Upgrade time

OwenB

Hi, after a bit of deliberation recently about buying a new mountain bike I've decided against it as I'm not as well off as I'd hoped so I thought I would splash a little cash onto my Defy 3.5.

The gears and stuff aren't high spec (8 speed Shimano 2300) but they work ok and as such I don't want to change them, but I was thinking about making a few changes to the bike such as the contact points and wheels.

Basically I was thinking of buying some Mavic Aksiums and then putting some better rubber on them than the Vittoria Rubinos that I currently have fitted to the stock wheels.


Is it worthwhile getting a new set of bars and stem? Was also thinking of maybe a better quality seatpost and as I've never gotten on with the saddle on my bike trying out a new one of those too.

I've got a budget of about £350 so think I can make some nice changes inexpensively.

Or am I going wrong here, should I just save up and get a better groupset?

night_porter

No you are not wrong.

New wheels and tyres will help with acceleration and give a little more speed.

As far as bars, stem and saddle are concerned they will only really help with comfort.

If you are more comfortable you are more likely to do more riding and more riding should build strength and more strength should make you a little faster.

So changing the contact points might help with speed indirectly but not directly if that makes sense.

Changing the seatpost will not help with either but it is bling and never underestimate the power of bling. I have a Defy 1 that came with a carbon seatpost and it feels no different than any other seatpost. My favourite seatpost is red alu, now that really is faster.....

OwenB

Thanks for that, my main thought for changing the seatpost is that the one that came with the bike is pretty basic and I don't seem to be able to get a great deal of adjustment on it which has left me struggling to get a comfortable position on my saddle. Its a simple one bolt affair and I seem to get finer adjustment on the 2 bolt one on my MTB post.

I suppose if I do swap out all the bits I've mentioned other than the wheels I'll make the bike a little lighter too so that's something else I guess.

The other thing I could change is to get some road specific pedals and shoes instead of the M520's and touring shoes I use now.

OwenB

Time for another question. Having had a chat with one of my work colleagues who's quite keen on bikes. He suggested that my current 8 speed set up might not work very well with the freehub on a set of Aksiums, can anyone tell me if this would be a problem or not?
Otherwise I might have to forego the contact points and upgrade the groupset instead.

As always I look forward to some useful advice.

Owen

night_porter

You can buy Aksiums with 2 different Shimano freehubs, 1 is a 10 speed only freehub and the other is for 8, 9 & 10 speed. So as long as you ensure you don't get the 10 speed only 1 you will be fine.

I think you need a spacer on before the cassette but you will already have one on your current wheelset so just transfer it over as one.

If you have never changed a cassette before you need to make sure that the smaller spline lines up with the smaller hole on all of the sprockets. If the last one is not sitting right it will look very wobbly and cause problems.

OwenB

That's a bonus that'll earn me a few money saving brownie points with the Mrs

Thanks,

night_porter

You're welcome.

Have you seen the Aksiums on sale at CRC? http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=58590

Last years wheels but a really good price. The bladed spokes are a little thinner than this years wheels but a saving of £36.00 is not to be sniffed at!

They are 8, 9 , 10 speed too!

I have them on one of my bikes and I really like them.

OwenB

I'd not seen them, that's brilliant thanks.
I'd heard the Aksiums were good wheels so just looked them up on Merlin in the first instance. Might be able to stretch to that carbon seat post now!!