A nice 500ml of Pokka milk tea saved the day during today's debilitating ride. Anyway I got myself a new pair of pedals after I decided it was bad on the crank pedal threads to keep transfering the pedals between bikes.

As pictured above, I paid $95 for the new model 105 pedals, which will now go onto my TCR composite. The older Ultegra pedals (which cost $130 then) will go to the single speed Bridgestone 450. Although the 105 series is supposed to be of a lower grade than Ultegra, mid level new generation equipment just beats the high end models of the past. The weight is the same, but the plastic contact point has been replaced with metal, the contact surface is larger, and the finish is now polished aluminium and clear coated vs just painted. Interestingly, the new model Ultegra was virtually identical to the new model 105 pedals, except for the fact that the former cost $50 more cos it was made in Japan vs Malaysia.

Anyway, my visit to the bike shop also revealed how my mid 2005 model Giant TCR composite frameset has devalued. At the time of purchase, is cost me $2250. And now in 2009, the TCR advanced frameset featuring lighter weight carbon fiber strands, and unique bonding process for the seat collar tube cluster, oversized bottom brackets, top tube, down tube and head tube, plus an aero seat post + seat tube cost $2200. This is just like the price of computers. My only consolation is I like the design and look of my current bike better. I still find all the oversized tubings on newer models a bit grotesque.

Components wise indeed my Shimano Dura-ace 7800 has been outdone by the new 7900 series. But I don't hear of real, tangible improvements in performance. I mean, from a engineering perspective there are indeed improvements, but charging another $600-700 more for some small improvement which does not translate to improved pedaling does not make that much sense to me, except perhaps for the bling factor.