Wife's MBT upgrades

rob39

The wife is interested in getting into MTB, We have an old Diamondback S:10 full sus MTB which is about 5-6 years old. SRSuntour fork which I'm replacing with a better rock shox dart2 fork which came off my bike,the rear shock, all I can make out is 260 in yellow there is a name but dificult to make out, then written on the coil spring KS 750lb. Shimano tourney deraileur,tektro v brakes, shimano all in one brake and gear lever unit, SR sun tour chain set.
Upgrades, I have a truvativ iso flow crankset from my old bike,is this worth putting on or should I go for a deore crankset, as for the rear shock is it worth upgrading? and if/when i upgrade it how do you know what type/size to go for?
Will probably go for deore v brakes eventually.

nicklouse

what is your buget for this?

Twelly

From the sounds of it, I would put the money into a new bike

But if you want to keep it...

What is the model of the fork currently on there? Suntour make some shite but they also make some fairly decent stuff and you may find the Dart isn't actually an upgrade.

What crankset is currently on there? Impossible to tell if you are making something better if we don't know the starting point...

I wouldn't bother replacing the V brakes unless they are obviously knackered. V brakes are pretty simple and all work pretty much the same. Well adjusted V brakes can be comparable to some disc brakes in the dry. Save money and buy some new pads (if needed) and set the brakes up properly or get someone else to do it if you are unsure. If you do have to replace them, I would recommend Avid Single Digit 5's - cheap and when set up well, very effective.

With regards to the rear shock... I had an RST 22 shock (shite) on an old bike and it died. I managed to pick up a 3/4 year old Fox Float shock for £50 on eBay. If you are lucky, you can find a decent shock in working order which is a few years old for good prices.

Sizing... Measure the eye-to-eye distance of the current shock (bits where the bolts attach it to the frame) eg. 165mm. Then measure the stroke (distance the shock moves from fully compressed to fully extended) e.g. 35mm. You will need to loosen the spring right off to measure this. This will give you two numbers (your shock size) e.g. 165mm x 35mm. Sometimes stated in inches.

Hope that helps.

Darkstalker420

Hi mate KS i think = Kind Shock. Good luck.

Thanks.