n+1 fatbike

andyflaw – Member

Sell commencal, buy wheels for stirling, buy fat bike.

Fat bike…. possibly. Not completely sold on them and would be extremely reluctant to sell the Meta. 🙁

Upgrade yourself with some one to one skills or some epo

That’s already on the cards. 🙂

Better wheels for the 2016 Whyte T-130 Yari would be my choice

I don’t know much about wheels. Are the standard ones on the T-130 worth upgrading already considering the bike is only 3 weeks old (subjective question obviously)? Any suggestions on what I should be looking at? Bike is used mainly in Surrey Hills, trail centres, BPW and Antur Stiniog.

Do you have a dropper post? Wheels and a dropper could be done nicely for £500 or so.

Dropper will have a big influence on enjoyment of riding – changing other bits that actually work fine but you want something shinier will have a more limited effect (forks, shock etc).

Got a dropper on both bikes, agree fully that they make the ride much more enjoyable.

I won’t be changing fork or shock until they need replacing a I wouldn’t get the benefit. 🙂

New carbon bar
new lightweight stem
new riding shoes
new fancy pedals
upgrade the shifters?
You could do a lot with £500 incl some luxurious accomodation for your next cycling trip, hotel with a spa??

Wheels are already tubeless, first thing I did when I got the bike home. 🙂

Do carbon bars and lighter stems add anything other than bling? Genuine question as I’ve never really considered them.

New flat pedals is a good call. My current Saints are getting a bit sticky on the axle.

A week riding in Spain.

That’s what the rest of the bonus is for. Having said that, happy to listen to any recommendations you might have as we’ve not been before. Uplift/guided preferred. 🙂

5 quid on a tub of grease so you can service some perfectly good pedals, and not waste 90 quid on some pimp replacements that will only get bounced off rocks?

Fair point. The Meta doesn’t have pedals just now ‘cos they’ve been moved to the T-130 but attempting another service of the Saints is sensible. 🙂

And as there’s obviously nothing fundamentally ‘wrong’ with your bikes which is why you haven’t got anything specific you want to change, then another vote for n+1 fat bike. Not ridden my Alpine160 since spending £405 on a Voodoo Wazoo, and Northwind and others are V impressed with their Calibre Dunes from Go Outdoors.

Yep, another good point. Must look into these fat bikes a bit more.

If you are struggling to find ways to spend £500 on your bikes, don’t. Rather than waste if on something you don’t need, send your parents away somewhere nice for the weekend instead.

That is a good idea actually. 🙂

Point is, shiny bling will give you 5 minutes of satisfaction and motivation to ride, then you’ll forget about it. You’ve covered the skills coaching and holiday which have been widely suggested. Something like a fat bike will be a new riding experience, and it’s sufficiently different to ride that you’ll basically have to learn to ride it which will be more interesting and involving for longer than subtle changes to your current bike. Mine was cheap, is rigid and staying that way, and beyond the novelty value I find that riding it makes me work on my technique (ie. all the things I got taught in skills coaching sessions) and the fact that some of your efforts have to be exaggerated re-enforces those skills. So it’s more a skills developer than a skills compensator. As well as a right laugh, which ultimately is the point of riding bikes off road!

I’m liking the idea of a fat bike but my riding is mainly the muddy trails of the Surrey Hills, never on sand or snow. Still worth getting one? Very keen to try one. 🙂