Upagrades

zfleas

Hi everyone,
I'm currently riding a Specalized hardrock pro disc 2011 and I am loving getting out on the trails on it
The only upgrade I have made so far is this winter to panaracer fire mud pro tyres, and have found they have made a massive difference. I also have some proper lights on the front so I can get out in the dark.
Any recomendations on what I should upgrade next? I was thinking maybe the chain ring?
Any help is appreciated, cheers

Northwind

If it ain't broke don't fix it- what about the bike don't you like?

Those cranks aren't light but they're decent... I'd be inclined to say, don't spend money on the cranks you have, just use them til they die. Higher quality cranks- Deore and upwards- are surprisingly cheap these days so no point in spending £15 for a ring or bottom bracket when you can get a whole better chainset for £40-£50, I reckon.

You'll aquire a list of kit you like- as soon as I get a bike I fit my own pedals, grips and saddle, before I've even ridden it, frinstance. Contact points are all down to taste but riding a bike that feels weird or uncomfortable never works.

Then, tweak for fit and try and hunt down any significant weakspots. Specialized bikes are usually a decent package out of the box so hard to find easy big hits though.

zfleas

Forgot to mention - I've already upgraded to SPD pedals (did this straight away) as it is the most comfortable to me. Also I've just noticed 'Upagrades'... fat fingers!

The Rookie

Yeah I thought the Upagrades meant you were-a Italian.....

You need to decide what you want from the bike that it's not giving now, it will be fairly heavy but the route to lightness is paved with pund coins you shell out on the way.

Ride it, change it as stuff wears out or you decide what needs fixing.

You can shed some weight cheaply using lightweight tubes and foam grips (potentially 250g for sub £15), bar and stem are easy swaps and you can always buy used to minimise impact, Forks are the weakest item on the bike but they cost a fair bit more to improve!

rockmonkeysc

I had a Hardrock (2009 I think) and by far the best upgrade was to replace the original forks with some Rockshox Tora forks. They made a massive difference to the ride quality & handling.
Depending on budget the usual choices would be Rockshox XC32, Recon or Reba.

Northwind

XCRs if well looked after are decent forks- I'd not replace them with low-spec Rockshox personally, I'd want to get up to the good dampers to get a bigger difference.

(downside of the XCR is they're very highly strung- bad seals and plastic internals means mud will get in, and if you leave it there it'll eat the fork from the inside out. But stay on top of it and they're competent enough.)