Does it really make that much difference? Really?

Due to financial constraints I had to downsize my bikes last year. Just keeping the full suss. All the parts on it are pretty high end (as far end as I’m prepared to go anyway). So… Revs, Avid Elixers, XT/SLX drivechain, DT Swiss hubs/rims etc

I stripped it down and put all the parts on a Pace Hardtail frame to ride through the winter – a 5 inch full susser is overkill for short winter blasts. And with what expensive damage peak district mud does to bearings…..

All theses parts are now going back on the Intense frame for’t summer. So I’ve got a Pace RC305 frame that’s just going to be sitting about. I quite fancy building it up for a dossing about playbike for evening blasts. But there’s absolutely no way i can afford to build it up to the spec its been sporting

So… if I downgrade everything a couple of levels, am I really going to notice? I’m not that bothered about weight as I’m pretty hefty myself.

Deore is going to be a little bit heavier, but does it perform any worse than XT? Will a set of cheaper forks really make that much difference just mucking about on local downhills? Are deore-hubbed heavier rims going to be any less able to cope with abuse? Really – The only thing that does concern me is brakes. I know that’s where money does seem to count

Will the answers to these questions fundamentally undermine everything I’ve previously thought.

Your thoughts please…..

much cheaper to go SS, and fun for evening blasts, imo.
i’ve a deore rear hub, built up as an emergency rear wheel when my nukeproof one died 3 days before a 5 week hol in the alps last summer.

never again. i can’t wait to be able to afford new wheels – nothing but trouble.

i’d go 2nd hand for a lot of stuff personally.

It’ll be fine. Especially if you buy second hand carefully for certain items (eg seatpost, stem, bars, brakes etc that are no different (usually!) when used).

You will gain a little bit of weight and lose some longevity I would have thought.

Deore drivetrain will be fine. Tektro Auriga comp brakes are surprisingly powerful, i’ve never felt i needed more power than i’ve got. Why not just swap the wheels over when you want to ride the pace? It takes less than a minute to do and will save you at least £100.

hungry monkey – Believe me – if you’d seen the hill out the front of my gaff you wouldn’t be suggesting SS. Its bloody steep everywhere roundabout. I really do need gears.

I am a bit dubious about cheap hubs though

EDIT: Bloody good point there sambob – I don’t really need another set of wheels, do i? Curse you and your ‘logic’ 😀

I’m probably splitting my Zesty so drop me a line if you’re considering 2nd hand parts binners.

If I was going to have just one bike and cost was a consideration, it’d be a rigid single speed. That way I could have a decent frame and decent components.

You don’t have to ride up every hill 🙂

A good frame will always work well irrespective of the kit hanging off it.

Go cheap and go riding.

Can’t you just nick all the week old bits discarded by hora?
Where is he by the way? Not seen him on here for a while.

You could buy a s/h Boardman full suss, small size, swap the bits over and then sell the frame to me.

I won’t be getting deore hubs again – as soon as they need adjustment they just seem to become a pain.

if it was me I would find a little extra for the wheels – hope hoops are very good for the money

and brakes – SLX are very, very good and can often be picked up cheap from places like Merlin

Here’s a plan binners: Buy some hope hoops on stans arch, then give them to me and i’ll make sure they work, 12 month testing 🙂

There was a post on here last year now saying that too many people are too obsessed with what there bike is like and how that effort should be put in to riding……and those are kind of my views as long as everything in working order. You wont even notice once you’ve built it and riding along with a big smile on your face.

I would say that the fork is the most important consideration. Pretty much anything else, apart from weight, is not going to affect the ride too much, but a nasty fork can ruin the ride of an otherwise great bike. My thought would be to look for a reasonable quality s/h fork.

I’ve been riding my ti456 with some deore stuff on it as I couldn’t afford more expensive stuff. I just keep an eye on the bargains at CRC / Merlin / Ribble and buy when they 50% off stuff which brings xt / slx stuff inline with deore at full price.

I do insist that any wheels i have run on cartridge bearings though as can’t be doing with cup and cone!

TBH you don’t realy notice when riding the bike and some of the deore parts seem much more reliable than higher end stuff. Had some deore discs for around 5 years and apart from new pads they are still going strong.

ive recently upgraded my cranks from deore to slx
a very minimal weight saving and bugger all difference in performance as far as i can tell

Get a decent quality rear hub. I’m not particularly keen on cup and cone rear hubs of any kind, the abuse the rear hub takes is considerable, on the front however they have been faultless.

My rigid ss 29er gets ridden more than my Ventana FS. 🙂
Needing to release some cash, so I sold a lot of the posh kit off, Maxle Revs, Tech M4 brakes, Thomson stem & post etc. Was planning to sell the Pro2 wheels also, but havent got around to it yet. I’ve now built up the Ventana with some Revs I picked up for £65 off here, also used some older Deore/Alex wheels I had on my old 26″ ss. Have kept decent tyres though. Also kept my lovely Ti Spoon saddle & grips.
How does the Ventana ride with all this cheap kit…bloody ace. Has meant I can hang on to my Ventana, which gets used mainly in the summer & for the odd trip to Wales.

I’d stick the mediocre stuff on it, it’s not going to affect the amount of fun you have on it.