The Best Mountain Bike Upgrade

Let’s say you’ve got an older ride, or maybe a bike that’s not exactly top-tier; what is the best upgrade you can get for it?

Obviously if you’re riding a Big Box store bike you wouldn’t really want to drop a lot of money on that but maybe a little wouldn’t be so bad. It’s a gateway bike that can help introduce people to trails until they are ready and convinced to plunk down some cash on a better ride. What can you do to make this a better ride with a quick upgrade?

The best bang for your buck would be a nice stiff, strong, lightweight, tubeless wheelset. You’ll immediately drop weight off your bike, have faster acceleration, no more pinch flats or flat tires, better grip and have a more comfortable ride. If your riding a 26er then 600 wheelsets are now 200-300 dollars.

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I also say wheels

But, I went with double butted 14/15 spokes and keep popping them with my fat buttocks. Next best up grade would be drive train with stiffer crankset…huge difference

I know this is an older topic but saw it and had to add to it. I definitely agree with new drive train set up. Mine was more than I originally budgeted for but I absolutely am glad I didn’t cheap out. I’m getting up certain hill climbs way easier than with my old stock set up. The gear change is flawless and quick and crank setup is definitely lighter since I went to a 1x setup. Since I’ve gotten it 3 of my buddies all went same way and love as much too. Real big difference worth the money to increase your smile as you ride.

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Before switching out to a new frame I think going tubeless was a huge bang for the buck. Because I’m a 26er, wheels and tires are pretty cheap (pretty much on sale all the time) so it wasn’t a huge ding to the wallet. The combination of lower pressure, less rolling weight and wider tires yielded significant improvements at Stillwell on the loose climbs.

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Yeah that’s what I gotta try next. My new rims are tubeless ready but I’m still using tunes. Don’t know why I didn’t just do it from get go when I rebuilt my ride. Guess old habits do die hard

I’m slowly upgrading each bike to Shimano SIS shifter housing/cables. I can’t believe how much better the shifting is. Even big buck bikes come with crappy shifter cables and housing. Shimano has truly created the ultimate cable set in their endless obsession with perfection and quality. You can score a complete set on ebay for about 15 bucks with shipping.

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