Best Way to Upgrade Road Bike Components

Upgrading the components on a road bike oddly has some stigma attached to it. It’s true in 99% of cases that it’s easier to improve your riding performance by riding more, improving your fitness levels, and it’s easier to drop a couple of pounds from your waistline than investing in super lightweight carbon components. It’s clear then, that there is a sensible approach and strategy to upgrading the components on your road bike, and you will be pleased to know it’s really easy to justify upgrading various parts and components across your bike.

The first justification to upgrading parts on your road bike is simple; you are allowed to treat your bike to new components, and it’s also good practice to give yourself a pat on the back for all your training by indulging in some new components to make your bike custom to you. Even better, if your bike is a few years old or is particularly well ridden, upgrading and replacing components is even easier to justify, when you consider that existing components on your bike will benefit from replacement.

Below, we run through some of the best ways to upgrade your road bike.

Road Bike tyres are amongst one of the most important components of your road bike, and they are a component which is most readily and frequently replaced. The importance of choosing the right tyre is underlined by the fact that tyres are the only contact that you and your road bike has with the road. One of the most common upgrades that road riders choose to do when replacing their tyres, is choosing a tyre which has puncture protection built in - which protects the tyre from some of the most common causes of punctures.

Upgrading the wheels on your Road Bike is one of the most expensive, but worthwhile component upgrades you can make. Lighter wheels can make a difference to your performance, and carbon wheels provide stronger performance, compared to older models. Newer, lightweight wheels reduce rotational weight, which means quicker climbing, as well as improvements in cornering and coasting performance.

A great way of deciding on what component upgrade to make next on your road bike, is to consider the contact points between you and your bike. This naturally leads us into considering a saddle upgrade. There’s a massive array of bike saddles for sale, with ultra lightweight saddles available for competitive riders, right across to saddles designed for maximum comfort levels - helping reduce the effects and chances of experiencing dreaded saddle discomfort.

Continuing on the theme of contact points on your bike, the handlebar is the next component to look at upgrading. The use of carbon fibre in handlebar design, has really revolutionised the way that handlebars are both designed and manufactured. As well as being designed in a range of new formats and shapes for increased comfort, carbon fibre is also really effective at reducing the amount of vibrations that comes through the handlebar, cutting down on muscle fatigue and what can feel like repetitive strain. As well as providing greater comfort, these handlebars also save a massive amount of weight, achieving weight figures which cannot be rivalled by alloy handlebars.

Although not considered a traditional road bike component, upgrading your bike computer/GPS is a fantastic way to track your performance and rides. These GPS units can really revolutionise how you ride, not only letting you know where you are travelling to and from - but also distance covered, calories burnt etc… making every ride that little bit more rewarding.

At Westbrook Cycles, we stock and supply a fantastic range of upgraded road bike components, as well as a massive collection of stock and OEM road bike parts, so if your bike has suffered from wear and tear - we can provide stock parts from our extensive stock.