Advice On Buying New Gear System.

DonLykeB

Hello everyone.

I'm constantly asking for help on this forum because I'm kinda clueless when it comes to fixing up bikes. I'll keep it short and simple however.

I've got a Boardman Mountain Comp 2016, I love the bike. But I don't like the brakes or the gear system so much. Brakes could have more power and the gears could be smoother. It's an SRAM X5 and an Avid DB1.

I am currently looking to upgrade the both of them however. But I don't know what to look for.

My question is whether every sort of gear system would be compatible with my bike or would I have to look for a particular system, same goes for the brakes. Also if anyone could recommend any parts I would appreciate it greatly.

I'm looking to replace the entire thing, so gears, cartridge, the cranks and everything literally. Also same goes for the brakes and rotor.

Everyone's replies are massively appreciated.

cooldad

A budget would help. A nice new 12 speed system would cost the thick end of a grand without brakes.

cooldad

Reading your other thread a few minutes spent learning stuff might save you a fortune.

DonLykeB

cooldad wrote:

A budget would help. A nice new 12 speed system would cost the thick end of a grand without brakes.

I don't need anything too fancy, just a decent system which would be suitable for light trail use. Maybe like £300-£400? Also would £100 for a brake system be reasonable? Many thanks.

DonLykeB

cooldad wrote:

Reading your other thread a few minutes spent learning stuff might save you a fortune.

Would you recommend anywhere where I could learn how to do bike maintenance? I've tried looking but found nothing too useful to myself.

cooldad

The Parktools link in my sig has pretty much everything. Plenty of how to do things on Youtube as well.

jonnyashworth

In all honesty I think you currently fall into the maintenance skill category of take your bike to your local bike shop and let them sort it out and trust their recommendations. However my suggestion is to start to educate yourself a bit regarding maintenance of your bike using you tube videos. Start by learning a bit about brake setup, changing pads, gear cable setup, high and low limiter screws on derailleurs, how to measure chain wear, proper cleaning and lubrication of drive train. Get your head around these subjects and the rest will begin to fall into place naturally over time. That said .... know your limits, when it gets to technical let the pro's sort it out.

b_wilde

If looking for a new gear system are there anything specific you needed. 10 or 11 speed. 2x or 1x ??
I found SRAM NX to be a brilliant budget set up. Heavier than the pricey options from SRAM but nice and reliable.

The Rookie

Nothing inherently wrong with those brakes, may as well sort whatever is wrong with them, fit expensive new ones and you'll be back to square one once they have the same issue.

larkim

What benchmark are you using for whether the existing brakes are good enough or the gears not smooth enough? And how do you know that the deficiencies you're quoting are down to the components, or down to the way they are set up?

e.g. I've got SRAM X5 on my bike and they're fine. Quiet, trouble free, easy to shift. I'm sure there are better items out there, but changing them would really do nothing other than offer me an excuse to fettle with the bike for an hour or so (which I might quite enjoy), but in the end I'd still go up and down gears without issue.

Now, if I wanted to go 1x?? that would be different.

As for brakes, I did swap mine - went from cable discs which I just never got the hang of adjusting, to hydraulics which I've had as "fit and forget" items. But I got those front and back for £30 so it was a bit of a no-brainer.

Of course, there's no reason not to spend your own money...

DonLykeB

larkim wrote:

What benchmark are you using for whether the existing brakes are good enough or the gears not smooth enough? And how do you know that the deficiencies you're quoting are down to the components, or down to the way they are set up?

e.g. I've got SRAM X5 on my bike and they're fine. Quiet, trouble free, easy to shift. I'm sure there are better items out there, but changing them would really do nothing other than offer me an excuse to fettle with the bike for an hour or so (which I might quite enjoy), but in the end I'd still go up and down gears without issue.

Now, if I wanted to go 1x?? that would be different.

As for brakes, I did swap mine - went from cable discs which I just never got the hang of adjusting, to hydraulics which I've had as "fit and forget" items. But I got those front and back for £30 so it was a bit of a no-brainer.

Of course, there's no reason not to spend your own money...

That 1x speed is a big thing for me, the 2x speed system has caused me only problems so far. Other than that the gear system is okay, transitions in the end but not so smooth and not so quiet.

The Rookie

Smooth and quiet comes from maintenance not parts, so you can fit something very expensive and it still be rough and noisy if you don't maintain it!

Just convert your existing setup to 1x with a narrow wide ring and a wide ramnge cassette, but if you really want new parts look at the SLX 1x groupset on chainreaction, my mate got his for about £250. Shifter, mech, cassette, cranks and ring and chain.