I was taking some photos of my bike this morning for insurance and when looking at them I realised how many components I have swapped in the 18 months I have owned this bike. It's a 2016 Trance Advanced 1 and I have changed;
Wheels, QR swapped for Kabolt, tyres, handlebar, stem, saddle, cassette, rear mech', shifter and chain. All the parts removed have been sold on. Is this pretty much what everyone does?
What's the question. Do we buy new bits we fancy and sell the old ones? Yes! lol
Although I don't always get round to selling the old ones.
Selling the parts is a clear rookie mistake: save them up and then you can buy a nice hardtail frame for winter using the "spare" parts.
better to sell OEM parts straight away & get a reasonable price imho
Swap it on day one or when it breaks/wears out is the best rule.
Selling the parts is a clear rookie mistake: save them up and then you can buy a nice hardtail frame for winter using the “spare” parts.
And then immediately start upgrading that, it's how bikes breed.
I have done what Kimbers has done - but also I have kept the parts to put the bike back to standard if I want to sell. Just bought a fat bike and already changed the bars, going to change the paddle shifters for twisties, I like my bikes set up in ways I find works. I will keep the original parts tho for this so I can put it back to standard if I want to sell
handlebar, stem, saddle, - personal fit items really, lots of people change them even if it's a side-grade rather than upgrade.
cassette - consumable
chain - consumable
tyres - consumable and also personal/terrain preference
So the only bits really 'upgraded' are Wheels, rear mech, shifter. It's not unusual for people to upgrade from OEM wheels but it depends on the reason, you have to have been after some tangible benefit, same with the mech and shifter, to be honest most people would leave them well alone until they've worn out or broken.
I do often wonder about the people that buy a bargain/sale bike and then spend hundreds (or more!) doing instant upgrades when they might as well have just bought a higher spec bike in the first place. not suggesting that's you OP, just musing...
I almost always change the seatpost, there is usually a fair bit of hidden weight there and a material unfamiliar with the term 'compliance'.
Very rarely change drivetrain till its knackered, but wheels are another early swap as again they can be a noticeable change (even if its just to get rims you can make work tubeless, though thats rarely an issue these days)
No, I get it right then keep it - maybe change a part or two eventually. Getting it right means bars/stem mostly.
I'm a fussy sod when it comes to bikes, so I prefer to buy the frame and do a custom build at home these days. It maybe dearer than buying a complete bike 'off the shelf' initially but works out cheaper in the long run. I enjoy the build process too.
I haven't bought a "new" bike for myself in 30 odd years.
When I do buy a used bike I often have to swap cranks depending what the manufacturer has specified.
However, if I was buying a new bike I'd also sell components that can't be swapped around*.
I usually buy brake pads, chains etc. when heavily reduced and then swap onto whichever bid needs it.
I've got 2x 27.5's and 3 sets of wheels that can be swapped over.
I've got a "geared DJish 26er with 2 brakes" that can't have wheels swapped but is using 10 speed old chains, pads, shifters etc.
I look after 2 more of my kids bikes, both 24er and 3 sets of wheels between them.
Bleed kits, pads, shifters and mechs are all interchangeable except the DJ is 10 speed.
My Whyte came with SRAM/Avid but I swapped that out, cranks too long and didn't want to mess with a different bleed kit etc. though to be fair the brakes were a straight swap with a friend who had some Avid's that shared the pads/fluid...
*If I could afford NEW bikes perhaps I wouldn't be bothered about the cost of consumable/replaceables though.?
Swap it on day one
Before it gets dirty.
Usually (for me) saddle, bars, stem, grips, and maybe seatpin then brakes and tyres.
Usually less than a week between the bike arriving and those swaps are complete. Depending on how fast the mail order is!
Wheels after the following payday. (Or at least, rims, hubs, spokes and then build them!)
I do often wonder about the people that buy a bargain/sale bike and then spend hundreds (or more!) doing instant upgrades when they might as well have just bought a higher spec bike in the first place.
My DJ (ish) cost me £160.... it needed a new seat post (£10) as the old one had to be dissolved out with NaOH ...
However I had a spare SLX cassette, spare Zee rear mech and shifter and some spare Deore brakes and 10 speed chain.- spare chain guide and NW chain wheel used on 10sp chain .. and since there was a Saint set of cranks for £30 on eBay... that seemed to good to ignore. The rear wheel was going to need replacing and got a Halo SAS for £40 brand new... which is not much more than the cost of bearings and a new free hub...
I could have left on the 3x8 speed and mechanical brakes ... and ridden the hub till it died... but it's still not bad for a bike and I have a load of old 10 speed stuff still in the spares bin.
It was also fun....
I do often wonder about the people that buy a bargain/sale bike and then spend hundreds (or more!) doing instant upgrades when they might as well have just bought a higher spec bike in the first place. not suggesting that’s you OP, just musing…
Because you can very often end up with a far better bike for less money.
I've done it several times. Buying a 105/SLX equipped top end frame, for pretty much the retail price of the frame alone. Pretty much stripped back to component level and built up for (in total, inc. original purchase price) well under the price of the top model in the range. Yet with better kit.
Unfortunately with the latest rounds of increases in the price of top end forks, and the (relatively) low price of the direct to customer bikes, it's getting harder to beat the whole bike prices, especially on MTBs.
Best saving (road) was over 50%. Worst was only about 10% (MTB), they reduced the price of the top spec bike shortly after i bought the lower spec one. My build was still lighter, and better equipped, but not by much.
I've even done it for entire teams worth of bikes. Ringing up the importer and telling them you want 20-30 identical bikes in 4 or 5 sizes and you aren't particularly interested in warranty or having them assembled first gets you some very healthy discounts.