upgrade to carbon frame

stgranty

i have a specialized hardrock sport disc with upgraded suspension, i am fed up with it weighing a ton, i am working so much harder to keep up with mates cross country, ( on our road bikes we are even). is it feasible to buy a carbon frame and just take all the parts off my hardrock and put them on the carbon frame. or would i be better off buying a new bike (but im skintish)
any suggestions on which frame (19")

njee20

On One Whippet would be hard to beat, but don't assume that will totally revolutionise things, you'll save a couple of pounds, but similar investment in your wheels will likely yield more.

nicklouse

stgranty wrote:

is it feasible to buy a carbon frame and just take all the parts off my hardrock and put them on the carbon frame.

some stuff will fit. some stuff will not.

you will have to check out the specs and dimensions of your current frame and any that you look at.

The Rookie

You'll save maybe 3/4Kg on the frame, the rest of your bits will still be off a cheap Lardrock, much cheaper ways of saving weight than a reframe.

Tyres - decent tyres and tubes will reduce weight by over 1/2Kg and grip better, cost about £50-70
Grips - Foam grips will save you 80g for less than a tenner.
Forks - More expensive but bring performance benefits as well - what you on now?
Wheels - you could probably save a bit more weight than the frame for about the same price, but have the benefit of reducing translational as well as rotational inertia.
Stem/bars/seatpost/saddle/shifters/mechs/brakes - some of those can make a good weight saving on the cheap depending on what you have now!

jairaj

cyd190468 wrote:

Your major problem with upgrading the frame is that your current frame is a bit old school ie standard BB, Straight head tube etc so a new frame that is compatible with your current running gear will mean future upgrading of other parts will be more difficult.

None of those things are major deal breakers. There are many frames that still come with standard bb threads and if not there are adaptors available. Similar with the headset, many step down or up converters available to ensure your "old" straight steerer is compatible with a tapered headset.

But agree with the advise given by others above ie look at the components rather than a carbon frame.

I think its a slippery slope and you could end up just upgrading the whole bike one component at a time which will end up being expensive. Might be better to save up a bit longer and get a new bike when the hardrock eventually dies.

Giraffoto

If you still have the standard (Suntour) fork, you can save a lot of weight there. Swapping mine for a Recon made a huge difference to weight and to the feel of the bike, and if you subsequently buy a carbon frame they'll fit there too.

stgranty

thanks for the advice guys, just after posting this i recieved a txt saying that a mates mate was selling a k2 evo3 with upgrades for £100 so i bought that. i will post questions about the bike on the correct forum.

The Rookie

I thought you wanted lighter, not something that makes an Orange 5 look light!

stgranty

The Beginner wrote:

I thought you wanted lighter, not something that makes an Orange 5 look light!

still do but got this as well now

cooldad

The only sensible upgrade is a skip.
viewtopic.php?f=10002&t=12929296&p=18399372#p18399372

cooldad

But it has Hope so....