Upgrade or buy?

Gman25

Hi,
i just got back into biking a couple of months ago when i took part in a 25mile ride for charity, also me and my brother have been hitting the trails at high lodge and completely fell in love with it all again. i bought a giant yukon trail from pauls cycles and found it to be a good bike with no problems at all, i also enjoy working on my own bike which is when i started thinking about which upgrades i would make which is where the problem came about. is the frame worthy of keeping and upgrading everything else components/suspension etc over time or do i just sell it save some money up and look to buy a bike at the end of the year for about £600.
i would be intrested to hear if anyone has or has known anyone to upgrade a yukon?
any opinions on this much appreciated as i really cant decide what to do.
thanks.

switchback18

I would personally say save then sell it - if you like the way it rides then maybe upgrade, but personally I think the standard frames ride nicer than the 'trail' versions in the yukon & terrago models.
If you upgrade, the first thing I'd do is the forks - a good set makes a huge difference - go for as good as you can get, as you generally do get what you pay for. Cheaper forks are often not too much better than rigid ones - I swapped bikes with a friend on a ride one time and could see straight away why they were going so slow on downhills - the forks were just not helping - on my bike they were so much better, even though it was too big. Their bike had RST forks, mine had Maintou Black Airs (don't like Manitou in general, but these are pretty good)

http://www.chasingtrails.com

Gman25

thanks for the advice, i thought the bike rides ok but as i only have just started biking again i have nothing to compare it to.
personally i was more in favour of a new bike, the problem is as you all know once you get back into biking your hooked and you want to get out and about all over the country as much as you can but of course need the right bike, i wont be able to ride for a few months anyway so that will give me the chance to save some money and hopefully get a good deal in the new year.
thanks again.

johnnyrotten

If you want to buy, have a look at the Giant Trance. The frame looks similar in geometry to the Yukon, so it might 'feel' right for you. And it looks the mutts nuts too. My mate got last year's Trance 3 for £800.

Gman25

well i just sold the yukon so its time to get saving. i noticed some great deals on pauls cycles website i only live ten miles from the shop, in paticular a 2007 kona dawg for £800, i know it might sound a strange reason for choosing my next bike but since i got into biking when still at school i always wanted a kona so i think i will be heading in that direction.

Chaka Ping

The Dawg is a good bike, but maybe slight overkill if most of yoru riding is round Thetford way.

Check out the Giant Trance deals at Paul's - unless you're going further afield to ride you might not make use of the Kona's 5in of travel.

Gman25

no i definatly wont be sticking to thetford, i ilke it because its local but me and my brother plan to travel all over the place in search of some of the best biking around.
we was in scotland early this year and just loved the biking up there, so thats why i liked the look of the dawg as it seems this would be a take it anywhere machine. any other suggestions?
thanks.

Chaka Ping

Just had a look on Paul's site, bargains are a bit think on the ground at the moment - that'll change in a couple of months as the 2009 bikes come out and the 2008 ones get reduced though.

This is the only bike I can see that's comparable to the Dawg, in terms of function and value...

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... Suspension

Never tried one, but they are quite well-reviewed.

Megatron-UK

Good spec on that £899 Mongoose - better than the base £800 Dawg.