Upgrade to discs or new bike?
danhx
Posts: 165
I'm wanting to upgrade from rim breaks to disc on my MTB... but wondering wether its worth it or not. The reason for wanting to upgrade is because the rim brakes just seem to get covered in a fine sand/grit that covers everything and basically they become useless.
Excuse my ignorance to the exact spec of my bike, but it was my brothers and before that blonged to a friend of his who built it up from spare bits he had... I have a Rockhopper (unsure of year) with a Marz Comp MX fork, and Rolf hubs/rims (and I assume spokes - front weighs in at 800g).
Now I've figured out that the frame and fork both have mounts for disc brakes, but obveously the wheels will need to go. So to get a similar spec wheel set (I assume lighter than my current set, as the discs will add additonal weight and I dont want to go piling on the pounds during the upgrade), I figure this will be around £200. Plus the cost of the new hydro brakes... £150 for a pair of Juicy5 2008. Then probably a new cassette while I'm at it... and fitting. Is this cost really worth it or should I just save up and look to buy a new bike for around 1k during the summer (like the look of some of the Merlin bikes, or another Rockhopper)?
Excuse my ignorance to the exact spec of my bike, but it was my brothers and before that blonged to a friend of his who built it up from spare bits he had... I have a Rockhopper (unsure of year) with a Marz Comp MX fork, and Rolf hubs/rims (and I assume spokes - front weighs in at 800g).
Now I've figured out that the frame and fork both have mounts for disc brakes, but obveously the wheels will need to go. So to get a similar spec wheel set (I assume lighter than my current set, as the discs will add additonal weight and I dont want to go piling on the pounds during the upgrade), I figure this will be around £200. Plus the cost of the new hydro brakes... £150 for a pair of Juicy5 2008. Then probably a new cassette while I'm at it... and fitting. Is this cost really worth it or should I just save up and look to buy a new bike for around 1k during the summer (like the look of some of the Merlin bikes, or another Rockhopper)?
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Comments
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i think you have answered the question yourself. if you have £1000 in the summer to just throw at a bike then thats what i would do, if you were on a tight budget then i would choose the first option.
how serious are about riding?
would you use the bike to justify £100?
just remember if you get anew cassette make sure you put a new chain on to.0 -
I'm fairly serious about rideing, although its only been 6 weeks since I started on my brothers Rockhopper, I'm very much looking forward to some light nights so that I can up my frequency of off road runs (I hate road riding, especially at night).
£1000 isnt a problem to be honest, not that I'm loaded I just dont spend my money much. I'm swaying more towards the new bike as I can go XT bits and it will be nice and new (the rockhopper frame has seen a few miles!). Also really like the look of some of the new bikes that are around
(http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/images/pr ... 001614.jpg).
I guess I have kinda answered my own question, its not really about £450 v £1000 its about shiney things
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You could do a disc and wheel upgrade for under £200 (check Merlin Cycles' Disc Brake packages and add about £30 for a new Cassette and chain).
Like you say though, it's really about nice shiny kit.
£1000 will get you some serious hardtail.
PaulI'd rather have a full bottle in front of me than a full frontal lobotomy.0 -
On the other hand - if you spend the money on a new bike you have your brothers as a spare 0
