Originally Posted by sch

A $200 bike rarely has a frame that makes any sense to 'upgrade'. Replaceable parts that do make sense are the cables, maybe the housings esp if the cables are rusted inside the housings, the brake pads, tires and chains. Anything more is gilding the lily and makes little sense. An exception would be gift parts, ones obtained at essentially zero or say less than 20% of bike shop mail order price. Even then, as others note if you don't do the labor yourself, it would be a waste of money. Silk purse/sows ears comes to mind. Bikes in the $600-1000 range are so good these days that most would not be able to tell them apart from $2000 bikes. And there is not a big increment from $2000 to $4000 either unless you are in the top 10% athletically and riding hundreds of hours a year on a bike. Safety factors make cables a top priority in maintenance and the extra few bucks for stainless steel cables is worth it IMO. You have a good beater/winter commuter, leave it as such. Steve