Mountain Biking - Upgrades

Recently I've been upgrading my bike. I've put a very lovely Selle Italia Flite on it, 2Ti Eggbeaters, Avid Juicy Carbons (Found them for $100 each!) and a Speedball on it. I still have $500 left for it though. The guys at the LBS didn't give any helpful hints on what to buy next. Prove your worthiness, BF's! :D

Things That Don't Need Any Upgrading:
Pedals
Seat
Seatpost
Tires
Wheelset
Rear Shock
Brakes

So, I'm thinking cassette (rotational mass), the controls or maybe components.

Oh, it's a Trek Fuel Ex7, so it's mostly Deore components.

What fork are you running?

What fork are you running?

Rock Shox Recon 351, I think. I was considering a fork upgrade, maybe Fox Talas RL?

I think I got the names right.

give us the full build and we can help. Otherwise, how are we supposed to know what sucks on it right now? ;)

Just out of curiousity, what wheelset do you have? Keep in mind that upgrading the derailleurs and shifters won't really give you much of a noticable increase in performance. It will drop a very small amount of weight but nto enough that you will notice it in the real world.

What crankset do you have? If it is a heavy one you can lose a good bit of weight just by swapping it out for a lighter one.

Do you have plenty of riding clothes? Tools? Quality shoes and helmet? Those are places I would start if you don't already. Nice tools, a workstand, and a bike mechanics book are great investments.

give us the full build and we can help. Otherwise, how are we supposed to know what sucks on it right now? ;)

FIEN OMG

Bars- Bontrager Select
Stem- Bontry Select
Saddle- Selle Italia Flite
Seatpost- Maverick Speedball
Pedals- Crank Bros. Eggbeater 2Ti
Tires- Bonty Jones
Wheelset- Bonty Select (Not open for upgrading because it's a pain the ass), Deore Hubs
Brakes- Avid Juicy Carbon
Shifters- Deore
Crankset- Deore
Rear Derailleur- XT Shadow
Front Derailleur- Deore
Crankset- Deore
Cassette- Deore?
Fork- Rock Shox Recon 351
Rear Shock- Fox RP2?

Did I get everything?

@LowCel, I have two sets of Pearl Izumi Shorts, Two Jersey's (One for road, one for MTB'ing) and a set of gloves. I have a Giro Pneumo, so no upgrading in the helmet department needed. :D I also have a CamelBack M.U.L.E. which, although it hurts my back after a while, holds everything I need. I also have bottles for days in which I don't want back problems....

As for tools, I have bottles of lube, grease, wrenches, and many things I'll probably never use. I'm tight with my LBS so I get either free or discounted service and parts; I've never payed to true my wheels. I guess a workstand would be nice though....

Build looks pretty nice. Only place I would spend moeny would be on the crankset, cassette, and wheelset.

Build looks pretty nice. Only place I would spend moeny would be on the crankset, cassette, and wheelset.

XT Cranks and cassette?

I don't know, maybe I'll look into the wheelset. Suggestions?

FIEN OMG

Bars- Bontrager Select Pick up an Easton carbon bar on ebay, or some other light bar. The Bonty is a pig
Stem- Bontry Select also heavy. Syntace F99 or F119 are good, light, cheap options
Saddle- Selle Italia Flite
Seatpost- Maverick Speedball
Pedals- Crank Bros. Eggbeater 2Ti
Tires- Bonty Jones
Wheelset- Bonty Select (Not open for upgrading because it's a pain the ass), Deore Hubs
Brakes- Avid Juicy Carbon
Shifters- Deore
Crankset- Deore Shimano XT are a great deal, and will drop lots of weight
Rear Derailleur- XT Shadow
Front Derailleur- Deore
Crankset- Deore
Cassette- Deore? Replace with a cassette that has an aluminum carrier. Cheap way to lose lots of weight
Fork- Rock Shox Recon 351 Highly recommend the Reba if you can swing it
Rear Shock- Fox RP2?




Red is recommendations :)

XT Cranks and cassette?

I don't know, maybe I'll look into the wheelset. Suggestions?

A wheelset with Deore hubs will likely be heavy. A new wheelset suggestion depends on how much you want to spend.

Another thing to consider is that a "good" crankset may spin more efficiently than a "poor" crankset - you wouldn't just be saving weight, but would be reducing friction.

Red is recommendations :)

Bonty Race xXx Lite bars are only 30g's lighter then the select. Other then that, everything seems good.

So, I'm thinking cassette (rotational mass), the controls or maybe components.


The effect of rotational inertia on something with such a small radius is nill. You can save some weight there, but there are other places to save weight. Only go for the cassette if you want different gearing.

Bonty Race xXx Lite bars are only 30g's lighter then the select. Other then that, everything seems good.

Where are you getting those numbers? I've seen the selects in the 210-220g range, and the xxx lites in the 140-150g range (which still isn't light)

But I'm a weightweenie, so if you don't care about 50g, don't listen to me ;)



The effect of rotational inertia on something with such a small radius is nill. You can save some weight there, but there are other places to save weight. Only go for the cassette if you want different gearing.

Depending on what is on there now, I disagree. For a minimal investment (~$50-60 if he shops around) he can drop around 100g, gain the ability to run aluminum freewheels, and get better shifting. Cassette is a great place to start saving weight and gaining performance.

Depending on what is on there now, I disagree. For a minimal investment (~$50-60 if he shops around) he can drop around 100g, gain the ability to run aluminum freewheels, and get better shifting. Cassette is a great place to start saving weight and gaining performance.

Yeah, Deore cassettes run around 450g while a quality 11-32/34 cassette is usually 300g or less. It's a pretty easy way to drop 100+ grams.

I was commenting more on the rotational inertia. The rotational inertia difference from one cassette to another is next to nothing. The wheels and tires (being at a much greater radius) are much, much more important. A good 11/34 is generally 310-330g. So if your only goal is trying to drop 120-140 grams, then this is a spot to do it. If you want to drop the same amount of weight and _also_ reduce rotational inertia, the go for the wheels or tires.

Radius plays a huge part in rotational inertia, and things like cassettes and hubs just don't work at a large enough radius to matter. The other thing is that generally speaking, on a bicycle, the rotational accelerations that we're dealing with are pretty small, so the rotational inertia is a pretty small effect overall. This is even more true on a mountain bike. If the gearing is not right, that is a bigger deal than either the weight or rotational inertia effects.

I rode around on a bike at 39 lbs before the car accident.

Good God Man! Have a sandwich or something!

Good God Man! Have a sandwich or something!

is that one directed at me?

Wheelset- Bonty Select (Not open for upgrading because it's a pain the ass), Deore Hubs....

Hope Pro II / Super Comp's / XR 4.2d's

Universalcycles.com

IMO

is that one directed at me?

Whooooooosh...



I would get another set of tires. If the ones you have now are for hardpack, get some mud-specific tires. Or if you want to ride ins now and ice get studs. Cheapish way to gaina lot of performance over varied conditions. This is of course if you have varied conditions in which you ride. Other wise the crankset is a good place to upgrade, or possibly the wheelset if you want to spend a lot. With wheelsets as I'm sure you know there are two basic directions you can go: bomb proof rims/hubs/spokes and handbuilt, or weight wheenie. Not mutually exclusive, of course, but if you want light and strong, you're going to have to pay.

If you can't afford new wheels now, sit on that upgrad emoney and save until you can.

Where are you getting those numbers?

A guy at my LBS got a set of xXx bars for his Ex7, and we weighed it compared to the Selects that came on it. I don't remember the exact numbers, but it was only minimally lighter then the Selects.

For future reference, what light bars are there that AREN'T Easton? I don't trust any bars made by a company that also makes baseball gloves....

Anyway, I'm happy with my tires as I have three sets. My Kenda Nevegal Stick-E Tires, my Bonty Jones tires, and Bonty Jones tires.... with studs.

As of now, I think I'll go with a cassette/crank combo, but I'm selling my Dad's boat which I'll get half of the selling price for. Since the boat is selling for around $3k, I think I'll buy a nice set of wheels. Now, for $1,500 could I get light AND bombproof wheels? Or is that still at the you-only-get-one price?


EDIT- I'm not trying to be a weight weenie.... It's just not fun riding around an XC bike that weighs as much as a light freeride bike.