Your best cycling upgrade? We asked, you answered

What has been your best cycling upgrade this year? That’s the question we asked you on Facebook this week, and the responses came flooding in.

Everything from new groupsets to wheels, tyres to power meters, were among the most popular upgrades. Here are some of the best and most interesting upgrades you’ve been making this year.

Jamie Batabyal upgraded his groupset. “Shimano 105 5800. Astoundingly good upgrade from Claris,” he says.

We reviewed the new 105 groupset and found it to offer excellent performance for the money. It's a really good choice for the price.

Gary Miller has been really busy, with an extensive upgrade of his Giant Defy training bike. Shimano Tiagra has been replaced with new SRAM Force and he’s also upgraded the wheels (Fulcrum) and saddle (Specialized Romin). The aim? To make it feel similar to his SRAM Red-equipped Specialized race bike.

Neil Robertson and Ben Standen both upgraded to Campagnolo Zonda wheels.  “Only 30/40 miles on them so far but they are sooooo much better than my stock wheels!” says Ben. He sounds happy with his upgrade.

Wheels turned out to be one of the most popular component upgrades. Graeme Lee upgrade to Shimano Dura-Ace C50 wheels. Mavic Ksyrium wheels were Harry Flynn’s upgrade, while Jason Johnson went with Shimano R501 wheels with 25mm Continental tyres. Brandon Copeland opted for a pair of Reynolds Strike SLG clincher wheels.

Gary Harvey, meanwhile, went with hand-built wheels. “H Plus Son Archetype Rims, hand built with CX Ray Spokes onto DT Swiss 240 Hubs, all wrapped up with Vittoria Open Pave CG 25mm Tyres and Continental Super Sonic Tubes. Oh, and Swiss Stop Pads. Great looking. Smooth, fast and pretty much bombproof for British Roads.”

Wider tyres are proving a popular upgrade. Steve Dixon has upgraded to Continental GP4000 S tyres in 28mm width and says he’s “floating down the road on them.” Well, we've also trumpeted the magic carpet ride of wider tyres.

Tyres are always a good upgrade for any bike. Everyone knows that, the tyres can really influence the ride of the bike. Finlay MacArthur treated himself to some Vittoria Pave CG Open Clincher tyres and says they’re “Fantastic on corners and a revelation on climbs.” We reviewed the same tyres recently and can wholeheartedly agree.

Aero helmets are another popular upgrade. The Giro Air Attack, one of the first aero road helmets when it was released a few years ago, appears to be a popular choice. Finlay MacArthur says: “Love my Air attack helmet, not seen a better looking helmet on the market.”

Bike fitting services have sprung up all over the country in the last couple of years. Alastair Jones has invested in one. "Getting a pro bike fitting from someone based at Manchester Velodrome," he says. "Knee no longer hurts and can spend longer in the saddle.”

And while bike fits can seem expensive, Alastair points out that it costs the same as four trips to the physio so in the long-term, it’s probably a good investment, and a noteworthy upgrade if you want to ride faster and/or more comfortably.

Can a carbon fibre seatpost really make much difference over an aluminium one? Ian Ross reckons so. He tells us he upgraded to an S-Works carbon seatpost and a Fizik Arione saddle and says it “smooths out even the bumpiest roads.”

Disc brakes were such a common upgrade as we thought they might be, but Warren Cox upgrade to Shimano Ultegra hydraulic disc brakes. Impressed he sounds, saying: “Consistent wet braking and much smoother cadence steps between gears.”

Quite a few of you have been investing in power meters. Tom Simmons upgraded to Garmin Vector 2S power meter pedals. Joe Fisher went for Stages Cycling power meter. Kittiwat Sanguandikul upgraded to Rotor Inpower and says he can now "move ahead with my training." And that's just the tip of the iceberg. 

The best upgrade though is the one that doesn’t cost any money.

“My best upgrade has been going out in my bike even more than last year, and plenty more hill training,” says Mark Herring. We couldn’t agree more Mark, we’re with you all the way there.

Clive Davies agrees with this approach. He says: “Getting fitter and losing weight has been massively more important than any of my other marginal gains!”