upgrade advice

[genusmtbkr5]

Hey MCO, first off, welcome to STR. There are alot of really knowledgeable folks on this board. I agree with alot of what has been said. Here's my take: Besides changing the grips for more comfortable ones, egg beater pedals and different tires, I rode my bike stock for a almost a year. Then the upgrades came. Sooner or later you'll have parts that you've upgraded piling up in your garage. There's always a reason to change something on your bike(s), I always use this rule. If the bike is worth lets say, $1000.00, then spending more than that on upgrades(and it's easy to do) doesn't make sense IMO. Just new forks and a set of wheels will exceed that alone. Like most said, take your time and find out what is best for your style of riding. Maybe you'll find that you want to be able to lockout your fork if you're a climber or more travel etc.., "Going lighter" is my favorite. You won't know until youv'e put some miles down. Trust me, the upgrade bug lives in all of us. If you don't harness it, your garage can look like mine.(which isn't as bad as some mind you) . NOTE: In the photo, there is something on each of those bikes that was removed after an upgrade and used on the other bike. Till it's time to upgrade that bike.

[mco804]

thank you very much for the warm welcome. The reason why I said stem and handlebars was not really because of fit, cause my bike is super comfortable but was because of shifting weight a little faster. Shifting weight meaning forward and backwards. Going up hill is perfect but going downhill is just a tab bit to slow for me as far as being nibble. Also I can't pull my front wheel up as fast as I can lets say on my wife's bike so i'm assuming a shorten step might help. Ahhhh what the hell, i'm going to take all of your guys advice and just leave the bike alone, except for the panaracer xc pro tires I bought already. But starting next year, you beter believe i'll be asking more specific questions, LOL
genusmtbkr5 - I don't see anything wrong with that garage. I can't wait till mine looks like that. I already have 3 pocket bikes (my son races thoses), 1 race bike, 1 street bike, and I just made a section for all the mountain bike stuff!!!!!

so now that part is over, whens the next mountain bike event??????????????

[genusmtbkr5]

Originally Posted by mco804

so now that part is over, whens the next mountain bike event??????????????

The Toad Festival this Sat. 27 miles of fun! It has 5000 ft of elevation gain including Holy Jim which is a 6 mile technical climb with stream crossings. Here's a link:

Toad Festival General Information

Here's the latest update I received last night,


To all our Toad Festival Participants:

Thanks again for your support of the Warrior's Society and the Juvenile
Bipolar Research Foundation.

Below is the general information you need to know about the event. As
you
know we have a short 10-mile and long 27.5-mile course. If you want to
ride
something in between you can always ride the long course 2/5 of the way
to
the top of the Holy Jim Trail and the Main Divide Road - then return,
playing the remaining games back at the staging area.

There is a cut-off time of 11:00 at the top of the Holy Jim Trail and
the
Main Divide. If you do not make the cut-off time you can return to the
staging area and pay the remaining games. We'll have a water station at
this
location for you to refill your camelbacks.

At the West Horse Thief station we will have root beer floats.

We expect the awards to start around 2:00 p.m. We will have a raffle
afterwards with raffle tickets for $1.00 a piece or 6 tickets for
$5.00.

Be sure and bring a beach chair for after the event as seating on the
park
benches is limited. We will be staging the event in the day use area,
not
the group area we normally use for our events.

Don't forget that the park day use fee is $5.00.

Event location: - The Santa Ana Mountains / Staging area - O' Neill
Regional
Park

Staging time: 7:00 A.M.

Start time: 8:00 A.M. (be on time we will not wait)

Course Description: Long Ride: - 27.5 +- miles - 5,000 +- of elevation
gain.

Short Ride: - 10 miles w/ 500 feet of elevation gain

Long course terrain description

A. Start at Picnic area to Holy Jim Trail Head - a small amount of
pavement
with 5 miles of fire road.

B. Holy Jim Trail Head to Main Divide - 6 miles of steep single track
climbing with multiple stream crossings.

C. Holy Jim Trail to Trabuco Canyon Trail - 6 miles of rutted fire road
with
steep climbs and descents.

D. Trabuco Canyon Trail to Holy Jim Parking area - 5 miles of down
hill,
technical single track with stream crossings with .5 of a mile of
fire
road.

E. Holy Jim Parking area to Picnic area - 5 miles of fire road and a
small amount of pavement.

The Short Ride will consist of an out and back loop from O'Neil Park
using
adjacent open space trails.

General Information:

The Long Ride is not for beginning or novice riders. Participants will
be
responsible to carry all food and water needed to complete the ride.
There
will be no sag support (except in case of total breakdown or
emergency).
Support personnel will be stationed at 5 rest stops along the course.
Riders
will compete in games of chance and skill (darts, horseshoes, helmet
toss
and Blackjack cards). Those with the highest combined score will win
prizes.
You must make the checkpoints in a reasonable time or you will not be
allowed to continue.

We have many prizes to award so a high percentage of participants will
win
something (tires, a shock, bars, stems, gift certificates and other
accessories). We will have fruit, instant oatmeal, hot chocolate and
coffee
in the morning and Lunch will be served when you return from the ride.
Alcohol is not allowed at the park and we ask that you do not litter.
Please
help us by doing your part to keep the trails and park clean during and
after the event.

The day use fees at the park are $5.00. Due to a sewer reconstruction
project day use parking is limited so please carpool if possible. You
can
camp within our reserved group areas A and B for $15.00 dollars a
night.
Campsites out side group areas are available by reservation (a fee will
be
charged by the park). For more information on O'Neill Park see their
web
site at http://www.ocparks.com/oneillpark/ or call them at (949)
858-9365.

The park has showers and don't forget to bring a beach chair.

[Kid A]

Originally Posted by mco804

funny thing is 3500 sounds kind of a lot but then again, I spend pretty damn close to that racing every month
as far as picking the better bike, You can always find better out there so I thought this would be the perfect bike for me. Entry level or not, I had no clue what considered an entry level except for components, but then again I can always upgrade components. so if I upgrade components would that not make it an entry level???? After lots of reading I finally figured out most of my riding is consider AM. Now I have something to work on to figure out what fits best for me. LOL
You guys gave me a lot of input so thanks again

Don't forget to allocate $$$ for beers and fish tacos after rides. btw- the new guy buys. Welcome NEW GUY!

[mco804]

Originally Posted by Kid A

Don't forget to allocate $$$ for beers and fish tacos after rides. btw- the new guy buys. Welcome NEW GUY!

the new guy???? I can't wait to be like you guys