Hybrid Bicycles - Best intentions going to pot - upgrading parts might just become upgrading the bike!

I simply intended on upgrading parts on my commuter and having posted for suggestions had a reasonably clear idea of what I was after.

A trip to the LBS put paid to that! £450 in suggested parts, not the complete list and I'm now sitting here thinking, "hang on, is this the right option and can I justify (read get away with) changing the bike"?

Bike is question in a lowly Dawes 201. The aim was to make it a far better quality ride. Add that sort of budget to it and the bill alone is getting in to Sirrus and Trek 7.3FX territory.

So a simple question made complicated...:lol: Bearing in mind it would need to take rack, mudguards and frame-mounted childseat, and be available in black, what would people suggest?

Final point, if it's a new bike, it made need some black tape around the frame to anonymise it, if you get my gist :innocent:

I recently rebuilt my Trek 7300 completely with parts from eBay and off Bike Forums, total cost was about $200 for a mix of Shimano LX and XT. I also had the hubs I already owned laced to a set of Velocity Deep V's. I would look around again.

If you want a new bike, and one of the ones you mentioned, the 7.3 is available in black. Mine is blue, and it's gorgeous :)

What things were on your list to upgrade? I've gone to a bike shop to ask about upgrading something, and been given a big scary figure, with the advice to get a new bike. But I went back and reassessed and bought parts on ebay and did the work myself, for a very unscary figure.

The parts were:

Deore Shifter; Rear Mech; Mavic A319s with Deore hubs; Nimbus tyres; Deore 9 Speed Ch; MTB Deore Gears; Deore MTB brakes; Shimano 9 speed cassette; labour charge.

Having second thoughts and might just do the wheels and brakes. The gears seem fine to me, so might just leave them alone this year.

if you really want good speed, upgrade your wheelset. go with a lighter wheel set (1500-1800 grams) and a nice, skinny, 25-28mm tire. im running the stock bontrager on my 7.7fx and that thing flies. the same effort it took on my older bike to move it now makes my 7.7 scream. the lighter the wheel, the less effort it takes for you to go faster, i've noticed.

Thanks. I've decided to keep the 201 and do just that, plus fit some better brakes and some faster tyres.

Should have it done within the next three weeks, so will let you know!

New wheels sounds like a good idea, but my advice is always don't replace anything you haven't worn out. This requires you actually ride, not just shop.

It is a problem, when you want to use stuff that isn't broken, like your frame, when it's cheaper sometimes to replace the whole thing. I'm trying to build some wheels on nice serviceable used hubs, because I have hubs, they are piling up. I usually buy built wheels because it's often cheaper than rims and spokes, but I wear out the rims before the hubs...

You have a bike that works, so if you are interested in hunting down deals, take your time and get the stuff you want when you find great prices on it. In the meantime, enjoy your ride in it's present state whatever that may be. :)

I built a set of new wheels for my Trek 7.5 FX. I used Mavic A719 rims, DT DB spokes, and Shimano Ultegra hubset. Those fly! I have to keep hitting the brakes as I'm trying to find nice scenes for photography. Instead of a blur. LOL.

Can I have the perfectly good wheels you replaced?

I built a set of new wheels for my Trek 7.5 FX. I used Mavic A719 rims, DT DB spokes, and Shimano Ultegra hubset. Those fly! I have to keep hitting the brakes as I'm trying to find nice scenes for photography. Instead of a blur. LOL.

l0l - i have the same problem with the bontrager race wheels that came on my 7.7...... i inflate the tires really really high like 115-120psi and the wheels never want to stop rolling!

it's a nice problem to have :D