Marin Novato Upgrade Advice

MacRS4

Hi Guys & Gals, long time no post. Everything appears to have changed - for the better I might add.

After some advice on upgrading my bike. I bought a Marin Novato early this year as part of my get fit program and it's been fantastic. I love the bike, so much better for my type of riding than my old Trek 6700.

Anyways, I now have some more money available to upgrade it or replace it. I've been through all the replacement scenarios and I always seem to come back to the Marin urban commuter range so I've come to the conclusion that upgrading is sensible, rather than replacement.

(As a side note I'll be buying one of the Marin Highway ones next summer for all the BHF rides).

Need some advice on upgrading :-) I've already had the following done:

:- Forks upgraded to the Carbon Fibre set from the Point Reyes
:- Brakes replaced from the cable discs to the hydro discs
:- Fitted clipless pedals

The bike weighs about 11Kg which is ok.

I was thinking of doing the following:-

:- Crank/BB replacement with either the Raceface Carbon Fibre cranks or maybe the shimano XTR set
:- Gearing upgrades to the XT(R) fron/back/changers. It's an 8 speed currently
:- Switch to a carbon fibre bar (not as wide as current)
:- Shorter throw stem.
:- Possibly replace the wheels

out of all of those I think the crank & the wheels would make the biggest difference to weight & performance - what do you guys think?

This bike mainly gets used for town commuting - and most of that is down river/canal paths so it still needs to be a little stronger than say the Marin Highway One.

I realise I'm upgrading for upgrading sake - but isn't that one of the things you can enjoy about being into your bikes 8)

Any advice much appreciated :?

el_presidente

pimpin' ain't easy

however I would suggest the blingiest upgrades will be carbon bars & cranks

MacRS4

- you just have to do it though right

I think the cranks would be a good move - saves a fair bit of weight and also I can sort the gearing out at the same time. The bars I want to replace anyway as they're a little too wide for my liking so seems an obvious one.

I was thinking though of maybe going for some lighter wheels? I thought maybe they'd make the biggest difference to the actual performance of the unit?

Thanks

el_presidente

MacRS4 wrote:

- you just have to do it though right

I think the cranks would be a good move - saves a fair bit of weight and also I can sort the gearing out at the same time. The bars I want to replace anyway as they're a little too wide for my liking so seems an obvious one.

I was thinking though of maybe going for some lighter wheels? I thought maybe they'd make the biggest difference to the actual performance of the unit?

Thanks

Yes in theory the wheels will make the biggest difference. though I don't know how noticable it would be on a hybrid.

Re the bars - you can just take a hacksaw to them if they are too wide. You might have to do this anyway with new bars, though I am not sure how best to do this with carbon bars.