Hi,

I have had my bike for about 5 years which i built myself when i was first getting into MB riding.

Now i am quite proficient im thinking of upgrading a few parts. Id rather do that than go out and buy a new bike.

the bike consists of a GT avalanche 3 frame, rockshok judy forks, shimano XT V-brakes/ gears, richey stem, Easton bars and Xero element disc wheels.

The bike is pretty heavy, but runs well and have had no issues with it. So is there better upgrades than others? will i benefit from upgrading at all?

All help appreciated.
Cheers

You could consider changing;

Forks
Disk brakes

If you’re realtively happy with it and it suits the sort of riding you do maybe just put money aside each month for a while and look at possibly buying a new bike in the future?

Disk brakes would be my suggestion, they would I suggest give you the most dramatic improvement.

I’d get yourself some good solid stoppers second hand, should be able to get some for about £100. Could be tempting to get some slightly older brakes as to keep the slightly retro feel?

I’d get quite a kick out of seeing an old Judy up front, so I’d stick with it, unless it’s really bothering you?

I built all the parts from my FS onto an old Avalanche frame over the winter. (Maxle Revs, Pro2 wheels, Elixir brakes, XT drivetrain, Thomson finishing kit etc). Despite some nice kit it was still very harsh, surprisingly heavy & not that good compared to something more modern. I hung the same kit on a new Inbred & it really was excellent.
I’d sell it off & put the cash towards something like the SLX Inbred, Genesis etc.

Thanks for the tips. I was thinking about upgrading the brakes to disc, do they offer a significant advantage?

Im happy with the judys but would be nice to have a lock out sometimes, and they are quite heavy.

I am new to all the technical talk about riding and bikes and dont have a lot of knowledge, looking at the set up I have, how does it compare to, say, an entry level £600 MB? I’m learning technical stuff but dont tend to do drop offs or aggressive riding!

If you’ve not yet used disc brakes, then you don’t know what you’re missing.

My old Hope M4 front disk (205mm rotor) can bring me to a stop quite easily from 35mph+ with one finger. That’s just using a single disk on a 40lb bike + 14 stone rider.

When set up properly (in combination with a large rotor if necessary) their power is astonishing.

Personally given your bike spec now, I would only put money aside each week for a new one – if you’ve managed with V-brakes so far, why not continue a few more months?

You’d be even happier with a proper set of decent forks.
Though as most fork don’t come with V-brake mounts now, so you’ll need to upgrade your brakes (& wheels, if your hubs don’t have disc mounts) before you can do the forks…

Some food for thought. Thanks.

The problem with getting a new bike is convincing the wife I need one!

Hi I have just bought a similar 2006 Avalanche 1 second hand. It has had all its good bits robbed & replaced with cheap parts so I’m looking to upgrade it. Its difficult for a novice like me to know where to start. I want to change the forks first & then the wheels but I am totally baffled by all the available parts! I would love to just buy a brand new bike but wy wife would probably leave me 🙂 Anyway rockshox tora 302s are what i’m after I think. Then wheels.

Good luck!