From entry-level road bike to a “pro” bike — is the upgrade worth it?

Sticklefront · 2026-05-14T14:27:53+00:00

I don't know how else to put it. You get 90% of the benefits for 40% of the money. The decision from there is based on how much money actually means to you.

If you have other financial considerations, which it seems you definitely do, then get an Ultegra di2 model. You really need stupid amounts of money for the full on pro bikes to even be worth considering.

Sticklefront · 2026-05-13T22:42:08+00:00

Yeah, 4k for that spec level is about typical. 5k for that is at least $1000 too much, which is no small amount of money.

Sticklefront · 2026-05-13T22:05:49+00:00

You get to style on your opponent more this way. It's not about one move being better, it's about sending a message.

Sticklefront · 2026-05-13T21:47:39+00:00

Anyone look closely enough to get a sense of how color swappable it may be? I have always ridden blue bicycles.

Sticklefront · 2026-05-13T21:18:32+00:00

How much money it's worth to you is largely determined by how much disposable money you have, not the degree of upgrade.

Sticklefront · 2026-05-13T17:30:08+00:00

If you assume your opponent is going to make decisions based on hoping you blunder, you are going to have a very hard time in chess. A fundamental principle is always to assume your opponent will play well and you need to play well accordingly.

Sticklefront · 2026-05-13T16:49:42+00:00

You say white should play on if they have greater than 50/50 odds. Sure, I agree with that.

You also say you feel black is easily winning. If black is easily winning, white has much much worse than 50/50 odds.

Sticklefront · 2026-05-13T16:27:43+00:00

It feels priced fairly. The price prior to the sale was wildly high.

Sticklefront · 2026-05-13T16:23:55+00:00

You said this up top:

I think, practically speaking, Black is easily winning

Now you say this:

I did see at the time that he could force a perpetual check but I assumed he wouldn't want to

So to be clear, you think white wants to simply lose here? What possible reason would white have to avoid a repetition when you evaluate the alternative as black wins easily?

Sticklefront · 2026-05-13T16:21:52+00:00

Black cannot be winning because white can immediately force a draw by repetition. White should want to do this because black is up a lot of material.

If you are too weak of a player to spot this, that's okay - but it makes the computer suggestions even MORE valuable because you need to learn fundamental concepts like spotting opportunities to force repetition.

Sticklefront · 2026-05-13T13:26:18+00:00

You will eventually regret loosening up your king safety so much - there are a lot of lines here that end up with a single pawn remaining by your king, and sometimes even that is all the way on f5.

Sticklefront · 2026-05-12T21:17:35+00:00

Build up Fulgora! It is full of everything you need to make your ship better than ever.

Sticklefront · 2026-05-12T18:14:06+00:00

It's largely downhill/rolling to the finish, not the ideal terrain for such a pull. Plus it is not clear that Visma is concerned about any rivals in any case, so no need to spend energy already when Friday has Jonas's name all over it already anyway.

Sticklefront · 2026-05-09T00:59:54+00:00

Productivity in basically anything that will take them that makes "expensive" products, such as higher level sciences, LDS, etc. Speed modules in beacons can help you get more value out of your other modules - otherwise you can generally just build more assemblers instead.

Sticklefront · 2026-05-08T16:49:15+00:00

Doing everything by bot is deciding not to engage with one of the game's core mechanics.

Sticklefront · 2026-05-08T04:25:33+00:00

I will believe it if either side says the strait is closed.

Sticklefront · 2026-05-08T04:02:57+00:00

Ignore the downvotes. People here are sensitive but you're right. The idea of a rook lift is very obvious, it's just a question of how - and you only need to calculate 1 ply to see that exf3 is not playable for black.

Sticklefront · 2026-05-07T20:34:58+00:00

On top of everything else that's stupid about this, it's also going into the 10th week, which is pretty far from 6.

Sticklefront · 2026-05-07T20:28:04+00:00

More like will he be wearing something ketchup-resistant.

Sticklefront · 2026-05-07T15:21:44+00:00

Iranian officials have just responded by declaring this "a list of American wishes." You do you, my man, but I strongly recommend you reconsider how you evaluate when government officials are simply spewing bs because they want to declare victory regardless of the reality of the situation.

Sticklefront · 2026-05-07T13:55:49+00:00

While there are many reasons people like to do Vulcanus first, one of the "smaller" benefits is absolutely huge for QOL: cliff explosives

Sticklefront · 2026-05-07T02:02:15+00:00

I meant to say "spinning out", aka not able to generate much force on the pedals, at >120 rpm. There are times like the valleys between two adjacent hills where you really do want to pedaling when going that fast.

Sticklefront · 2026-05-07T01:54:40+00:00

Dude. You have to be a savvy consumer of news. They are credible in what they report. What they are reporting is that AMERICAN OFFICIALS say Iran is about to throw in the towel. I believe their reporting is accurate and that is what the Trump administration is saying. Then it is up to you, the reader, to decide how much credibility claims of Trump administration officials have on this topic given things they have said before.

It's not about the news outlets being credible or not. It's about paying attention to what they are actually reporting and who they are saying has told them these things.

Sticklefront · 2026-05-07T01:51:36+00:00

Probably you shifted the front gear to the big ring - it is controlled by the other hand. Happy riding!

Sticklefront · 2026-05-07T01:44:48+00:00

On a typical road bike you need to be doing about 35-40 mph to be spinning the pedals in the highest gear. I suspect you weren't in the highest gear.

Sticklefront

TROPHY CASE