General question about the quality of goods

[Mushroomgodmat]

This will probably seem like a very strange question, but im pretty clueless to a few things...

So, I have a great bike...its this one I like it a lot!

Now, when I read reviews of this bike the general consensus was that the frame was good-great, but the other components where nothing to get to excited about, I knew that when I bought it and my intention was to always upgrade bits as I needed them.

Now im at a point where im going to upgrade the breaks, and I can understand what a break upgrade would bring - better stopping distance.

But what kind of improvements might I get by upgrading the wheels, or the cranksets?

Im sure Im missing something, but my wheels spin, and my crankset seems to work they way its designed too, would upgrading these componants result in any kind of upgrade - or would they simply look nicer?

 

[Kestevan]

Main improvement will be a decrease in weight.

The biggest improvement you can make to a cheaper bike is to replace the wheels/tyres. Lighter/stiffer wheels make a massive difference to the effort required especially when climbing or accelerating. Lighter tyres with more grip can transform the bikes handling no-end.

Updating the crank/bottom bracket will give a much smaller return on investment and is probably best left till you need to make a replacement due to wear anyway.

 

[tyred]

IMO, there is a lot of nonsense talked about bike components.

There is no doubt that lighter wheels and tyres will make the bike feel livelier and are probably the most best upgrade you can make to any bike. But even a cheap set of wheels will be perfectly functional if the bearings are greased and adjusted properly. Also bear in mind that lightweight tyres will usually be less durable. Brake pads can make a big difference to stopping ability in the wet but I don't believe the calipers make that much difference. High end gear components look nicer and are lighter but are probably no better from a functional point of view. People will pay silly amounts of money to save a few grams here or there, and it will probably make no discernible difference to the average rider.

 

[Lien Sdrawde]

Tis a nice looking bike. I believe upgrading wheels is very beneficial - someone will be along soon to tell you why

Edit: Bugger, they posted whilst I was typing.

 

[Mushroomgodmat]

regarding the wheels...(just looked) mine has alexrims b450...cant find much info on them online unfortunatly.