My fiancé bought a trek 4500WSD about 2004/05 ish sorta time. She got it more as a ride-around than with the intention of starting to MTB seriously – but she has been out on it with me round easy places like Thetford. I think that if it was a bit better she might enjoy it more, want to go riding more, and I might therefore get to go riding more… The brakes (tektrogodawfuls) on it are frankly shocking for anything other than a nip to the shops and the forks hardly move… I’d like to get better brakes on it regardless before she ends up under a bus… so my options are:
Spend £45-60ish just putting new low-end Avid V brakes on there. Or
Go and dig the old (2004) Magura Julies out of my shed – service them, find my old wheels, service the generic front hub, fit a new rear one, swap the non-disk wheels she currently has for my disc wheels, and fit the Julies – costing me about the same money or possibly more by the time I’ve bought the hub, bearings, seals, mucked it up, given in and sent to my LBS to finish the job etc… Or
Buy her some nice shiny new disc brakes (£100-120ish pair) or second hand ones off here a bit cheaper, then still having the faff and cost of getting my wheels up to scratch
After which the forks could do with attention – so again do I:
Get my slightly better than her 2004 Judys, but still fairly rubbish RockShox 2004 Recon SLs working – cost = ??? Or
Pick up a cheap pair from t’internet at £100ish. Or
Give in and buy her a new bike…
Any help gratefully received…
You know what, just buying a new bike sounds a lot easier.
Ask what she likes and doesn't liem about?
Ask her is she's really all that about MTBing in the first place?
She wants the brakes and forks doing as they're rubbish... Hence my main upgrade options...
She enjoys going MTBing with me, and like I said - I'm sure that if her bike was a bit better than the current brakeless deathtrap that it is, we'd go more...
Kiwijohn - I'm starting to think that way...