Mountain Biking - 04' Hardrock Sport derailleur upgrade question

I've been beating on this Hardrock for the past 5 years. I ride 99% on the road doing hills and lake loops. I spent $350 on this bike and so far only upgraded the necessities.

Continental sport contacts tires
New seat
Clips
New chain
bar ends

I have a nice Cannondale R1000 I use for my more serious rides and I'm not interested in a new bike. I just want to upgrade components as I wear them out. After a tune up visit to my local LBS the guy tells me the reason I keep having issues with my derailleur is it's bent and can't be adjusted farther. He was able to get it to run true but he doesn't think it will last, he wasn't trying to sell me a replacement so I have no reason to doubt the guy. The derailleurs are Shimano Acera and from what I have researched they aren't that great.

I ride alot of local events and group rides with a couple Clydesdales so this bike suites my needs. I like this tank and would like to keep it for many years to come.

What I want to know is should I just upgrade the front derailleur or go ahead and replace both derailleurs? I'd like to hear suggestions on what would be a good solid option.

won't hurt to do both, acera is near bottom of the line - I'd go for at least deore. LX or XT if you wanna do it, great stuff. Deore is sufficient, though.

Is it necessary to do both? Na, but you should notice better shifting with something much better.

I agree, slap some Deore's on there. They can be found really cheap and do a great job for the $$$$$

Thanks guys, I was leaning towards the Deore's. The LX seem harder to find and have less options so I'm betting I'll go with XT. I did alot of searching and reading last night but I haven't been able to narrow down the right model. I trust the guy at the LBS so I'm going to see what he recommends in the Deore line. Now I'm psych'd, fathers day is here so I can get more toys to make me "think" I'm riding faster.

My wife and I bought bikes at the same time, mine a Rockhopper with Deore LX and hers a Hardrock with Acera. We rode those bikes for years and thousands of miles of trails. Her bike never shifted well and required constant adjustment and tinkering. My bike shifted flawlessly the entire time I owned it (it's probably still shifting well for whoever stole it from me).

I don't know why manufacturers even bother making stuff like Acera. It's just not worth it to save a few bucks.

Yes I had the same issue, I had to take this thing in regularly. In the end I thought it was just that I had stretched the chain out past 1/8th and that was causing the issues. I attempted many times to learn how to adjust the derailleurs but I could never get it to work right. Great bike but it definitely has some weak points.

derailleurs don't make a lot of difference, I'd get the cheapest front derailer I could find and maybe a deore rear or keep the acera.

I'm sure some people will disagree, but I've got a bike with acera and a bike with xt .. both shift about the same.. the shifters make way more difference then the derailer.

DirtPedalerB, I hope you're wrong for my sake, I just ordered a full XT drivetrain which will be used with my cheapo shifters :)

I forsee upgrades in the future

as do i

Thanks guys, I was leaning towards the Deore's. The LX seem harder to find and have less options so I'm betting I'll go with XT.

Amongst mountain groupsets, SLX is taking the place of Deore LX. That might be why you can't find much LX anymore.