upgrade anyways.

went Bontrager carbon wheels, bars, seatpost, seat (well, rails at least?), Bontrager supertack bartape, Ultegra hydraulic disc groupset (53/39!) with Dura-Ace rotors. All worth the money to me, but the wheels would be the choice outta the group if i had to pick one thing i feel makes the biggest difference in terms of upgrade.

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