Originally Posted by christian_piper
Thanks! I'll try a reinforced plastic one. What don't I like about my bike? The front braking is kinda jerky. (Press the brake, tire wobbles forward and back. Just annoying) The deraileurs can get annoying, shifters dont seem as strong as they could be, a better chain would probably be smoother, I would LOVE discs, but price.... Bar ends would be nice.
That kinda thing
I do want to still be able to off road though.
Anywhere I can read about what components are good and bad?
Thanks.
disc brakes are a MAJOR upgrade because you probably don´t have the brake caliper mounts on your frame or forks. Also you would need to change your hubs for ones with disc mounts. Then you would of course need to buy the brakes. It would be cheaper to sell your bike and buy one with discs already fitted.
Rim brakes are IMO inherently a bit more jerky than discs as the power modulation is not as good as disc brakes and rim brakes are more dependent on having a wheel that is perfectly true. I also find rim brakes harder to adjust perfectly. You could try though checking your brake adjustment (make sure the pads are not hitting the tyre and are hitting the rim at approx the same time), getting new brake pads and checking that your wheel is perfectly true.
I dont know what derrrailleurs you have but cheaper Shimano ones should still work OK. They probably just need adjusting and maintaining. Learn how to adjust them and make sure the cables are moving OK.
Changing the chain will probably make little difference unless it is worn. Try measuring it or get the LBS to do it.
The bar ends are no problem just get some on ebay or something.