Mountain Biking - Confused about upgrade

I broke my crappy Altus shifter/lever combo the other day on my Hardrock and thought I would be selling the bike to upgrade next year anyways so started to hunt for a stock one.

However, during this time I decided I love the frame so I plan to keep the bike and just upgrade as I go.

I have called every LBS in my area and each one tells me something different. I cant decide what the heck to do!

One LBS tells me I cant go with anything but Deore for 8spd. Another tells me only Alevio, and another tells me the only thing I can do is go 9sp.

I was considering 9spd anyways but they quoted me 200 canadian for just Deore, thats not installed. I was reading Troie's post on here and he is able to get LX for 100 US dollars. LX here was $380 not installed. Thats for Front and Rear DR, Shifters, Levers chain and Cassette.

What the heck should I do? I want the best upgrade a couple hundred canadian dollars can get me, however I have had Alevio and Deore quoted in around that range, is this right?

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks.

It was actually XT. But In your case (as well as mine) you would have to buy new brake levers too. They arent really that expensive, LBS sells a pair of LX brake levers for $20 US.

Can you just buy it from www.jensonusa.com or www.pricepoint.com ? They are fairly inexpensive, its the shipping thatll get ya.

BTW, if you do aggressive riding like me, you might want to read the little sticker that should be attached to your stem. If there isnt a sticker there, here is the direct quote from mine:

"Not intended for downhill, stunts, or extreme off-road riding"

Funny huh?.

Does that sticker apply to the frame and everything or just the stem?

So you were able to get everything you need to go to 9spd in XT for 100 bucks US??

Originally posted by totaletech
So you were able to get everything you need to go to 9spd in XT for 100 bucks US??

No way. However, you can get 8sp shifters and etc for really good deals at the sites listed in those links up above. Go check them out. Any component at Deore or "better" is going to be pretty decent stuff. The Altus, and other low end grouppos are not worth the money you'd spend to replace them, so the "upgrade" you're talking about is a good idea.

I didnt go for 9speed. Why would you want to? That would mean youd have to buy a new cassette and chain too.

The sticker only applies to the stem. The lady at the lbs told me its a cheapo dimensions stem. You can buy a simple one thatll do the job for about 20-50 dollars.

I was told at every LBS that I couldnt go to 8Spd LX or XT, that I had to upgrade to 9.

This is even more confusing now.

Why would they say that? Your bike is originally an 8 speed. It has 8 speed compatible parts.

They said that none of the components come in 8 speed.

Thats true, it is difficult to find 8 spd parts. Tell me exactly what it is that you want to do.

Well I think I want to go to 9spd. LX.
So I need Front and rear DR, Shifters, Levers, Cassette, and Chain. I think thats it isnt it?

IS 200 Canadian a good price for going Deore? Or should I shop around and look for LX for the same cash?

Yes, thats all you need. Will you be installing these yourself?

LX is better than plain Deore. I dont know the conversion of candian to us. How much is 200 Canadian in us dollars?

Isn't Deore the same as LX or is there a seperate Deore LX ??

Ganja...

XTR
XT
Deroe LX
Deore

Thats what it looks like :)

200$ is around 130 american.

$130 US is pretty damn cheap for all those parts. Go for it.

None of those parts are available in 8-speed for current model years.

If you do some searching on-line, you can still find some LX or XT level stuff in 8-speed.

L8R

BTW, $130 is pretty cheap!

L8R

I've actually found that some of the deore stuff is pretty good. I have a set of deore hubs laced to some rhyno lites, and they've been absolutely great. as for you're 8 speed quandry, check www.nashbar.com granted they're not the absolute greatest, but they seem to have a lot of the obsolete stuff nobody else has

, You've been told some things that may appear inconsistent with each other, so let's clear things up:

--if you have your local shops do the upgrade, you'll have to go all the way to 9 speed, and spend money on components you may not need, because the local shops cannot/won't order 8sp stuff, which is no longer made.

--if you want to upgrade your existing 8sp system with only the parts you need, it is easy to do, since the 8sp parts are available all over the internet, brand new. Look on eBay and other bike parts sales places, as well as Jenson, PricePoint and SuperGo.

:beer:

Shifters (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3615226614&category=42334) , LX rear der. from Canada (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3615258102&category=42329) , XTR shift/brake (canti) combo (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3614647637&category=42330) STX-RC shift pods (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3614476299&category=42330) , XT rear derailleur (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3614496399&category=42329) , LX shift/brake-canti combo (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3614810054&category=42330) , LX shifter pods (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3611123624&category=42330) , XTR 8 sp cassette (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3615006582&category=42328) , Gripshift WITH derailleur (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3615050351&category=42330) , to name a few you should look at.

Well I made my mind up on the upgrade.

I'm happy with my choice.

I traded in the hardrock and bought a Rockhopper!! hahaha

Amazing how a trip to the bike store for a 30 dollar shifter can lead you to upgrading all the components right through to the whole bike!

Thanks to all those that helped!!