I just spent a ridiculous amount of money on updating our 1997 TREK 820's. The LBS told me I was nuts (can't argue that LOL) but the paint was still good on them and we have a lot of history with them. We had both been previously married and when we started dating discovered we both liked biking. She had a Roadmaster "bicycle shaped object" from Wal Mart and I had a few month old TREK 820. I bought her an 820 for Valentine's Day and sold her Roadmaster for her to a guy at work. We took our honeymoon riding the Sparta-Elroy Trail in Wisconsin on the TREKs and went back later that year with her 2 boys. We racked up a lot of Rails To trails mileage with the boys on them so they had a lot of sentimental value. It would have been cheaper to buy new bikes but some things are far more valuable than money. If you like the bike and plan to keep it and ride it then spare no expense to keep that fire burning.