I'm doing the Amish Bike Tour in September and the Seagull Century in October. I was chatting with some women a couple weeks ago out on a trail and they were telling me about the Amish Bike Tour; they've done it before and said it's really fun and a really scenic, interesting ride. I'm looking forward to it.
Just drop the big ring for a bashguard, adjust your front der and you are 2X9 for now. Get a nice new wheelset since that's the best upgrade you can make for any bike, then later when you are ready to spend more money you can upgrade the drive train now that you'll have a new rear hub.I'm after a little advice/comments:
My current MTB is a 2009 Gary Fisher HiFi plus. It's in great condition but I'm not altogether happy with the deore groupset, especially compared with how slick the 105 is on my CX bike.
I can't really afford to throw ?3k at a new bike, or should I say my wife will kill me if I do?And if I was I'd probably try out a 27B or 29'er but I'm stuck with what I have for now.
So I'm debating the merits of upgrading to an XT groupset and at the same time dropping to a 2x10 rather than a 3x9. The problem is that my rear hub is an 8/9 so highly unlikely that a 10 cassette will fit. So now I'm looking at needing either a new hub and the pita of restringing the current rim or a new wheelset. So I've gone from a ?400 groupset to then adding around ?300 extra on a wheelset too! This is further confused as the new XT groupset out later this year will be an 11 cassette so then do I buy a 2x10 or wait and buy a 2x11 or even a 1x11?
I mainly ride single track type stuff on the bike and I'm not entirely convinced I need 22 gears, certainly I double shift a lot with the 27 gears but other than my CX bike I've only ever ridden triple chainring bikes so have nothing to go off, perhaps if I wasn't STILL waiting for the new frame I could take that for a quick blast and see how I went with a 2x11.
Man, why is nothing ever easy?
Honestly that bike is a bit dated, I'd just ride the fucker and get something a little more current. If you really want new wheels, check out Velomine. It's one guy and he's top notch. Great deals on wheels, good customer service. This is a damn decent wheelset with XT hubs for under $200. I have these i23s on my 29'er and I beat the fuck out of them with zero issues:
Those wheels suck dick. The duster rims are ok, but the rear hub is a basement level loose ball Shimano piece of shit. I agree he's better off buying a new bike and all but if he's waffling on costs of stuff then a new bike doesn't really sound like an upgrade path. Unless he wants to just ride what he's got until he can just buy something else complete. Swapping the big ring for a BG would be the cheapest thing anyone's suggested. Overall, yeah just getting something new is a more efficient use of money, but if you insist on doing a little here and there then who cares about the brakes? Yes they are low end but if they stop the bike then fuck it.
You're my homeboy, but you are fired from talking about mountain bikes if you think brakes aren't important. Good brakes make you faster dude, probably moreso than anything else. Brake modulation in the woods is absolutely critical. It's the difference between scrubbing speed and maintaining control through the turns vs locking up the wheel and eating a mouthful of trees.
I agree with this. 11 speed is (IMO) overrated in the woods. You can get the same ratios down low (where it counts) for half the money in a converted 10 speed setup. If someone is constantly running out of high gear on a MTB, they're on the wrong type of bike.
Nothing's better for a bike than good wheels. If the choice to upgrade that bike came down to the two I'd take wheels every time. I run BB7's on my HT single speed (cable brakes!) and its fine. Any brake can modulate to some degree, if you are locking them up you're doing it wrong. Granted I've never tried Juicy 3's but they can't be making him crash.
You have a 9'er dealer around?I don't have the nerve for proper DH'ing. I did a few runs in BC on the moderate stuff with my own bike, but watching some of the kids bomb by in full armour and with no sense of self-preservation made me feel oldI'm sure on a proper bike it would be different though and it does look fun.
I stuck the bashguard on the bike and I can't say I'm missing the bike ring at all, and I haven't been under-geared with the 32T front so that was an unwarranted worry. Mentioned in passing to the wife I fancied a new MTB soon and I didn't get any immediate pushback so I might have a proper look at the end of this season when they the 2015 stuff goes on sale. I do like the look of thatFuelbut I do like my wifes stumpy so the 29 Specialized could be worth a look, but Specialized are always light on components for a given price point it seems. I guess I should do a few test rides as I get the opportunity.
