New or fix and upgrade?

[Rouxenator]

When you get to the point where you have do decide buy new or fix/upgrade how do you know what is the best option?

 

My current MTB is a mixed bag of new and old, newest being the Zaskar 9r frame, Deore brakes and Radon shock. Oldest are the wheelset having doing 10,000km since I got them 2 years ago. The hubs are noisy and the rims have seen better days, I was told that good wheels will cost me about R3k.

 

I noticed you can get an acceptable bike for R6k so I am very tempted to just buy the new bike and sell my mixed bag with its shiny new frame, maybe taking the brakes and shocks from it onto the R6k bike.

 

Any tips that could help me decide?

[BarHugger]

IMO go for wheels now....frame is sound and solid. The rest can follow in good time and as the budget allows. On R6k bike you are going to substitute stuff within 6 months anyway. Also keep the saddle....usually fits like an old PT short that you just can't throw away.

[gpcar]

Upgrade..

[jugheaddave]

Spend 6k on current bike!

[madmarc]

Upgrade, with new paint job and new wheels. Get a top of the range (SRAM ) groupset & shock deal off the Hub and you good to go.

[kosmonooit]

Or start a new project - start of with decent state-of-the-art frame, then build up with bits and bobs as they come up.Very satisfying.

 

Done that a few times now, thanks to the 'ub,

[Rattle Snake]

You will probably spend more on a new R6k bike in the long run... starting with fork then gears, brakes, wheels etc. and the GT is an awesome frame... (I will be selling a set of ZTR crest on Dirty Flea hubs with conti X-kings in the near future for around that price!!!)

[Iwan Kemp]

Just a note: unless you get a 2nd hand deal, new wheels (worth buying/upgrading to) won't cost R3k.

[Rouxenator]

Right now I'll see how much more mileage I can get from the bike. The reason why I am leaning towards buying a new 2014 Karakoram Sport is because I have very little problems with my 2012 Karakoram 3.0 for the first 2500km and the parts were relatively cheap. Once I started upgrading things got expensive when they failed.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Right now I'll see how much more mileage I can get from the bike. The reason why I am leaning towards buying a new 2014 Karakoram Sport is because I have very little problems with my 2012 Karakoram 3.0 for the first 2500km and the parts were relatively cheap. Once I started upgrading things got expensive when they failed.

 

You'll hit the same wall with the new bike, dude. At that price point, rims are crap and so are the forks.

 

Your raidon should still be good (it's a very under-rated fork) and the frame will be exactly the same on the new bike give or take a few cosmetic changes such as the paint job and maybe a tapered head tube (if anything at all)

 

My 2c - upgrade your existing wheels. Don't bother with buying a new bike just for the sake of it. Your frame is a good one (those gt's are built well) and can last for a lot longer.

 

In the end - you'll have a FAR better bike that will serve you far better and longer that way, as opposed to buying the new one and having the same problem in a years time.

[Rouxenator]

Good point, what does a decent set of wheels go for these days? The current wheels I have dates back to my first Karakoram which cost me R4900 two years ago. So I recon they can't be that bad if they have lasted me two years and 10,000km. That is one of the reasons I am leaning towards a cheaper new bike.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Don't do it. Really, don't pull the trigger on a new bike that will actually be less well specced than your current one.

 

Spend the moolah on wheels. A decent set can be bought for 5k. Which is less than the new bike, but you'll find yourself in this position again if you go for the new bike and again have to upgrade the wheels in 2 years time.

 

A good set of wheels will last a whole lot longer than the wheels on the new bike. Properly built, with proper hubs and such.