new bike or upgrade??

[Challis349]

hi guys, just found this forum, here's my problem, I have an 08 or an 07 carrera kraken, cant remember which, but i enjoy riding it, but I want start some cross country through the wolds with a mate of mine, the frame feels a tad heavy, the forks are pants, as is the drivetrain really, and would prefer hydraulic discs, just because I have never had them haha, so the question is upgrade what I have or buy another, next problem being the budget is around £500 at the very very top, preferably £400.

thanks for any help guys

 

[TheBoyBilly]

How about this ( and below £400):

From Decathlon, a B'Twin Rockrider 8.0 (399.95)

Avid Juicy 3 Hydraulic brakes
Suntour HLO suspension fork with 80mm travel and lock-out

Other than that the next cheapest I've seen (with the type of brakes you would like) is a Fuji Nevada 1.0 @ £459

Bill

 

[Challis349]

thanks for the reply, just realised i wrote kraken when its actually a vulcan!!

bike looks nice, is hyd discs a must have on a bike, any other ideas guys??

 

[HJ]

If you can live with the frame, then upgrade, I am not so sure you will get a lighter frame at that price point. By upgrading you can learn a lot about your bike and get a lot of satisfaction, but it is unlikely to save you much money

 

[RedBike]

To be honest the kraken isn't a bad bike. I'm not sure your £500 buget is going to get you a bike with a substantially better frame. If you were to fit a good set of forks to it and a light-weight wheelset then you'd radically transform the ride.I would suggest that you look into selling the kraken then using the money + your budget to get something second-hand. £500/£600 should allow you to get a race spec hardtail / a high end full suspension bike.