i recently picked up an slightly used schwinn mountain bike for $230. it was used by a guy who bought it but the size didn’t agree with him. i swear the tires weren’t even dirty.
i’m very new to the sport and i’d like to start building this bike as i go into a decent cross country machine, but i don’t know where to start upgrading the components. what’s more important? my shifters and deraileurs or my suspension? i don’t want to hear, “throw the schwinn away and buy a cannondale,” since this is a beginner’s bike and i’d like to keep the total cost of bike to under 1000 dollars.
about the riding conditions: i live in south florida and most of my off roading takes place out west of interstate 75 on unpaved roads covered in limestone rocks. this gets pretty rough. there are a few reasonably steep climbs. they get muddy after rains and all my other riding takes place on state park trails with some rolling hills.
Why upgrade right away? Ride it now…replace what breaks with upgraded parts. I suspect that you will find that the derailleurs and shifters will go first. I am not too familiar with the shocks, but unless you are riding huge drops, they will probably do for quite a while.
Advice on the bike is to get some capable shocks (Rockshox?). $100 at the most. Then get some good solid deraileurs by shimano, prefferably mid grade. Double-barrel rims are an option if you are gonna be jumping. Shifters aren’t that important unless you shift a lot. Personally, I hardly shift on the trails unless i really really have to. I do this so I don’t have to worry about my shifters getting stretched, ect. At any rate, have some decent shimanos to work with. Mid grade.
I live in S. FLa.! I go to markham, but where do you go west of 1-75? Is it a specific park, or untouched terrain? I am anxious to know of new places down here!
Since you’re new to the sport, I’d suggest riding it as is for now. If you really get hooked on mountain biking, then ditch the whole bike and start over. I wouldn’t even look at a full suspension bike for less than $1000.
Agent: what brands should I go with, or is it pretty much a shimano monopoly? what grades (of parts) would give me a noticable improvment over what that bike is currently running?
Fuel: the “west of 75” trails that i ride are the atv trails that run underneath the overpasses around where 75 and the turnpike connect. you can see it as you drive south on i-75 on your right hand side after miramar parkway and before miami gardens drive. i can actually ride there from my house, so sometimes it makes more sense to go there than it does to drive to markham. they’ve been doing alot of construction out there and it’s hard to ride while the bulldozers are working cos of the dust they kick up, but if go after 5 or on a weekend and you follow the trails along the canal you’ll be okay. the dirt construction site itself is kinda cool too. after a ride on that road with all those rocks, you’ll understand why i’m curious about shocks and whatnot. it may or may not be worth a trip for you. i started going there just to see where all the atv guys were going.
I agree with kferr. Definately take the bike out for now as it is, and see if there’s anything that doesn’t feel quite right to you. Once you think you know what you want to change, talk to someone who knows a lot about bikes and get them to help you.
Looking at the link, I can see it’s already got rapid fire shifters, which is great. Most new bikes that people get for riding with me have grip shift which, to be honest, is pants.
The forks are RSTs (if I can remember the page correctly), which are pretty much the same model as the ones that came with my kona. Rsts are alright, but not fantastic. They do their job for lighter riding, but if you want to start doing downhill or anything (which is very fun), you need to upgrade to some better ones like rockshox or bombers.
To be honest, I also agree with the second part of kferr’s post. Full-suspension bikes are made far too often these days by nearly all bike companies, and they end up being very, very heavy. Judging by the price on the page, I’m sorry, but I’m guessing that this frame weighs a tonne. If you want to get into serious biking, then sell the frame and get a GT or Kona frame, and just set it up with front suspension. That’ll be a lot lighter, and much easier to ride uphill.
Front suspension’s all most people need really. I hurl myself down the hills near my house most weekends, and I find that even the biggest of jumps are dampened enough just by my forks.
Rightyho, I’m sure that was no help at all, but it’s my point of view. Never mind!
Since you’re new to the sport you should concentrate on developing your riding and basic maintenance skills. Once you do that, the weak parts of the bike will begin to stick out.
that being said, the first thing to go on my bike was the fork. I’m kind of a heavy guy and my bike came with a low-end rock-shox which is designed for lighter riders. I had a Marzocchi fork put on and it made a huge difference in steering.
The second thing to go were the pedals. The bike came with basic spd pedals which were OK, but I kept finding myself off the bike on a climb, and it was extremely difficult to get started again. I put on some shimano 545 pedals, which have a cage surrounding the spd, so you can get your feet on the pedals easier. You can also use the pedals with regular shoes if need be.
I would leave all the other tranny stuff (cranks, shifters, derailleurs, etc.) alone. It should be fine. You should be able to fix most problems with the barrel adjusters (unless something breaks, of course).
You’ll probably have to adjust the rear suspension to get it so it’s right for you. You don’t want it too boingy because it’s inefficient energy wise and you’ll bottom out the shock, which isn’t good for the shock or the frame.
If you want a lean mean cross country machine you’ll need to go with a hardtail ($-$$) or one of the lightweight full suspension frames ($$$-$$$$). If you’re going to spend $1000 on a xc bike, don’t spend it hanging fancy parts off of that low-end frame. Start with a good frame.
The most important thing is to get out and ride and enjoy. Save the money pit of gear acquisition for when you really know exactly what you want.
Keep the bike as is. You’ll see a much bigger shift in performance by just going out and riding, rather than agonizing over what sort of brake cables you are using.