Help for New MTB & Upgrade Ideas

kapow20

Hi all.
Im just back into biking after having my old MTB stolen late last year and needed a new place to start.
I picked up a carrera centos limited edition 2012 for £250 (for this price i thought the average
spec was nice):

Chainset: Shimano
Forks: Suntour XCM-DS26
Frame Colour: Matt Blue
Frame Material: Alloy
Frame-: Lightweight 7005 alloy frame
Front Brake: Tektro Mechanical disc brake
Front Mech: Shimano
Gear Shifters: Shimano EZ fire trigger shifters
Gender: Mens
Handle Bars: Lightweight alloy 670mm
Headset: Semi integrated
Hubs: Alloy QR
Number of Gears: 24
Pedals: Alloy
Rear Brake: Tektro Mechanical disc brake
Rear Mech: Shimano Acera 8 speed
Rims: Double wall alloy
Saddle: Velo foam, Carrera branded
Stem: Alloy 7-deg rise, 75/90mm
Suspension: Front
Tyres: CST
Wheel Size: 26"
Approximate Weight (KG): 15.7
Exact Frame Size: 18"

was thinking of hitting some light trials (something I had just started doing) and generally getting my fitness back up before moving onto harder stuff.
I mainlywanted to know how far this set-up will get me and how much of a hammering it would take? mainly the fram as i have some upgrade ideas as follows:

Nukeproof electron pedals (£35)
Front forks rockshox; either Sector RL solo air (£305) or Reba RLT solo air (£360)
Avid BB7 with 180mm discs (front and back, £130)
Fulcrum red power XL wheelset (£250)

After I did these I would probably then look to get a new frame.
Any advice or tips would help a bunch.

cooldad

I wouldn't spend over £700 on it. For that amount you could get a much better bike new.

supersonic

To be frank, you'd may have been better off putting all that money towards a better bike ;-)

The Centos is reasonable for the cash - is no way worth the £599 that Halfords had it at, but for £250 has some solid parts.

I think your budget could be put to better use though. This Reba is cheaper:

http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/f ... forks.html

Wheel wise the Fulcrums are ok, but better available ie:

http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_ ... cts_id=496

These are lighter and easier to get spares for, and are fine for trail and xc riding with a sub 14 stone rider.

As for discs, why not hydraulics?

http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/m ... isc+Brakes

The pedals are mass produced under many names. These however are lighter and proven performers:

http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/m ... lat+Pedals

MTBUK

Reminds me of my days as a kid £200 car, £1k stereo system!....... Some people hey?

The Rookie

Tyres first, doesn't matter how good the rest is, the grip comes from the tyres!

MTBUK wrote:

Reminds me of my days as a kid £200 car, £1k stereo system!....... Some people hey?

Yes but that stereo system was usually moved through 4 cars after each MOT failure.....

kapow20

Thanks supersonic for the better buys. On hydraulics, i was going to stay mech for the low maintenance and not needing to split my shifters and add more cost. It would be the next step up in the future. The deore hydraulics are cheap, good and ill think hard about it now.

The Beginner has my idea. I dont have the money to put down all in one go on a bike so will slowly upgrade this one then get a new frame to pass it over to and start upgrading again.

FR0STY

Normally I wouldn't offer advice but I upgraded from mechanical tektro discs to those deores last summer and the difference was simply stunning, the amount of extra confidence they gave me was ridiculous allowing me to carry more speed into everything. I bought these as replacement gear levers. http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/mtb-parts/transmission-gears/gear-levers-mtb/shimano-alivio-8-speed-gear-levers-pair.html

I would make two notes I'm a light rider being 6ft and about 10 stone 2 lbs secondly the organic pads don't last long especially in the rain and mud so I switched to sintered.

kapow20

cheers Frosty they look perfect for a hydraulic set up and would still come in cheaper than the mech upgrade i had in mind