See the introduction to this thread here.

After a little break, I have gotten back into acquiring parts for the big upgrade. In the past week, I’ve obtained some Force shifters and a 2008 S950 compact carbon crankset.

I was previously considering going with Red shifters to get the additional trim option, but further research revealed that much of the complaints came from those who hadn’t taken the time to get things properly adjusted.  

The S950 crankset was originally made by SRAM to work with the SRM Powermeter, but was later adapted as a basic crank. If differs from the Force crank in that it has an aluminum instead of carbon fiber spider. The crank arms also seem to be a little wider. Whether that translates into stiffness or weight, I can’t say. The compact gearing should be a little more friendly to my knees than my current setup.

Here’s the cost breakdown so far:

I’d like to stress here that while the Force group retails for a good bit more than Dura-Ace (and I think that’s justifiable), it can be obtained for about the cost of Ultegra, if not less. If you are willing to take the time and do the research, you can get savings like these as well.  

At this point, all I need to get me rolling is a chain, cassette and a bottom bracket. That’s about $167 retail, but, as usual, I hope to reduce that significantly.