Hey all! I'm new here, and I apologise for my title that does not really fit my question :D I couldn't come up with anything better....

I am a student, freshman in high school next year, and I love to bike. I have a 24 speed Trek mountain bike, nice, but pretty low end. (AKA- Cost under $400)

I have put on a rear rack and a couple of lights, but that is really it. I do not want to have a full commuting bike, as I trail ride / commute / race / off road. I want to upgrade my bike, and add accesories like bar extenders. I just want a real nice riding bike. However, I have no knowlege of any of this and searching the internet has had no results exept this forum!

Basically, I want to turn my bike into a high end one, that is also a bit more optimized for commuting, and I need reading material on what components are best, and accesories. Even more basic- I have no clue on what is good and what is bad

I am not adverse to replacing every single piece of my bike- as long as I can do it slowly and keep my black/silver color scheme. :p

And a specific quick question- what is a cheap STRONG standard water bottle holder? The one I have been using has broken twice.

My bike on photobucket- http://photobucket.com/albums/y54/christian_piper/

Thank you! :p

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...eid=&pagename=
Water bottle cage.

how crack resistant is it? It looks similar to mine..

upgrading bike parts can be expensive- what don´t you like about your bike at the moment?

if it was me I would just fit some slick tyres and bar ends and just replace other components with better ones as they wear out. Unless something isnt working right?

I think that much of this high end/low end stuff with bikes is just manufacturers hype. As long as the low end stuff is doing its job then there is no point in upgrading.

Tires, without a question would be the first thing I would change. As a matter of fact, it was the first thing I DID change on my bike as I had the bike shop swap out the tires before I even got it from them. Other things I've done to mine? New stem to change my riding position, better brake levers for more adjustability, better discs (less squeal, better looking), headlight, taillight, road cassette. Admittedly, I started with a more expensive bike than you, but nothing on my bike is really top-of-the line.

Slick 1.5" tyres for the road.
Fenders for wet roads.
Toe clips for the pedals.
I have been using an Elite glass-reinforced plastic bottle holder for years. It is bendy and strong and will not break.

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 :rolleyes:

I do want to still be able to off road though.

Anywhere I can read about what components are good and bad?

Thanks.

I have the exact same bike as you. I have upgraded several things as they wear out, and some just for the heck of it. The biggest improvement I made was getting rid of that Pain In The Arse saddle. I put a Brooks B17 on it and discovered a whole new experience.

Somebody will come on here and tell you that bike is not worth upgrading. I have heard the same thing and don't care. I still have upgraded a lot of the components but mainly only when something wears out. I have over 4000 miles on mine and love it. I also have a Cane Creek Thudbuster seatpost which was a big improvement. Those grips are also pretty crappy, i ditched mine pretty early on.

I probably will replace mostly as they wear out- I just dont know what to replace with! Anyone have any links to info?

Thanks!

Ranger- Did you have any problems with the front braking?

That's a nice bike but your seat looks WAY too low for commuting.
Anyway I put over 5000 miles on a specialized hardrock sport (~$300)with all the original components and 1.5" slicks including bagging 2 centuries on it, commuting to work 25 miles a day, rain or shine, couple of high speed crashes, everything's fine, wheel's 1-2mm off true (make sure you tension em real good the first time, that's what matters). Just remember, it's all about you, the bike is secondary.
What you have now looks good. I'd get a cheap 2nd set of wheels with knobbies on it if you want to do trail riding. So you have a set with slicks for commuting and a set with knobbies for trail riding. Get some lights on it.
And since you're in high school, it's very important to look cool. You're only a freshman and some people might accuse you of being some yuppie poseur walking around with a messenger bag but once they see that you're commuting in 5 days a week, they'll know you're hardcore, aight? Get a large messenger bag to hold all your crap so you don't end up with a rack on your bike when you go mountain biking. Also get some clip on fenders.

Two things that haven't already been said: (1) If you ride a lot both on and off road you really need a bike designed for each -- road and off-road have totally different demands; (2) Your gearing seems low for road use -- don't you "run out of gears" on even a slight down hill?

Good luck and don't let anybody tell you that commuting on a bike isn't cool.

On my stock triple gearing on the specialized hardrock, 42/32/22 11x32, I maxed out at some ungodly cadance (way way above 120rpm) and hit 40mph going down a tunnel with a tailwind and I stopped pedaling, tucked in, and continued till I hit 50. I usually hit ~120rpm (which is a pretty good cadance) going down the roadway of a bridge here around 32mph or so.

On flat ground, he should have no problem maintaining 25mph average speed on his mtb (which is insane for a regular commute, even on a road bike).

As far as the jerky brakes, the bike needs a tune up and maybe new pads.

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.

2 bikes- maybe when I get a job that pays more than $20 a month minus expenses!

I usually getabout 35 mph on flats here. Average of about 32. Takes a bit to get up to speed though! And on the way to school- well lets just say I don't like crossing gaurds!

Btw- my frame/fork is ready for disks.

Deraileurs work ok- just get out of adjustment easily. My chail is jubed but is very "clanky"

Are there any good clamp grips that leave room for a bar end?

Thanks!

I think lance armstrong's best time trial was a whopping 34 mph average. I'd seriously consider joining the TDF if I were you and getting 32mph on a mountain bike...

the disks are doable then - the cheapest way would be to buy some disc wheels on ebay and sell yours- then buy some cheap mechanical discs (avids are the ones that seem most poular on the BF)- you should still budget for a couple of hundred dollars at least though- depends on how much spare cash you have

if you have V-brake levers then you should be able to use the same brake levers

32 mph- more like 25 mph for anything over a mile. But I do go fast if I want to... and I run..

Christian - there is another thread discussing disk brake conversions that you could look at:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=95128

I actually just read that. :) laugh.

Btw- my name's Erik.

Hi Erik

I have the cheap Shimano mechanical´s (515) and they are adequate for my purposes- but I have not tried the Avid´s so they might be lots better

My old bikes schimanos were better than the ones I have now, still schimanos. New bike is better overall though. And it isn't too small for me!

(I included my name because I thought you thought my name was Christian... Yeah)
The other part of my screename- http://www.imba.com/news/news_releas...contest_1.html Ever seen the what would we do without trails contest? That link is the answer. (No it's not me!)

Thanks all

Y'all have a happy easter!

Also, where can I get one of those extensions that goes on the stem/above the handlebar?
Example from Dougboy's bike in the photo thread, http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...chmentid=23657

Ain't no way you hit 32 mph on the flats with knobbies. In fact, an average speed of 25 mph is FAST - even for a roadie paceline. I'm not putting you down, I just think that you might need to recalibrate the ol' internal speedometer :). I run at about 15 mph on my touring bike with 1 1/4 inch tires and a less upright riding position. Even 5 mph faster is much harder work.

Anyway, I'll reiterate what others said about the brake problem - make sure that your brakes are well-adjusted, and that your wheel is true. If it isn't, have your LBS true it for you (or learn how to do it yourself).

The other thing that bears repeating is slick tires for the road. They are noticeably more efficient - you'll be hitting 40 mph with these babies on your bike ;). Faster with less effort = good. If you're in reasonable shape, you can maintain around 12 mph pretty much indefinitely. It sounds slow, but it eats up the miles. A nice side benefit is that with slick tires you lose that annoying buzzing sound.

Also, if anyone tells you that it isn't worth upgrading that bike, don't listen! That looks like a pretty solid aluminum frame there, judging by the tube diameters. A lot of the cost of a bike is in the components; believe me, I've been there. You can afford to upgrade a piece at a time. Heck, if you wanted to, you could totally re-equip that bike to be a road bike. Of course, I wouldn't go that far before just buying an actual road bike, but you do have a lot of flexibility. Have fun!

Weird.. I got a bike computer about 4 years ago, and I was up to around 25 mph when I was 9 on a old bad bike.... I dont have one anymore. Mabe it gave false readings.. I do pass my parents up all the time on their road bikes.. Ok, ignore all my speed estimates. lol

Mabe I can find an old garage sale bike and put slicks on it....

Thanks all!