Beginner Upgrades and Helmet?

Gavvo
Gavvo Posts: 16
edited August 2015 in MTB buying advice
After completely ignoring sensible buying advice, I went a bit crazy and bought a 2005 Stumpjumper Expert for a lowly price of £300. The bike is in superb condition and that's without taking its age into consideration and is also completely standard. As a complete novice, is it worth already considering component upgrades? Or is this the norm?

Also, being a motorcyclist I wouldn't feel entirely safe without a full face helmet but I'm worried about looking like a complete knob on my daily commute. Can anyone recommend a decent hat?

Cheers.

Comments

  • cubedean
    cubedean Posts: 670
    Wanting to upgrade straight away is part & parcel of being sucked in! But realistically depending on the type of riding that you plan on doing there's probably no need. Forks & wheels would be the best investment I would think.

    A full face for the commute is a bit ott in my opinion. I've just purchased an Urge enduromatic lid as I wanted more protection to the lower sections of my head. I ordered both sizes as it is none adjustable & found that the s/m was snug but the l/xl are slightly too big (57cm noggin).

    It feels light and appears to offer the coverage that I'm looking for.
    Transition Bottlerocket
  • Briggo
    Briggo Posts: 3,537
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19685084#p19685084]Gavvo[/url] wrote:
    After completely ignoring sensible buying advice, I went a bit crazy and bought a 2005 Stumpjumper Expert for a lowly price of £300. The bike is in superb condition and that's without taking its age into consideration and is also completely standard. As a complete novice, is it worth already considering component upgrades? Or is this the norm?

    Also, being a motorcyclist I wouldn't feel entirely safe without a full face helmet but I'm worried about looking like a complete knob on my daily commute. Can anyone recommend a decent hat?

    Cheers.

    Its not about looking a nob, you already do. Its about the fact you'd sweat like a pedo in a playground in a full face helmet, I don't know how some people do it riding normal MTB trails and such with one on.

    In terms of upgrades on bikes, not that the Stumpy is a bad bike but depending on what you're looking to spend it might be worth just getting a new bike. Things have moved on a long way since 2005.

    Without more details of what budget and why you think you need an upgrade, i.e. do you just commute to work on the bike and if so what type of terrain is that commute is it all road or off road or what, would help.

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