Bought a brand new Orange 5 shop discounted to £1,800 as it was the 26″. Handlebars, stem, wheels, tyres, seatpost and saddle all went instantly. All functional but tipped the mass to over 31lb stock. Upgraded accordingly, but as the stuff taken off was new and branded, it was all sold at a similar price to the new bits I’d put on. My upgrades probably cost less than £100 in all once the old stuff was sold on.
Why upgrade? Well the stock handlebars were 1990’s XC slim, the stem reached into the next postcode, and the tyres were just awful. The rims had to go as I like to run tubeless, and I’d just blagged a new Reverb for £129 from CRC.
If you’re buying a top dog bike, you’ll probably leave well alone and use as is. Most entry level kit is entry level for good reason though, as some marketing guy has realised that most owners just buy for the badge and never actually ride the things, so don’t care.