Proper beginner question

ninhydrin

Hi all new here and maybe a bit of a noob question going by other threads on here but here goes,,,

I have a Giant Boulder which I bought a few years ago and Im really happy with it, but Iv caught a bit of a bug and I want to "pimp up my ride" shall we say... now my main question is am I wasting my time on this bike as it was not expensive but it is light enough and sturdy enough for what I want but I want some really nice parts to go on it.

Hope Im making sense here, in short is it save my money for a better bike or do this one up?
If I do pimp it up which parts would you recommend first?

Cheers for any help in this matter

supersonic

Depends what you want to do and what budget. WHat is wrong with it?

ninhydrin

nothing wrong with it, just want to start a new hobbie and thought doing up the bike might be it, and obviously using it like.
Bought a mag and some of the new bits and peices actually look kinda smart compared whats on my bike. All sounds a bit vain dont it?!?!

supersonic

Lol. You could put new stuff on it, but it works out very expensive compared to a new bike with that stuff on.

Obvious changes would be lighter tyres, and maybe a better fork.

Tranced

I have a Giant Rock. Great to get your interest up, but move to something better..... once you're wanting to step up. Next off I found a Kona Caldera. Still play around on that plenty. In fact todays ride was 15M hard single track & she's ideal for it. I doprobably 2 x 30M rides per week on the Rock still because it's so heavy compared to my play bikes that it makes an ideal training tool. Come weekend & even my FS feels light.

Keep the Bolder... not worth getting rid of at the resell value & look for a nice light HT. Great step up.

Northwind

Don't worry, you're not alone! But you're right, pimping a cheap bike can leave you spending a lot of cash for less gain than you would get just dropping the cash on a better bike. Same with all sorts, cars, motorbikes, guitars, houses... I'm a repeat offender. The trick IMO is to try and make sure your mods are either re-sellable, or transferrable, so that if you get a better bike in a year's time you can either ebay the bling or fit it to the new one.

Also, never ask "What can I change", ask "What's wrong with it". The first route leads to the dark side.

ninhydrin

Really really great replies Im impressed, well the boulder is standard but was hoping to spend about £500 on it, but your probably right in saying get a new bike, could prob get a GT or something for that?!

BorisSpencer

As Northwind says, go with tranferable upgrades. Contact points are good, pedals grips, and saddle. Also as already mentioned tyres and tubes, maybe even wheels, but even if your Boulder is Vs still buy wheels with 6 bolt disc hubs, this also gives the option to move to discs as another upgrade.

edit - late to the party again :oops:

ninhydrin

Sorry bout this but whats the difference between standard pedals and clipless?

Northwind

Standard are basically just flat traditional pedals, clipless ironically enough have clips, which attach to cleats on suitable shoes, locking you onto the bike. With hilarious consequences

Tranced

Have a peak at what is available at around £500. You'll waste that loot putting add on's onto the Boulder.

GT Avalanche 1.0 Disc 2009 £550
Felt Q720 2008 £440
Kona Caldera 2008 £600

To name but a few.... totally different geometry. You won't look back.

ninhydrin

hmmm might stick to standards then!!!