Hi,

This is my first post on these forums but I've been reading them off and on for awhile now. In any case, I started commuting a few days a week about 6 months ago and I've worked up to mostly full time now (except for those days that I need a car for some reason). My commute is almost exactly 21.5km (around 13.3 miles for you yankies) each way, mostly along roads with a few stints on reasonably groomed trails/bike paths. I currently have a KHS Urban-Xpress I bought about 2.5 years ago now, but its only seen serious use since I started commuting in the summer but since has logged probably at least 3250km.

My question is whether the KHS frame is worth keeping long term and upgrading components, or should I be looking at upgrading to an entirely new bike? I bought the KHS at the time mostly because I wasn't sure if I'd actually end up commuting or not (which was probably smart since it was nearly two years after I got it before I finally got started) and I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a bike, but at this point I'm likely going to be commuting full time (year round) and I'm willing to look at spending more on something that will last me longer.

There are also other reasons (besides the desire to buy new toys), such as I think some of the components are starting to wear down (my back breaks are acting pretty weird lately) and I'm also reaching the limit of the current gears.

In any case, I'm willing to spend in the range of $750-1000 CAD and would look at getting a used bike not a new one. Any suggestions or comments you guys have would be appreciated.