upgrade or not?

[BigGuy]

Taneesha, I think you should not get another new mtb so soon. I agree with Potent and Hog. Rather first upgrade a few things before you splurge. The enjoyment of mtbing should not be the bling, rather your fitness and skill. As they say, Just do it!

 

SPD pedals and shoes are the first upgrade if you have not already done so.

 

Then get a decent front fork. Something middle of the road, like RockShox Tora/Reba, pricewise. A lot of what you will experience handling-wise as you get leaner and faster will be relayed from the front fork.

 

You can go for a tubeless conversion as well. Tubeless rims are expensive, kits such as Stan's can yield similar results if fitted properly.

 

Then later, as the drivetrain bits wear out, replace them with better quality parts, again XTR or SRAM X.0 is overkill unless you are a pro, maximum reliability/value for money/performance is found around the XT / SRAM X.9 price range.

 

With what you have, keep the drivetrain clean and dry-lubed and you will experience lots of happy km's with your current set-up.

 

 

[Rider Rob]

Whats the name of your shop MintSauce?! A NEW bike is the way to go. Ride what you have until you have the moola to buy what you want. Upgrade will take time and when you have finished, all you want is the new, new stuff! 

[AndreZA]

ALWAYS spend as much money as possible on your bike!

 

Oh yes, that is why I can't afford a house. But atleast I look cool riding from shelter to shelter.

 

 

[MintSauce]

 

Whats the name of your shop MintSauce?!

 

 

Don't have my own shop....allthough by now I really ought to have shares in one or two!

 

 

 

 

 

[potent]

also try changing tyres, if your bike has the same WTB velociraptors as mine did. they are tough as nails but climb like a drowning whale. try some kenda karmas or maxxis crossmarks.

 

[RaceChick]

I think it is better to buy a complete bike than

 

putting fancy components on an old frame.

[Johan Bornman]

also try changing tyres' date=' if your bike has the same WTB velociraptors as mine did. they are tough as nails but climb like a drowning whale. try some kenda karmas or maxxis crossmarks.
[/quote']

 

I don't understand how some tyres can climb better than others? What do you know that we should know about?

 

[potent]

more than anything its the weight & roll factor that makes the difference in the tyres performance.

[AndreZA]

 

I don't understand how some tyres can climb better than others? What do you know that we should know about?

 

 

JB, Look at Larsens. There is direction to install it but if you install the rear in reverse you get better traction on steep hills but loose grip braking. I've done it and found it to be true.

 

 

[potent]

same as the WTB velociraptors. different direction for for different surface types eg mud, hardpack

[Derek20]

After making the decision recently to do more MTB than road, i bought a new MTB and traded in the raleigh that I had. Bought a Specialised M$ frame and put disc brakes on. You cannot believe the difference between the two MTB's. Handling and control is soooo much better on the specialised.

[Johan Bornman]

Guys, you're bulsh*tting yourselves and giving out poor advice.

 

The OP wanted to know whether or not to upgrade his/her bike. The advice then from someone who goes by the moniker of Potent, was to change the tyres. He said certain tyres, such as Velociraptors, climb like a drowning whale.

 

C'mon. That's just nonsense. He then defended himself saying that some tyres are unidirectional and if you install them back to front, they will loose traction. This is just more nonsense.  The OP didn't report any traction problems.

 

Loss of traction is charaterised by spinning or sliding wheels, depending on whether you're accellerating or braking. Most of us on bicycles not powered by engines have no traction problems when accellerating. When this does happen, it is loose gravel or stones and here tyre shape, colour or size doesn't make a difference.

 

Loss of traction going uphill is just about unheard of on everyday riding. One looses front wheel contact with the ground long before traction, since in a serious hill situation, all the weight is on the back wheel.

 

I'm not talking about a hill made up of ball bearing gravel. Traction here is limited on any tyre.

 

The answer of changing tyres has therefore nothing to do with the original question and squiriming around and ganging up will not make one iota difference to the fact that bullsh*t answers are bandied about in response to serious questions.

 

Some males just feel they have to respond to every question, whether they know the answer or not. It is called MAS - Male Answer Syndrome.

 

[Hog_]

 

It is called MAS - Male Answer Syndrome.

 

 

I googled it.

 

male answer syndrome

n.

The tendency for some men to answer a question even when they don't know the answer. Also: MAS.

 

 

(I didn't answer a question with this post, did I? Maybe proved a point...)

 

 

 

 

 

[Johan Bornman]

 

I don't understand how some tyres can climb better than others? What do you know that we should know about?

 

 

JB' date=' Look at Larsens. There is direction to install it but if you install the rear in reverse you get better traction on steep hills but loose grip braking. I've done it and found it to be true.

 

 

[/quote']

 

I have also done it and not found it true. The only difference I noticed was an irritating vibration and excessive noise when riding on tar. However, those square blocks on the Larsens soon wear out to resemble the shape of the other side and then they're quiet.

 

Unidirectional tyres on bicycles is 100% nonsense. It is a marketing gimmick. Any unidirectional can very easily be modified to be omni directional. It's just a matter of the shape of the heel on each knobbly.

 

Casings are not directional, they're perfectly AC/DC.

 

Further, the largest force one can excert on a bicycle tyre is during severe braking and then on the front tyre only. All casings are strong enough to handle this and therefore strong enough to handle the very poor accelleration that the human engine produces.

 

[jabbathemutt007]

 

Loss of traction is charaterised by spinning or sliding wheels' date=' depending on whether you're accellerating or braking. Most of us on bicycles not powered by engines have no traction problems when accellerating. When this does happen, it is loose gravel or stones and here tyre shape, colour or size doesn't make a difference.

[/quote']

 

I have had my (road bike) back wheel slip on a very short steep climb on a cement road when it rained.

 

 

[Johan Bornman]

Congratulations. You get to join the club of people who have tried to pedal on ice rinks, in oil baths and on slippery white lines in the old days before the paint had an abrasive added to it.