Would love to hear from the folks in the know ....

I am riding an older Giant Innova which I bought in 1992 for about $500. It's a steel frame and it has been a great bike.

Over the years I've added adjustable steering bar, handle grips, bar ends, new seat & post, schwalbe flat proof tires. But the gears, brakes and cables are old.

Most of my riding is on light gravel trails and road and rides are anywhere between 20km - 150 km.

I was thinking that it would be nice to have a bike that was a little faster - but don't want to give up too much comfort.

OK - so here's the dilema. BUY NEW bike or buy new gears, brakes etc for my current bike?

Will adding newer parts to an older bike mess it up - or will they all work as well as with a new bike??

I'm a little apprehensive about going to an aluminum frame over the steel one I'm used to (in terms of comfortable ride)?

Any thoughts appreciated on this tough decision.

You could change up some of the parts, you could also convert it to a singlespeed which would be a bit lighter and probably faster. I really enjoyed commuting on my singlespeed last year and since then I have bought myself a fixed gear bike, love this very much.

Just some thoughts

Keep it. The motor makes the bike faster. Work on the motor.

I just replaced the chain and rear cassette on my 1993 Rockhopper. It feels like a new bike. I bought generic Nashbar parts because I have 7-speed shifters, and it's hard to find 7-speed cassettes! I think the cassette was $15. Still needs new brakes, but that's only important if you ever need to stop.

Get some V-brakes and new levers. New can go Deore/Alivio for shifters/ cassette/ chain/and still be upgrading your drive train. It doesn't have to be expensive if you don't want to.

Ditto the v-brakes. I upgraded to Tektro V's from Cannondale Cams 10 years ago when I worked in my second shop, and the difference was night and day. I really need to replace the pads, though...

Also ditto the shifting components, good ones can make a world of difference. My Can M500 originally came with Alivio and STX components, I upgraded to full LX just before I left the shop. I'm sure component quality has improved some since then, but the old stuff still works, so what the heck.

The old pack mule is still going, the only things I really NEED to change are the gears, chain, and rear wheel. I didn't replace the rear cluster (8x 13-32, IIRC) when I replaced the chain last year, and now the old cluster has made the new chain stretch prematurely. Replace all the old gear at the same time (and make sure the shifters and derailleurs match, says the guy who runs his Cann with Suntour 8x shifter on "friction" because it doesn't play well with the Shimano LX der... ), add a little TLC to the bearings all around, and it should make it like a new bike!

If it's a little more speed you're looking for new gears aren't going to really do it unless you find yourself in the top gear all the time.

For road bikes the typical recommendation if you want more speed is for better/lighter wheels but you'd have to be careful in your case since you're not riding strictly on pavement.

As far as a new bikes goes, aluminum isn't so bad when combined with a carbon or steel fork and maybe seat stays.

I'm not saying that new brakes and gears wouldn't improve your bike any, they're just not going to make it any faster.

You really haven't replaced the cables? You never take it to an LBS to be worked on, do you? My LBS would replace the cables every two weeks if I let them. Replace your cables.

I doubt new gears will really make it much faster. Do you reach your highest gear and spin? If not, new gears won't make it faster, and a new bike might not help either (unless you go lighter and more aerodynamic). If you do reach your top gear and spin, get new gears.