OUR WORST 'UPGRADES'

From pointless weight-weenie exotica to TPU tubes, we look back and cringe at some of the kit we've added to our bikes, or ourselves (and then swiftly removed)

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Who doesn’t love buying new bits and bobs for their pride and joy? Whether it’s the promise of performance gains, the thought of your rides being even more enjoyable than they already are or, at the very least, gaining some style points and kudos on the Sunday ride, it’s all part of being a cyclist.

Unfortunately, however, not all upgrades are created equal or live up to expectations, with many destined for the spare parts drawer or eBay. On the following pages, we reveal some of the worst road and gravel upgrades we've bought, to act as a reminder to you to consider if it’s worth taking the risk before you pop what looks like a bargain new part into the shopping basket.

“Let me take you back to the heyday of the weight-weenie wars - I’m talking 1999, pre-millennium, Prince's biggest payday and a bug that never happened. It was the early days of carbon fibre frames, but aluminium ruled the roost.

“Everyone was obsessed with shaving grams, but, as I found out to my cost, this didn’t make for a better bike — and, in lots of cases, just made it much, much worse.

“My much-loved Storck Scenario bore the brunt of my hubris. Over a few years, I ‘upgraded’ and tweaked this alloy beauty to, at one point, get it under 6kg - no mean feat for a 58cm aluminium bike. Along the way, I changed lots of small parts at great expense to drop grams. There were some highlights. Nokon cables, though they were riotously expensive and fiddly to fit, looked amazing and you could run much tighter bends than you could with standard cables, therefore using less cable and saving weight. Lightweight latex inner tubes also had their place, and carbon bars brought more than just low weight to the game.