Mountain Biking - should i bother............?

i just bought a raleigh outland (canada) a few months ago. its ok but i was thinking of changing a few things. i was just wondering if its worth it or whether i should just wait until i "need" a higher priced one. keep in mind that i dont race, and most of my riding is packed trail, pavement and gravel.and i have no need for disc brakes as i think for the way i ride the extra money is better spent on other areas.

the things i was thinking on ugrading (and im not made of money):

shifters to sti deore (yes i like sti), cassette,chain to 9 spd ( not sure on which models/brand to use)..and im not sure if ill have to up the hub as well??

brake calipers to deore ( im not too crazy on the tektra things)

(this would cost about 200-230 approx.)



....im gettin a titec or easton seat post either way.just wish i could find the damn xc post in canada..grr

..these are things i can afford in spurts.



*****i'd appreciate any opinions on the general quality of the bike i have btw........to me it seems fine, but i dont wanna throw on the extras if its like putting a v8 in a lada....you know what i mean

http://www.raleigh-canada.ca/index1.htm ( i have the outland)

( i have the 2003 which doesnt have the flat spokes, and the rims arent the same.)

............just wanted to thank everyone for their advice........

I would say do what you feel is necessary. I am not sure if you will ever wear out your brake arms, but you may want to wait until the pads are gone on your brake calipers, then switch the calipers. If you want to save some money you could just upgrade the front caliper (90% of your braking power is on the front) and keep the tektro on the rear. I am not sure if Deore is an upgrade over Tektro; I have no experience with either. I do have an XT linear brake on the back of my bike that has awesome power. I think you can get them for $40 US.

As far as all of your other items. you will wear through a chain and cassette, and unless it bothers you a lot now I would say wait and replace it after a couple of thousand miles.

I am not familiar with the bike you have. Generally 8 speed hubs fit 9 speed cassettes without issue.

I am not sure if the last comment is going to get you much help from the forum.

Enjoy your ride.

well greenfix i want to thank you for your reply. my main thing was i wanted to know whether or not the bike wa sound enough to build upon. ive looked at $1000 bikes and the differences are mainly disc brakes, bit better fork, maybe 7000 series al (but 6061 is better for the heavy weights as far as ive researched) and sometimes you get a bit better components, but not very often. so i was thinking i could just upgrade piece meal over time instead of shelling out a wad if i already have a decent starting point. i dont need disc brakes ( and btw i brake more on the rear........why would you want to brake more on the front???) so i figured a component upgrade might be feasable but if its not necessary with what i have then i wont bother....

as for my comment......my post stood idle for many many days without a reply, and it seemed like a reasonable question......and at this time i can get some of the stuff i want at 30% off so im kinda itchin, but i dont want to waste the money if its not worth it. i figured you more experienced in the group would be able to shed some light on my question.

and thanks again for replying. i appreciate it.

Vee brakes are more than adequate for most people. The Tektro's you have are pretty low end. Deore calipers work surprisingly well and are actually lighter than XT's. If their set-up correctly, they'll work for years. If you want even better performance, swap out the stock pads (once they wear out) for a dual compound pad.

Upgrading to shifters, cassette and chain can wait until yours wears out or you find a KILLER deal on some closeout stuff.

Seatposts? My post of choice is a Thomson Elite. Strong, light, great looks, great clamp and infinitely adjustable seat angle. Other than that, maybe a Titec, but only one that has the Knock tested warranty where if you break it they replace it!

When upgrading, I'd start with a better fork, then some nice wheels, then upgrade the bottom bracket and cranks.

L8R

well greenfix i want to thank you for your reply. my main thing was i wanted to know whether or not the bike wa sound enough to build upon. ive looked at $1000 bikes and the differences are mainly disc brakes, bit better fork, maybe 7000 series al (but 6061 is better for the heavy weights as far as ive researched) and sometimes you get a bit better components, but not very often. so i was thinking i could just upgrade piece meal over time instead of shelling out a wad if i already have a decent starting point. i dont need disc brakes ( and btw i brake more on the rear........why would you want to brake more on the front???) so i figured a component upgrade might be feasable but if its not necessary with what i have then i wont bother....

as for my comment......my post stood idle for many many days without a reply, and it seemed like a reasonable question......and at this time i can get some of the stuff i want at 30% off so im kinda itchin, but i dont want to waste the money if its not worth it. i figured you more experienced in the group would be able to shed some light on my question.

and thanks again for replying. i appreciate it.

No worries Trauma.

There are various numbers thrown around, but the one I hear most often quoted is that 90% of your braking power is with the front brake. It will slow you down significantly faster than braking with your rear. The caveat is that a rear tire skid is easy to control, while a front tire skid will drop you to the ground before you realize that the tire stopped turning. If you learn to brake with your front brake it will save you from future injury, especially if you ride ont he road, where unpleasant surprises have a habit of springing up quickly. I was raised on motorcyles, and was taught to brake heavily with the front to scrub speed quickly, and I have found that that carries over very well to both road cycling and mountain biking.

Enjoy your ride.

No worries Trauma.

There are various numbers thrown around, but the one I hear most often quoted is that 90% of your braking power is with the front brake. It will slow you down significantly faster than braking with your rear. The caveat is that a rear tire skid is easy to control, while a front tire skid will drop you to the ground before you realize that the tire stopped turning. If you learn to brake with your front brake it will save you from future injury, especially if you ride ont he road, where unpleasant surprises have a habit of springing up quickly. I was raised on motorcyles, and was taught to brake heavily with the front to scrub speed quickly, and I have found that that carries over very well to both road cycling and mountain biking.

Enjoy your ride.


That's exactly right. With the exception of the percentage. This varies from person to person and from trail condition to trail. I'm guessing that I use about 70 to 75% front. When the trail gets steep, I increase my front braking force.

Think of it this way. It's easy to lock up the rear and skid. A skidding tire is not providing any stopping force, it's bouncing on top of the trail. Basically if you're skidding, you're out of control.

You want to stop (or slow down) quickly, since most of your weight while braking is shifted to the front tire, it will have more traction, while the rear gets unweighted. You want to use the front to slow down faster.

L8R