Mountain Biking - Which SINGLE part upgrade makes the most noticeable improvement to a bike?

Pretty much said it all in the title, but which single upgrade would you say makes the most noticeable difference/improvement to a mountain bike?

For dollar spent, tires.

I was going to say either fork, or tires/wheels.

I'd place pedals and shoes pretty highly too, whether you're talking a good pair of platforms or clipless.

I agree with pedals. Not the singularly most important but even platforms with good grippy studs make a big difference.

I'll go ahead and say clipless, my biking experience completely changed when I bought them.

I'll go ahead and say clipless, my biking experience completely changed when I bought them.

+1

For dollar spent, tires.I have to agree. Then brakes.

I want to toss the rider into the discussion. Weight loss, conditioning. Physically improve the rider and the bike gets better.

Tires and knowing how to work the tires. I caught the phrase, "pushing the tires into corners" around here. Learning to do that helped my riding, trust the side knobs.

I forgot about the possibility of platform pedals or plastic clips and straps and upgrading to clipless. That would be the most dramatic single upgrade for the least money.

The posters who said that after I said tires won.

I have to agree. Then brakes.

Brakes?...what are those. :lol:

All depends what you have already, if you have modern bike (FS or Hardtail), a dropper seatpost, not the best value for money, but having got one recently, it have given me more confidence in areas I was having difficulty with.

my opinion was lighter wheels and tires.

Nice tires and rims are important, but bad brakes are a real killer and poor derailleurs are a PITA, too!

So after wheels would be brakes. Next would be derailleurs...

Hey, but what if your seat hurts your butt?

Alright, in this order:

1) Tires

2) Rims

3) Brakes

4) Derailleurs

5) Saddle

6) Grips

7) Shifters

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n) Color

Edited

Topcap. definately Topcap.

or....

tires. tires are a huge influence on how a bike feels when you ride. a great bike with crap tires makes the bike handle and feel like crap.

Assuming everything functions correctly and generally meets your riding needs (ie suspension travel, fit, etc) I'd say brakes and tires. Wheels are probably third.

I'd say general comfort on the bike. If you aren't comfortable (physically and mentally) on the bike, yor entire ride suffers.

I'd agree with tires for the biggest bang for the buck, but the biggest improvement is suspension, but it costs a lot more.

I got clipless pedals. I got new wheels. I switched from a suspension fork to a rigid fork. I got better tires. I switched saddles. I upgrade brakes. The thing that made the biggest difference?

ergon grips.

The other things made the bike better. Comfortable grips made me a better rider.

What about Hubs? Would someone in the know comment about hubs. I have never changed out hubs, just ridden what came with the bike, well maybe a couple of replacements setups. Do hubs effect rolling much?

Clipless pedals made the biggest difference in MY performance, but as for the performance of the bike itself, I'm not sure I have an answer at the moment...

I'd say taking off the clipless, and fitting studded platforms. A huge increase in confidence being able to bale out or put a foot down in an instance. On our woodland technical rides none of us use clipless. I use clipless for road tarmac riding and they are great.

I'd say taking off the clipless, and fitting studded platforms. A huge increase in confidence being able to bale out or put a foot down in an instance. On our woodland technical rides none of us use clipless. I use clipless for road tarmac riding and they are great.

I can see where this would be a plus, but clipless pedals make such a huge difference for me on the climbs. I feel a lot stronger/don't wear out as quickly when I'm getting 100% efficiency out of my pedal stroke.

minimal climbing here, and lots of loose-over-hardpack. platforms are relatively popular.

I'm giving it one more shot to adapt to clipless on technical singletrack this season. I've ridden a whole ton of enduro and motox in my life, and certain parts of my brain just instinctively say "PUT YOUR FOOT DOWN NOW".

clipless on non-technical trail or on the road, that's a given.

I got clipless pedals. I got new wheels. I switched from a suspension fork to a rigid fork. I got better tires. I switched saddles. I upgrade brakes. The thing that made the biggest difference?

ergon grips.

The other things made the bike better. Comfortable grips made me a better rider.

Yep! Never will forget building up my Giant Innova from scratch and rode it without any grips at all. I almost rattled my teeth out. The next day, I got some nice new Bontrager Satellite Plus Grips and rode the smoothest ride home you could ever imagine.

Grips do make a difference!

Another vote for tires. The thing that keeps you in contact with the terrain you're riding makes a Huge difference. After that, I say assuming it's a bike that already fits you well and functions well - the fork if it's a bike with a suspension fork. If fully ridged then I'd vote breaks.

Tires

tires are a really good pick but they're also fairly subjective. there are a FEW tires with a very solid reputation that are widely loved, but there are many other tires that depend on your specific riding conditions and your own preferences.

so that's what sucks-- we can unequivocally say that at a given price point, this one/two fork(s) is the best, but it's nowhere near that easy with tires.

Let's go ahead and open it up to specifics.

Lots of folks have said tires, but which would you pick?

("specifics" doesn't limit the discussion to tires, alone. If there's a particular fork, brakeset, etc. that you feel makes the biggest difference, feel free to say so.)

What are you riding? Tires are very specific to conditions.

I have to say that the (brand) (model) in (size) of (durometer) is the perfect tire. Except when it's not.

i'm still pretty new to mtb but i figured all you guys would say change the fork first. tires wasnt something i expectd to read. my jet9 came with conti xking tires on it, i got a hole in the sidewall so i ordered some maxxis ardent tires to replace them. my buddy that rides them said they rail corners. i'm hoping they make a big difference, i need all the help i can get. i'm just now learning i need to put some weight over the front tire instead of leaning back. now it seems like a no brainer.

If people are going to post tires, brand and size can you also post typical riding conditions as well?

A typical ride for me starts with several miles of pavement, which gives way to several miles of gravel, which gives way to several miles of hard pack. The hard pack can have miles of relatively soft dirt and some loose sand. Throw in some mud and ruts. My Rockhopper came with Maxxiss Capitan studded tires or something like that. I switched them out for some cheaper Avernir Swiss Army universal tires I got from Dick's Sporting Goods for $17 ea and I couldn't be happier. The Avenir tires are much much faster on smooth surfaces and they grip well on dirt. The only places they slip more than the studs are on the loose sand or deep mud, and those are places I try to avoid anyway.
Maybe now I'll look into upgrading the fork.

helium.

Since tires, wheels and all of that has been mentioned. A comfortable set of handlebars.