Voodoo Bantu Upgrade Help

Rup79

Hi Everyone,

I am new to the forum and have searched around and couldn't really see any other threads about this.

I bought a Voodoo Bantu on Gumtree last September (2012 version with the Raidon air fork). The bike is great and I recently bought some new Mavic wheels and Panaracer tyres. These made a MASSIVE difference to the way the bike handles and rolls, almost feels like a new bike.

I would like to upgrade the bike regularly and wondered what you guys thought would be the next best upgrade? I cannot find exact specs for my bike but from what I can see, nearly everything on it is standard stuff for a cheap bike so your answers would have to be quite general. The front mech I think is super cheap SIS model and the rear mech is only Acera so wondered if they were worth upgrading to XT, SLX etc or should I upgrade these parts as and when they fail?

I was thinking new handlebars, saddle and seat post would be the next upgrade as all seem fairly cheap standard ones and some weight could be lost replacing these?

I do hardly any road cycling, mostly ride in the Yorkshire Dales XC or on trails such as Dalby or Sherwood Pines.

Cheers

supersonic

The derailers will hardly make any difference to fucntion, unless they are knackered - though you will save a little weight. As you will with other parts. Best thing is to weigh the saddle/post/bars/stem and take it from there.

bartimaeus

Contact points are worth looking at - not necessarily as 'upgrades' but more to personalise the fit of the bike. Most bike testers go on and on about shorter stems and wider bars... I have to admit that this transformed the ride of my bikes (did HT first, swapped 110 stem, 680 bars for 65 stem, 754 bars... and after that my FS felt all wrong so I changed that too), but for me that's a 'fit' change and it may be wrong for you. By all means upgrade to get the weight down, but have a good look at cost vs weight saving as tyres and inner tubes are often the best start point. Saddles and pedals are also all about fit.

In my experience you won't really notice the rear mech - I replaced the XT on my HT with a Deore, and to be honest I could not tell the difference. But shifters - I think they make a big difference... so SLX or XT are noticeably better than the Deores shifters used to have... to me a Deore rear mech with an XT shifter is a much better set-up than an XT mech with a Deore shifter.

New wheels are worth considering... £200 odd will get you a good set, but you may be better off with a skills course and few beers with your mates after.

Most effective 'upgrade' I ever made was to get some cheap lights... £60 will allow you to ride in the dark, so that pretty much doubles my riding through autumn and winter.