[Closed] How often do people change their MTB?

How long is a bit of string...

When I get a bit of cash, when I break one, when I want something else, when the deal of the century pops up, when I get a bonus

Mix of used, new and swaps going on, sometimes just the frame sometimes the lot. Made a conscious decision to stop spending cash on my 26" enduro bike last year and went full 650/Boost/Metric

Used to be once every 6-12 months.

But now i've found a HT and FS i love.... 2 years in on both now, can't see any reason to swap either of them.

I used to change quite regularly but my current bikes are 6 and 4 years old with no short term plans to replace. I think that just reflects different life priorities and the 6 year full sus is still a decent bike. I'm chuffed to bits if I get for a couple of hours a week so for me practice and fitness are where the gains are not in a new bike.

Some have lasted 6 months at most , 2008 stumpjumper and salsa spearfish. I just did  not get on with them.

Some ive has for years and won’t sell.

salsa el marachi

2003 enduro sx although currently broken.

Ive just replace my 2013 enduro with a 2018 stumpy

just depends on money and if I see anything I like

Had mine exactly 10 years and never felt any great need to change it.

To be fair, it doesn't get used much these days, and I have several road/cross bikes.

I either add a bike that does something different, or run it till it no longer functions well any more. Don't see much sense in replacing like for like, even if it does have snazzy wheels, or an ejector seat - you can upgrade those. I'd only really replace a bike if I didn't get on with it.

Newest MTB in the shed is roughly 12 years old, still works perfectly well and is well suited to local riding. I had a look at new bikes a couple of years ago and there was nothing that tempted me to change it.

After the initial arms race with my mates it’s 3-5 years.

My 2006 Enduro lasted 5 and a bit years and was pretty much worn smooth in the end, but that’s to virtually static standards whilst bikes got a bit longer travel and lighter it never felt outdated.

In the same way cars seem to have gone PCP so will my bikes - work offers a 3 years 0% thing tied to R2W. 3 years seems a bit of a sweet spot for resale values, well as long as we don’t have a 650b style seachange.

Some interesting thoughts.

How do people find sourcing replacement parts for older bikes?

I don't ride hard but winters round here are a mud fest, which means things can wear out quickly.

Needed one chainring changing on the Trek and really struggled to source a replacement. Ended up with a Shimano when I really wanted Race Face to match the rest of the bike.

“Needed one chainring changing on the Trek and really struggled to source a replacement. Ended up with a Shimano when I really wanted Race Face to match the rest of the bike.”

I don’t think having to get a different brand of chainring is a real struggle! 😉

I don’t ride hard but winters round here are a mud fest, which means things can wear out quickly.

In the winter I ride a rigid singlespeed. It has 26" QR wheels and a straight headtube and a threaded BB. I think the only thing I might struggle to replace is the Middleburn Uno chainring. That would be sad.

Change?

I just add to the collection every so often.

How do people find sourcing replacement parts for older bikes?

Just buy them, anything from 9sp, 26" is still out there and in production.

Middleburn Uno chainring. That would be sad.

BETD now have middleburn and manufacture the rings and spiders etc.. so shouldnt be an issue

 how often do people change their MTB for a new one?

There will be (has been!) a multitude of different answers. What will you learn from this?

How do people find sourcing replacement parts for older bikes?

The 12 year old bike is fine, everything that it needs can be ordered online for next day delivery without a problem. I also have a late 80's merlin mountain that requires a bit more effort with parts. Most stuff has limited choice but is still OK to find replacements with a little googling. The only really tricky bits are the WTB rollercam rear brake which I set up an alert on ebay for and have two spares in the shed just in case and the custom BB axle which is/was only manufactured by Phil Wood in California, again I have a spare.

In the winter I'll either stick to the turbo trainer or do road rides so i'm not really going through parts at such an alarming rate. My local riding is in the Chilterns which can be a complete slippery mudfest in winter so it's often best to avoid it altogether and come back enthusiastic in the spring.

I think my full suss is 12 years old, singlespeed is 14 years old, cx/roadie must be around 12 but I'm not sure.  The singlespeed is the only one owned from new.  Bought a new gravel bike last year.

Its never really crossed my mind to consider a new bike V cost of maintaining an old one, and they are like old friends so would not replace unless they are practically un-repairable or obsolete (hence buying a gravel bike as my CX/roadie was not coping with the type of riding I was expecting of it!)

Its never really crossed my mind to consider a new bike V cost of maintaining an old one,

It's normally the thought that comes after a big bill.....

I've certainly looked at bikes and costed up what would probably need doing in the next 12 months and what that would get me new and the rest sold on, though to me they are just tools that do a job, moving across the world twice and working out how much it costs to ship stuff soon cures sentimentality.

seems to be working out to about every 3-4 years. started with a GT hardtail in 2003, then a specialized enduro in 2006, then an IBIS mojo HD in 2011, then an orbea rallon in 2015, now a YT capra in 2018.

I usually change bikes because i fancy a change, rather than they've become worn out etc.

There will be (has been!) a multitude of different answers. What will you learn from this?

It's making interesting reading as when I posted, I thought people would have either multiple bikes or change very frequently but may not always be the case.

I have a concern about how readily available parts are, 2013 Hardrock Sport at 2 years old my LBS said parts might be hard to come by so would need to change the whole crankset and BB for example rather than just chain rings.

Trek is a 2016 model and took some searching to find a suitable part.

I have a concern about how readily available parts are, 2013 Hardrock Sport at 2 years old my LBS said parts might be hard to come by so would need to change the whole crankset and BB for example rather than just chain rings.

Interesting concept as the crankset would be easy to source, sometimes people spec silly BCD rings and it's cheaper and easier to swap to a new more standard BCD set that has easy to get spares, what you won't struggle for is a compatible part - chasing the exact same part is just a waste of time and usually money

Had my Cove steel hardtail for nearly 11 years now. I'm getting an itch for a new SolarisMax though....

My newest MTB is about 18 years old and the most-used road bike dates to 1994. Of course many parts have been replaced/upgraded. Pretty much anything back to 7 speed cassettes etc is easily available (including square taper BBs/cranks). May actually be harder to maintain in the 5y range with a bigger diversity in standards...

I have a few legacy bikes and an 8 year old 26" that gets periodic upgrades.

I, when riding, change my main ££££ bike every season. I usually buy a previous season on sale so at most depreciation is a few hundred. Rationalised thought process on this is that no major service or replacement components are ever needed so total cost of ownership is pretty low.

It also reduces risk of theft as off season (later autumn to spring) I don't have expensive bikes around.

There is no performance, competitive or race merit to me changing, I just like a new bike.

would need to change the whole crankset and BB for example rather than just chain rings

In the days of 3x9 it was usually cheaper to buy a complete chainset than replace all the rings. I guess the economics are different with 1x.

*ahem*

Strike 1

Strike 2

And that's only 2013. I keep meaning to write Strike 3, but can't bring myself to catalogue the extensive collection since then.

I love new bikes. I know it's fiscal recklessness to the point of insanity, and lately I've further understood it's a journey not a destination.  Of all of those bikes tho, only 5 or 6 really hold any strong memories. For 5 of them they are great memories tinged with sadness at selling a great bike, the sixth was the Ellesworth Isis 😉

It's such a law of diminishing returns now. Any man who has TWO carbon Ibis's really needs to stop worrying if there's anything better our there. Still this is the same man that once thought 'well I've got loads of spares, might as well buy a frame'.

So apart from a new SolarisMax for the winter I'm done. Definitely.

When they get stolen or broken, I can't afford to get a new bike because I want a new one.

My Marin East Peak FRS 1998 is still going strong after 20 years, even if it is a bit like Trigger's broom, with its 3rd set of wheels, 2nd drivetrain and fork, original rear shock is still working well.

Not that often. Changed my hardtail to 29er based on getting bored and picking up a Parkwood frame for £80 when I had a broken wrist, then getting parts I couldn't steal from another bike as and when I found good deals.

Then I upgraded the forks when I had money (had got some second hand ones for £40), then ended up finding it almost as good descending as my full sus 26er, then I had to get a 29er FS when funds allowed.

Can't see me changing soon, but if I had a load of cash sitting around I might get a lightweight XC type FS jobbie.

(I'm tempted by a fatbike but I just don't think I'd use it much.)

Lots of food for thought thanks.

Had my first MTB about 6.5 years and sold it as I was living and working away from home. Bought a new one about a year later and kept it until the seat post got jammed in a funny position about 7 or so years later and couldn't be fixed. Had a Hybrid that I never used for the next 4 or 5 years and got into MTB again.

I was hankering after an Orange when I was using the Hardrock, but when the bill to make it right on a £500 2.5 year old bike was £250+, had to change in a hurry.

Couldn't get the Orange I wanted as it was a funny period between model years with just limited run out stock available, so bought the Trek 3 years ago which is a great bike, but not the Orange I really wanted and looking at them again.

Plan would be keep the Orange for summer and Trek for the winter.

How do people find sourcing replacement parts for older bikes?

Its pretty easy if you accept things change, if you have an older 3x9 XTR set-up and something breaks or wears out you either accept the new 2x XTR for loadamoney or the Deore that’s pretty much like your XTR with cheaper materials.

Things like linkages are tricky, but they hardly ever break. Spesh sold me a chainstay for my 5 year old Enduro no problem, whether they still can now they’re 12 years old I don’t know.

I never buy completes bikes so change frames, wheels, forks etc,. fairly often as the mood takes.

I don't need to worry about standards or changes in fashion due to the type of bikes I ride.

About 3 yearly, normally run a hard tail and a full sus, but I rarely upgrade, my bikes are standard straight through till the end. Currently have a fuse expert 2 years old and love riding it and a camber 3.5 years old it was the last redesign after the evo model and they appear the same since. So this year new bike, both my lbs have told me there’s a trek day this week so I’m hoping for a fuel ex 8 plus missed this years model.

I do wish I had never sold my 2012 camber expert 26er, so now no more selling bikes.

not really 'change' - I've had my older MTB for 20 years, from new. I also have a s/h MTB - they get used, though less so over time. They have been roundly abused over the years. I did get a new MTB - Swift - a couple of years ago, getting more and more used to it and as such it's the usual goto bike now.. run as geared or SS, run as 650b+ or 29r, like it  lots, still - more so if anything over time..

every few years.

i ws "lucky" to get one nicked and new for old catapulted me from a few hundred quid to a few grand bike. I cant go back now. Its gutting (and expensive)

Not very often, I started a thread the other day about my 2007 Marin and what more I could do to keep it "on trend" because the idea of spending ££££s on a replacement doesn't make financial sense to me...but I'm tight!

Perhaps I don't replace my bikes because I enjoy riding them...perhaps if I didn't enjoy them I'd change them more often.

When the battery runs out.

For the first 6 years I pretty much changed frames every year. This was a period where I was learning to ride off road effectively, and learning what I liked to ride.

It's a big old feedback loop. As I got better, I learned what I didn't like and what I wanted next from a bike. I got the next  bike and progress some more, discover that I can do new stuff on new terrain that made me think again about what I wanted from my next bike... ad infinitum.

I understand what I want from my riding much more these days, and my progression has slowed to a crawl, because I'm in a place where riding for the joy of the experience is more important to me than being able to send massive jumps like Josh Bender.

As a result, my bike swapping has also slowed markedly. FS these days last between 5-7years with hardtails lasting about 2, mostly because they're cheaper to swap out for the sake of curiosity.

When I do chop out a bike it's replacement does seem to be right out on the bleeding edge of what's current though.

2005, 2007, 2010, 2014, 2017 for my main bike. Had a few others too and am currently happy with my ht and fs.

Reasons for change were ht to fs, move to a smaller frame, move from 26” before the market collapsed, move to a bigger bike.

Visited my friend yesterday and he is still happily riding his 1997 zaskar. Every bit has been swapped except for the Royce bottom bracket he fitted when he built it up.

He bought a canyon 29 a few years back and has never ridden it.