best upgrades for around £250
dimmockg
Posts: 471
i've just received an annual bonus at work and i under-estimated by a little bit, giving me some "spare cash" (if there is such a thing).
I have a 2009 rockhopper expert as standard with MG1 pedals and felt like throwing a few quid at the bike as i find its my main mode of transport and i'm using it every night
i'll be getting some lights, but thats already been taken into consideration.
with the money above i wondered where i could make significant upgrades with a reasonable cost, nothing that i can think of is actually wrong with the bike and it performs very well, so i guess some people would say save the money. But if there were changes to make (to imrpvoe the bike and shed some weight) what would best? I was thinking:
SLX chainset at £90
XT Cassette at £40
these would shave off around 260g, but where next?
riding is road use to commute to work as well as light (but frequent) off road use
I have a 2009 rockhopper expert as standard with MG1 pedals and felt like throwing a few quid at the bike as i find its my main mode of transport and i'm using it every night
i'll be getting some lights, but thats already been taken into consideration.
with the money above i wondered where i could make significant upgrades with a reasonable cost, nothing that i can think of is actually wrong with the bike and it performs very well, so i guess some people would say save the money. But if there were changes to make (to imrpvoe the bike and shed some weight) what would best? I was thinking:
SLX chainset at £90
XT Cassette at £40
these would shave off around 260g, but where next?
riding is road use to commute to work as well as light (but frequent) off road use
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Comments
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The Reba Team forks at £250 from On One,would be very tempting.You`d save a little by going from coil recons to air Rebas,but aswell as saving the weight you`d get better damping.
For £250 you could also get some nice wheels.For this money a pair of Hope hoops,Hope Pro 2 hubs with the Stans 355 rim option would give you some sub 1700g wheels which woulkd drop around 200g off your current set.
Xt cassette is a good inexpensive way of saving weight,but I`d change only once the existing caseettte is worn out and don`t frget to budget for a new chain at the same time.
SLX chainset is a good choice,but I would again do this once the existing chainset wears out.
Wheels and forks is where you`ll notice performance gains the most.
If however you feel that your bike rides well as is,don`t forget decent riding kit,especially a decent waterproof jacket and comfortable riding shorts is always money well spent.
No point in having a good bike but not being able to ride it in comfort especially through the winter!
If you are riding flats,also consider making the change to spd shoes and pedals.2006 Giant XTC
2010 Giant Defy Advanced
2016 Boardman Pro 29er
2016 Pinnacle Lithium 4
2017 Canondale Supersix Evo0 -
a dropper post0
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generally the best way to upgrade to improve your riding is look at where you're losing speed.
So if you're relatively rubbish at sprinting out of corners (compared to mates) then wheels and tyres.
If you lose control over rocky ground then better forks
if you have to brake really early then brakes
then start cutting weight.0 -
+1ride_whenever wrote:generally the best way to upgrade to improve your riding is look at where you're losing speed.
So if you're relatively rubbish at sprinting out of corners (compared to mates) then wheels and tyres.
If you lose control over rocky ground then better forks
if you have to brake really early then brakes
then start cutting weight.
if i had that money i would be buying some new wheels, but thats me and on my bike so......I like bikes and stuff0 -
thanks for the input so far, i had considered the fork - recently missed the extra 10% merlin were offering on the sids, but will check out on-one for their reba deal.
regarding the wheels, i guess my options here would be:
XT hubs on 717's
Pro 2's on 717's (mate at work was meant to be selling some but decided to keep these)
or
Pro 2's on stans (would i need new tyres?)
I understand i'd be getting a better quality wheel set up, but what sort of saving could i expect to make in each set up?
My tyres are fairly reasonable on the weight side, so no major issues with these0 -
The hoppers wheels are fairly light to start with, but you could expect to save 2-300g in total with your budget.
The bike is a nice balanced spec, and nothing really stands out as the weak link, which makes losing weight an expensive process! You could also weigh your bars, stem, saddle and seatpost and compare to budget offerings from exotic.
My gut feeling is to get that Reba Team - will lose about 250g, but also have a better damper and more adjustability.0 -
i've previously whipped out the seat post and saddle to weigh those, combined weight of just over 600g (620g iirc), reckon i could save a little there - however i like the current saddle! So could probably save a little on the seatpost
regarding the forks - i did have a pro 2009 (before it got pinched) and did love the reba's which were on that, lovely smooth forks and very easy to set up and adjust. Not sure how much the Recon's weigh? I had though they were around 4.25lb, so expected to save around 0.5lb if purchasing the Reba's?0 -
250g/half a pound, same thing really ;-). Maybe a touch more.
I have the Exotic carbon seatpost which weighs 185g, though not sure is a 30.9 version.
The Exotic stem weighs 130g, which is just 13 quid.0 -
supersonic wrote:250g/half a pound, same thing really ;-). Maybe a touch more.
I have the Exotic carbon seatpost which weighs 185g, though not sure is a 30.9 version.
The Exotic stem weighs 130g, which is just 13 quid.
long day at work and only part way through
I don't think they do a 30.9 seatpost iirc, so would need one of the spacer things i've seen on the net (i think crc sell them)
If i were to change stem, seatpost and bars, i reckon i could do that for around £90? and save around 200g fairly easily. Not sure about my current rise on the bars and the stem length so may have a measure up later when i get some time. Not bad looking stuff either tbh0 -
The stem, bars and post on my Zaskar Team weigh in at:
130g (£13)
250g (£33)
185g (£38)
= 565g (£84)
Inc P+P, all from Exotic. The bars aren't that light, but are Scandium alloy and are tough.0 -
xt 6 bolt hubs with 717s are 1940g a pair.(at least mine are,according to my scales)
Stans 355 with Hope Pro 2 are circa 1650g (accoring to Hope)
Hope Pro 2 with 717 s are circa 1750g.(according to Hope)
I normally add a nominal 50- 100g to claimed wheel weights,as they inavriably are a tad optimistic, but even so the Hope options are usefully lighter.I`d guess on your current wheeelset being 2000-2100g.Best to take the wheels off,whip the cassette,rim strips and skewers off and weigh them,yourself so you know what your starting point is.
You wont need new tyres to use Stans as you can use them with tubes,if you want,but they have the added advantage of being easily cnvertible if you want to try a tubeless set up.2006 Giant XTC
2010 Giant Defy Advanced
2016 Boardman Pro 29er
2016 Pinnacle Lithium 4
2017 Canondale Supersix Evo0 -
out with the kitchen scales when i get home i think, unless anybody knows how much the bars, stem, seat post and saddle weigh on a 2009 rockhopper expert?
certainly some weight savings for the wheels as well,
not going to give in and up the budget for the sake of buying parts. Going to have a lengthy ride over the weekend and see if anything doesn't feel right to me.
One thing i sometimes find myself doing is pushing back about 1.5cm in the saddle, so i may possibly need a seat post with a slight slant back at the top?0
