Which do I keep?

dan1502

I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this but I respect the answers people who post on here give so here goes. I have just upgraded my brakes so now have a spare set. My wife's bike has Shimano M575s fitted which are pretty much as new and the brakes I've taken off mine are Hayes Stroker Carbon. They're a bit older but in decent condition. Should I replace the Shimano's on my wife's bike with the Hayes or stick with the Shimanos?

To date any time I've upgraded my bike I've put what I had on hers if it's better spec. On another note I now have enough spare bits to build another 29er apart from a frame and am wondering whether to sell the bits or buy a second hand frame and build a complete bike to sell. I'm not sure what would fetch more?

cooldad

So she gets all your leftovers. The key to a long and successful marraige.

dan1502

Yes first of all I pushed her a bit into getting a bike and bought her one that wasn't exactly cheap, then I pushed her to ride it and after moaning a lot a got her to try Llandegla Blue then Lee quarry and now she's hooked.

As a result of my purchases she's now got almost everything XT spec (SLX cranks) and I've just bought her some Reba dual airs to replace the Tora's which whilst second hand are unused.

To be honest I don't think she'd notice the difference unless I told her. The downside is that she doesn't really acknowledge bike bits as presents so I still have to do the usual things..

The Rookie

Not worth buying a frame to build a bike to sell, complete bikes are usually worth less than the same parts sold seperately, but if you want to work on the N+1 principle......

Simon

dan1502

I was thinking that but then I also thought that I have all these bits, some of which will be desirable and sell straight away and some which won't and will take a while, sell for very little or not at all and each has to be posted. If I build up a bike I could sell it as a whole on forums or ebay and with 29ers still being fairly scarce I thought it might be a better option. The only things I don't have spare are bars and grips.

The N+1 principle?

cooldad

The ideal number of bikes. The number you already have plus 1.

dan1502

I'm with you now. I must admit that's something I considered but as the forks are 29er forks the only option would be a full suspension 29er and if I go down that route I'd want a fairly special frame. I should have bought the Titus Exogrid frame on ebay last week but resisted the temptation...

And if I did, I would probably want better components on my current frame if I swapped everything over.

Plus having spent a fortune on bits lately, including an impulsive and unnecessary brake purchase last night, I need to recoup some funds. I remember thinking 'how can anyone spend that on a bike?' Now I get it!

konadawg

As for the brakes... I would stick with the Shimanos and sell the Hayes.

The Shimanos are generally 100% reliable, Hayes (but no experience with the Stroker) have had an iffy history with the HFX series, I have even seen one that had the reservoir to master cylinder hole drilled twice - one insufficiently deep, then presumably when filling / testing revealed that no oil was getting to the hose, another hole was drilled - with the lever fully assembled - the drill went straight through one of the piston seals, and the brake found itself on a brand new bike oem build. Not very confidence inspiring.

dan1502

Thanks, I posted that question on singletrack too as nobody had commented on here and the consensus is keep the Shimanos. I've only had one issue with the Hayes and that was a leak from a mastercylinder which was caused by a seal not having been fully pressed to cut it. There was a bit of waste material still attached which was preventing it from seating properly. I removed it and reseated the seal and bled the brakes and they've been fine since.

Apart from being reasonably light, the only benefit I could see with the Hayes is the lever reach adjustment but having not tried the Shimano's myself I'm not sure which feel better.

konadawg

You can adjust the shimanos lever reach too - allen key to the piston rod. Less convenient but I can live with doing that just the once to suit my preference.

dan1502

Shimanos it is then I think. Thanks. All this because I couldn't resist some Hope Tech X2s with braided hoses that came up for sale that I didn't need but was tempted by .. uprading has become an addiction!