Mountain Biking - Upgrade the oldie but goodie or buy a new bike?

So here's my dilemma...

I love my bike. Its a 2001 Gary Fisher Sugar 2 and its done well in the past 7-8 years. Its in pretty good condition, but I imagine could use some work on the rear shock and it has and old, relatively weak, and stock SID XC on the front.

Is it worth it to keep it and upgrade? Maybe rebuild the fork or buy a new one? Same issue with the rear shock. They both work fine, but damn, when I see some of the stuff thats out there now...wow, I can't help but think "my bike is 8 years ok, I deserve it". I don't even have disc brakes. What do you guys think?

Upgrading is a whole lot cheaper, little bit here and there. I ride a '95 KHS Montana Comp and wouldn't trade for a new bike if it was free. I love the way it rides, handles in the corners and gets up a goes when you put power to the pedals. I upgraded the fork from a late '90's Manitou cartridge to a "newer" 02/03/04 Bomber. Same great bike, whole bunch of new tricks. I paid something like $75 for the used fork, beats the price of a new bike.

I say if you like the frame and it is sound, why bother unless you like all the new shiny stuff.

Discs are overrated, they are heaver than V-brakes and squeek in the dirt.

Discs are overrated, they are heaver than V-brakes and squeek in the dirt.

please excuse me.....:roflmao2: That's got to be a top 10 right there!!!!!!!!

Discs are overrated, they are heaver than V-brakes and squeek in the dirt.


Wow.

Just wow.

Isn't that a common saying around here from the stereotype MTB'er that Pcad always describes.

Gotta love it.

Upgrade! Definately! Upgrade!

Yeah, i always liked v brakes more than a good set of hydros:)

Upgrading is a whole lot cheaper, little bit here and there. I ride a '95 KHS Montana Comp and wouldn't trade for a new bike if it was free. I love the way it rides, handles in the corners and gets up a goes when you put power to the pedals. I upgraded the fork from a late '90's Manitou cartridge to a "newer" 02/03/04 Bomber. Same great bike, whole bunch of new tricks. I paid something like $75 for the used fork, beats the price of a new bike.

I say if you like the frame and it is sound, why bother unless you like all the new shiny stuff.

Discs are overrated, they are heaver than V-brakes and squeek in the dirt.

Must. Resist. Urge...

My discs squeak when in dirt, water, when they're dry and spotless, when they have mud all over them, and when i touch the bike. I still love them :]

Get a new bike, imo there is no such thing as oldie but a goodie...there is just oldie once you start pooring money in to old stuff it becomes a money pit plus it doesn't matter what you put on your old bike after all old bike still is an old bike. :D

New bike!

I was leaning towards a new bike...but I'm just attached to my sugar. It just feels so right!

I've been looking at the roscoe though - thats a sweet looking bike. Might be a little heavy for my riding, and its a bit expensive, but I can't stop looking. I need to demo one when I get home!

Same situation, except mine's a Cannondale Jeckyl 500 from 2001. It wasn't a high level bike to begin with , but OK as I mainly do XC and no big drops. Headshock needs a rebuild and I'd like more travel in my next bike anyway, so it's going. Am spending lots of quality time on Craigslist.

One of my office mates brought a friend's Kona King Kikapu to the office recently and got to test ride it. What a sweet bike! Out of my price range though :(

If you have $2000, a new bike would likely be best. Although the Sugar was good in it's day, it's, well, outdated - lots of advances have improved the MTB ride. Your bike probably has considerable wear in hub bearings, bottom bracket, etc. which will leave you with a good ride but not the great ride you deserve. If that's not a big deal for you, by all means, get your shock and fork reconditioned and have fun. I wouldn't spend $600-$900 for new shock+fork for this ride, however. Cost aside, it seems to me that suspension has come a long way in the past 10 years, and bike geometry and shock/forks go hand in hand. My 2 cents.