hey guys I have a regular old mountain bike and I'm wondering what parts I could upgrade and how much approx. it would cost to buy and install to make it go smoother and faster. I'm not sure what speed or what size tires or anything but what's some general things you can upgrade to make it go faster? thanks
if you live in a city thats not crazy hilly, i say trash the mountain bike altogether and get a fixed gear that's pretty much stripped down without a bunch of fancy stupid track bike shit. two wheels, two set gears, one chain, brakes set by the pace of your feet keeping the pedals going or resisting against them going. they are tight.
It would cost more to upgrade it than to just buy a new comparable bike. Unless it's a very good bike that's just old, or it has sentimental value, or you're a serious cyclist, you might benefit from just going to Wal Mart or something. If you're doing real mountain biking though, Wal Mart's bikes will only last you like, a week before being torn apart. Anyway... Since it's an old bike, you probably have cantilever brakes. An upgrage to linear pull brakes (v-brakes) would make it better to ride, and safer. These brakes make a huge difference. You can install them yourself, but it might be a bitch if you don't know much about bikes. You might also need a travel adjuster, which is just an annoying little part the might be hard to find. If you want to make your bike smoothest, get new derailleurs. They'll be on the expensive side, though. *edit Yes, as stated before, there are limitless things you can put on your bike to make it nicer/"better"/etc. After upgrading the more important things, consider: good grips - they'll make a huge difference if you're riding long distance nice saddle - possibly very expensive, but your ass will love it. I don't mean to sound gross, there. Hah. pedals - light alloy ones with good grip (maybe replaceable grip pins) will glue your foot to the pedals without having to use clips That idea about stripping everything and switching your bike to use only one gear would be a great idea, but only if you live in a pretty flat place. Since you wouldn't have to shift any gears, it would be super smooth. It just won't be able to take you up a hill without a fight.
http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/959141/ ^^ Decent bike with disc brakes and the like for about 300 hundred American. Go used? Other used bikes----> http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/?op=list&category=2
Yeah well where I live is -very- hilly so I need gears. My bike is a Trek 820 Singletrack, so it's not very old. I think I bought it in 2000 for a few hundred dollars. I -do- have linear breaks, but I might need to replace them because mine are getting worn out, hopefully that won't cost much. I'm not interested in changing my wheels because we have some dirt roads here that I usually go on that are rocky, but how much would it cost to maybe change my whole gear system? Or a section of it that would be effecient? I might have $100-$200 to put into this bike, and I'm not looking for a whole new upgrade, but just some parts that will improve performance of regular biking. Thanks to everyone so far.
From what I've read about the bike, it seems like a great bike. The suspension looks a bit dated, though. You could pick up a good fork for $100-200, and even if it were your only upgrade, it would make a huge difference. Just IMO...
Ok, thanks. And about the pedals, should I get one that has a strap over the shoe? It looks a bit goofy imo but I'm not gonna go implant clips in my shoes. From what I know, those are the only options worth considering.