This is a sixteen pound Venge

This is a 15 pound Venge

The difference?

My switch from 105 to Ultegra is complete and dialed in. I’m heading out on a 70 mile ride this morning to test it out. Baptism by fire, baby.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t fit more than a couple of miles to test it yesterday, stinkin’ rained all day. Then it rained all last night for good measure.

The skinny

Okay, so I’ve got a new set of Ultegra shifters and two new 10sp derailleurs. I already had better brakes than the 105 or Ultegra offerings, a better chain, and vastly superior S-Works crankset with FSA chainrings.

The new components won’t make me faster, measurably, in any way. They won’t make me a better cyclist, in any measurable way. They will take my bike from an already skinny 15.9 pounds to, maybe, 15.5-ish, just over UCI legal and not bad for an aero-bike

I won’t climb a bit better or faster, I won’t sprint any better or faster. My bike won’t be any more comfortable and it really won’t look any better.

What they will do is allow me to install my old 105 components on my Trek, hopefully dropping considerable weight on that bike and making the current finicky triple a simple compact double. I will then be able to swap wheels between the two bikes without having to change cassettes, which will be awesome.

In other words, I upgraded the Venge to upgrade the Trek.

I also upgraded the Venge to see if I could. I did all of the work myself. Installed the derailleurs and dialed them in (easy), installed the shifters (very easy), and ran new internal cables (not close to easy) throughout. The trick was getting everything just right and working the internal cables through the frame. I’ve always been afraid of the internal routed cables. The mechanic who works on my Venge is exceptional, while I would more aptly be described as “recreational” in my ability. Not only did I get my bike to work properly, i had to work through a few mistakes to do it. The result is a good job and enough confidence to not be afraid anymore.

That’s a win-win if there ever was one.

Now, casual observers may wonder, “why go through all of that trouble for a few tenths of a pound?! Why not put the new components on the Trek and leave the Venge alone?” Allow me:

1. I’m an avid enthusiast. We do crazy $#!+ sometimes.
2. You can’t have better components on the B bike. That’s “can’t”, or in its unabbreviated form, “cannot”. That dot at the end of the word “cannot” is a period.
3. Dude, a few tenths is a few tenths!
4. The Venge will shift better. It won’t make me faster, it’ll improve the ride quality.
5. I could come up with a few more, but the first reason is good enough. The next three are icing.

UPDATE: Money.