Upgrade advice for a newbie

Mtaylor2012 · August 2012

Ive managed to buy a 2010 Kona shread off a mate in pretty much spanking condition for £200, he never used it and with me getting back into MTB again after a 5 year hiatus I thought it might be a good starting point.

Now for what i want to do I think im probably going to have to change a few components as its a jump bike, its standard spec, hydraulic discs, Marzocchi DJ etc. I plan on using it for commuting to work which is a 5-10min bike ride and also going up cannock chase with some mates. What do you think would be the best place to start part wise?

If it would cost a fortune to upgrade for what i want it for then i probably wont bother, ill just sell it on ebay or something because ill make more than £200 im sure! Any advice would be much appreciated!

The Rookie · August 2012

Welcome near neighbour.....

For Cannock a decent pair of tyres is a must, the wet shale can be really slippery, get the grip there and everything else you can sort out later, keep non decent tyres to wear out on the commute!

After that you'll want to start shedding some of the jump bike weight, forks and wheels are the key things although look at some of the sundries like grips etc as a lot of weight can often be save for not much money.

Local MTB riding group http://www.godivatrailridersforum.org/forum/index.php#1 many of use are based in the Leamington/Warwick area.

I have a shed full of spare bits and pieces that come into the 'too good to bin' category so don't hesitate to ask if you need any silly little bits!

Mtaylor2012 · August 2012

Thanks very much for the reply, you are very close indeed! And thanks for the heads up on the local forum too, ive been looking to see if anyone has an idea of what locally is good to ride!

Hmmm changing components like the forks and rims are probably going to be quite costly to do i would of thought? So based on that do you think i would be better off selling this for a bit of a profit and picking myself up something more suitable for around £500?

Even though im only 24 i think a little too old for Dirt jumping nowadays taking into account the amount of injuries it caused me in my teens, so a standard MTB would probably be better suited to what i want to use it for.

The Rookie · August 2012

Changing parts can be costly, or if the parts on the bike are good you can make a profit.....get used parts and with a bit of shopping you can build a really good bike quite cheap (check link in my sig to my £550 bike), so for example buy some good used XC forks and sell your jumpers and you'll probably find the upgrade cost you very little or you may even make a small profit.

Get some decent tyres on it (Nobby Nics, Conti Mountain kings or Panaracer Fire XC all work fairly well at Cannock, as do others I'm sure but I've tried those myself) see how you get on and then decide how you want to progress with the bike. The BR review http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... d-08-28424 suggests it's not to bad for an XC bike.

felix.london · September 2012

Mtaylor2012 wrote:

Even though im only 24 i think a little too old for Dirt jumping nowadays taking into account the amount of injuries it caused me in my teens, so a standard MTB would probably be better suited to what i want to use it for.

pah! I'm 37 and just about to start!

Btw - if you wanna sell your forks at some stage let me know as I could well be interested...if the price is right

Mtaylor2012 · September 2012

Bit of an update, ive gone ahead and purchased a new bike as well as the Kona shread..... Im going to use that as a bit of a project, strip it down, paint it and buy parts if and when i can afford it. Felix, i shall let you know about the forks i might yet keep them and have myself a little play thing

Ive gone for a Specialized Hardrock Sport Disc 2012 (http://www.wheelies.co.uk/p48323/Specia ... -Bike.aspx) with a voucher ive got i managed to get it for just a shade under £300. I know the fork will need upgrading which im happy doing as my original budget was around the £500 mark!

What sort of fork should i look at for under £200? Would these do the job? http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=54601

The Rookie · September 2012

The Recon is a reasonable fork, the Reba is usually the recommendation for upgrades, getting the recon wouldn't be a huge upgrade over what you have so if you were to get a recon I'd suggest used.

Used forks can be a good buy, we have 2 Manitous in the family, both 2004/5 both just had a normal service when we got them, both work perfectly, neither cost over £60 (inc P&P off ebay), both are better than a recon.

cooldad · September 2012

The Recon would be a massive upgrade over what's on there now. If they were in stock. On One had coils for just over a hundred.

felix.london · September 2012

Mtaylor2012 wrote:

Bit of an update, ive gone ahead and purchased a new bike as well as the Kona shread..... Im going to use that as a bit of a project, strip it down, paint it and buy parts if and when i can afford it. Felix, i shall let you know about the forks i might yet keep them and have myself a little play thing

Good plan!

I did the same...all be it with a shiny new frame;
http://thehairyrider.com/2012/06/13/first-custom-build-part-1/

Upgrade advice for a newbie

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