To upgrade or not to upgrade

[jonny jeez]

Does the bike hold any sentimental value to you, in which case ignore the £180 as it'll be academic, if it's purely practical, I would swap it out for a new bike and spend the £300 odd to do it.

 

[Justinslow]

Does the bike hold any sentimental value to you, in which case ignore the £180 as it'll be academic, if it's purely practical, I would swap it out for a new bike and spend the £300 odd to do it.

No not really, just don't like the idea of throwing it away and it's probably not worth much to sell. You are correct though the money would be better spent on something else proven by today's ride.
Went out with another 4 guys all Older than me by some margin, all riding newer bikes - 3 full sus one hard tail, all costing between 1k and 3k. And I struggled big time, they pretty much all made it look so much more effortless, I wasn't completely outclassed but I think I was having to work so much harder to keep up with them on my soggy heavy worn out bike, only my junior years and risk taking keeping me in the game. My gears were clonking and changing when not required and the bike bouncing almost dangerously at the speeds we were taking some of the purpose made MTB tracks at, I almost crashed several times as I felt I was riding beyond the bikes limit. Just shows how the last time I went out a couple of weeks ago I felt it was ok at a much slower pace, but pick that pace up with better riders around you and the bikes failings clearly show. Looks like I've got some saving to do!

 

[Psycolist]

I would agree with Cubist. The geometry, the weight, the frame build and part quality on a new one far outweighs any/all worthwhile upgrades to you existing ride. Me thinks I would sort the shifting issues and head set on your beasty, then thrash the pants off it while putting a few quid a week away towards a new ride. Unless, is your workplace is a member of the CTW scheme ? ? But also bear in mind, If you pay 3-4 hundred quid on a bike, you are still going to struggle up against bikes costing thousands ! but the people paying thousands will still hurt when they fall off.

 

[Justinslow]

I would agree with Cubist. The geometry, the weight, the frame build and part quality on a new one far outweighs any/all worthwhile upgrades to you existing ride. Me thinks I would sort the shifting issues and head set on your beasty, then thrash the pants off it while putting a few quid a week away towards a new ride. Unless, is your workplace is a member of the CTW scheme ? ? But also bear in mind, If you pay 3-4 hundred quid on a bike, you are still going to struggle up against bikes costing thousands ! but the people paying thousands will still hurt when they fall off.

Thanks, even though I could spend thousands believe me, I can't im afraid, just not going to happen, so my budget is around the £350 mark. My issues at the weekend have already got me a new freewheel and chain ready to go on and some new shifters ordered just to make it "safe". I'm going to take the bb and headset apart aswell and sort those out, that just leaves the flexy weak fork that I guess for now I will just have to put up with. That will give me a bit of time to convince the wife I need another bike!

 

[Psycolist]

You sound as though you are a 'hands on guy' . Why not do what I did, and enjoy using the bike you have got, while keeping a weather eye out for deals and bargains on the net, fleabay, gumtree, even some of the big retailers give things away sometimes, and your LBS. As bargains become available, snap them up, and either install them on your current frame, or put them to one side until you find a suitable frame to put all your goodies on. I have built myself a roadie and an MTB doing it this way. I could not afford to buy either of my bikes outright, but over the last 4 years, have managed to put together 2 wonderful machines, built to suit my own requirments and specs. You need to be patient, and be a little flexible, but I found it to be a very satisfying process. As far as bargains, my best was from Chainreaction, selling a Cane Creek headset for 99p, delivered.! Unbelievable. The box they put it in was worth 99p. It just needs perseverance.

 

[Justinslow]

Trying to do that now really, scouring the web every night looking for deals without going stupid. For instance the older style 7 speed shimano Ez shifters incorporating brake levers for just over £15 for the pair with cables, so I can replace the grip shifters. It's never going to be a great bike but if I can just make it usable that will do me fine for now. Trouble is you start looking at stuff you don't really need like bars etc! Just got to focus on correcting the bits that don't work as they should. The thing is, you can still have a lot of fun on an old dog, just don't go thinking you can beat the big boys! Although on one segment on strava the other day named "the beast" (a well known rather tricky section) I was 636 out of 2347, so all things considered, being wet and slippery in January on a knackered old bike I'm reasonably pleased with that!
And buying things over time is less noticeable in small chunks than blowing a large wedge in one go to the wife!

 

[Justinslow]

So I kind of got carried away, doesn't that just always happen!
Here's a list of what I replaced:

KMC Chain £6.98
Shimano 7 speed freewheel £8.49
VP square taper bottom bracket £9.99
Shimano fcm 131 chainset £17.99
Shimano 7 speed and 3 speed EZ Fire shifters/levers with gear cables £15.31
Acor headset £24.95
Shimano Alivio rear V brake £13.49
Clarks 72mm V brake pads £5.98
Took apart, cleaned and regreased front forks (free)

That's a total of £103.18 inclusive of delivery charges where applicable.

Because I got carried away I also added:

Charge Spoon £12.50 (second hand) thanks @davester65
Savage 660mm DH bars £11.97
Ritchey pro Truegrip 6 £5
Elite Custom Race bottle cage x2 (one to house a tool kit) £17.98
Swapped better tyres from the wife's MTB (free)

So that's a further £47.45 so a grand total of £150.63 I did all the work myself so there were no labour charges.

So basically I've spent £150 on my bike that isn't worth £150! Proving its pretty uneconomic to refurb an old bike. But, looking at it another way I've spent £150 instead of spending £300+ on a new bike thus saving myself £150+ .
And doing the work myself has been thoroughly enjoyable, Ive done things on the bike I've never done before. I borrowed a work stand from a mate who also had a pedal arm extractor tool and BB extractor tool. I also bought a chain splitter for £11.50 which I'm sure will come in handy in the future.
It's never going to be a "great" bike in modern terms, and I know a lot of the parts I've used are "budget" but I think I've shed nearly half a kilo, It will do me just fine for my ambling around, and giving it a brief test ride has been a revelation! The gears actually work - one click, one shift, the brakes work, the steering is smooth and taut again, the drivetrain is smooth and quiet, just need to give it a proper shakedown now, all in all very pleased .