Me too...starrted with correnza c, acc 200 and sinu clear. Have to kick this cold in the butt. Was feeling fine but wife was in hospital with pneumonia. My kid got sick and thought i missed it.
Look at a secondhand Ultegra groupset. You will save a lot of weight and would be more beneficial when start to race. I know a lot of guys that is just training on RPE. A power meter will not make you faster.
I am a classic example...I train my butt off and one of my friends that trains maybe 2-3 times in two weeks kicks my butt. He just have that natural ability to produce watts and sustain it for 5-20min. But give him 150km to ride he "fal uit die bus" because of lack of training(base). Genetics helps a lot.
Here is my take for my 5th season riding through winter in the mornings at 5. Head - Anatomic fleece cap(have this for for 5 years and still works) with maybe buff like over neck Top - Really cold days. MR Price long sleeve compression top with a short sleeve cycling jersey. Lightweight winter top with a decent winter jacket (anatomic bought for R500 a couple of years back). If you start to get hot just unzip the first jacket. Legs - Old cycling shorts then thermal leg warmers then another cycling short bibs Feet - Thermal socks from Falke with neoprene shoe covers. Not 100% as my toes still gets cold after 40+ minutes in the cold. But is manageable. Hands - lightweight inners with Woolies winter gloves(R80). The best value for money combo. Hands get cold for the first 10km then is al OK. This is only for very early rides but for rides from 7 it is another story because temperature seems to rise quite a lot then is is all about managing the cold till 8-8:30.
There is nothing worse than to ride a bike for 3 hours and the fit is incorrect. Get a shorter stem, check your saddle/knee alignment/height to your pedals. Remember if your saddle is too forward then your pedal and knee alignment could be out and this could cause serious knee pain. If this all fails and still not comfortable then I would suggest a proper setup.
