Upgrade or new bike?

Cornish Trekker

I could really use some informed opinions about my current ride and whether to keep on keeping on with it or just to buy a new one.

I bought a Marin Bolinas Ridge (03) as it was all i could afford at the time. I knew I would upgrade bits when they fell off with proper components and figured that the frame was excellent, which I still think it is. So far I have put some very sweet bits on it;

- Mavic SUP ceramic wheels on white industries hubs (given to me by my brother)
- Profile Design carbon risers (given to me by my mate)
- FSA afterburner chainset
- LX rear & front mech
- Conty tyres
- azonic stem
- Avid single digit V's and speed dial levers
- XT shifters
- Kona P2 rigid forks
- Easton EA50 seatpost
- DMR V12 pedals

I use it for mainly trail blasting, nothing too rough but recently made the decision that i need some suspension forks and want to buy some Marzocchi MX Comp ETA 100mm, then I figured I could get a Mavic 317 disc wheel and put an Avid BB7 on the front so it would work with my speed dial lever.

Adding it all up it would come to a total spend of £900.

Do I carry on and get a bike with bits I have chosen, or do I buy something like a Nail Trail for £700 and then sell off my other bits?

Help please!!!!

The Spiderman

If you are looking at spending up to £900 I see 2 choices.Sell it ,and use the funds towards buying something like a fully XT equipped Merlin Malt 4 or a Rock Lobster ,for what you were going to spend on upgrades.

Or go to Merlin cycles,and buy some Reba SL (lighter and better than the Marzocchis)forks for £200 and one of their disc brake/wheel packages for up to £350,depending on what you want,and sell the exisitng bits on ebay,if you are really attched to your existing frame.

Did you specifically want to upgrade to discs,or are the forks the main priority?

I assume the current wheels are not disc compatible?
Is the frame disc comaptile?

Have a look here:http://www.merlincycles.co.uk

cee

I agree.

You get a lot of bike for 900 smackers, including many upgrades over the things on your current list, plus upgrades over your planned spend.


It is quite sad, but sometimes a built package is cheaper than buying the bits.

Cornish Trekker

the frame is not disc ready, but it's superlight. the wheelset is non disc also. I wouldn't mind having disc front v rear but 2 different levers look and feel a bit crap.

thanks for the advice so far

mr mangos

The fork, wheel, and brake you're talking about doesn't come to £900 so I assume that figure is for the new bits plus everything you've already bought and fitted?

In which case you're weighing up a spend of £250-300 against a new bike costing £700 minus whatever you get for your old bits.

Given that you love the frame, I would just upgrade it. For the cost of a new bike you could keep your finishing kit, rinse it with XT, decent hydraulics, suspension etc. and have a proper one-off.

My 2p.

EDIT: Oops, didn't notice the frame wasn't disc ready. New bike then!

Chaka Ping

Sounds like you have a pretty nice bike there, but if you have £900 to spend then you're definitely best off getting a new machine, I reckon.

I tried upgrading my old Team Marin (which had a very similar spec), but getting a sus fork only served to highlight the inadequacy of V brakes for stopping at the higher speeds you can go with a sus fork.

Lots of nice bikes to choose from at that budget too.

Cornish Trekker

so do you not think putting a decent sus fork and front hydro would be worth doing if i am stuck with a rear v, even if that v is a top Avid and it's on a ceramic rim?

I agree that that is the clincher, in my ignorance i assumed that most of my stopping power was needed at the front which i can do for about £170 (fork £60 new wheel, £100 new juicy 7. Would i still be wishing i had a rear disc too? or would i be in stopping power heaven?

ride_whenever

I barely ever use my rear brake. Plus you can get an adaptor to fit rear calipers, made by A2Z

gotta_hurt

ride_whenever wrote:

I barely ever use my rear brake. Plus you can get an adaptor to fit rear calipers, made by A2Z

Agreed...i had the old Kona frame, but after McRea died, who was my fav rally driver, i decided to build up the frame again...but the lack of lugs for a rear disc wasn't a problem...the a2z adapter is great...now running hydros...never looked back!



http://gottahurt.pinkbike.com/album/Kona-McRea/

Cornish Trekker

Ok, I've bitten the bullet and ordered a new ride, found an Eldridge Grade 06 model for very good money. Similar geometry to my old Marin but so much more pro.