Time for some fun (and education for me!), light hearted debate, some banter and definitely name calling!

What are the best MTB components money can buy?

Not the most expensive or high end brand or whatever, what are the best parts (in your opinion) for doing what its supposed to do no matter the cost.

Anything that attaches to a frame, as big as a fork or as small as gear cables and bearings.

GO!

Middleburn cable oilers

Shimano gear cable outers

Spank vibrocore bars

Conti Vert Pros

High sweep bars.

Northwinds answer makes tj’s redundant.

Shimano XT level SPD pedals.

HTII bottom brackets.

CaptainFlashheart
Member

Conti Vert Pros

You can probably carbon date when people first joined STW by what tyres everyone recommends eh. When I joined, it was Kenda Nevegals. And for a strange, unhappy time it was Nobby Nics. Now we are in the age of the DHR2

Shimano Saint brakes.

Aye, was Fire XC for me Northy!

Eewings obvs! 😛

Nahhh probs a set of cable guide extenders for external routing of dropper & rear mech on older frames

SPDs.

I raced Mountain bikes and Cyclocross using toe clips and straps and SPDs were a complete revelation, allowing shoes with spikes at the toe instead of the instep.

stevenmenmuir I use both!

737s

Wasting time and money.

Shimano XT level SPD pedals.

I’ll vote for that

Shimano XT level SPD pedals.

Disagree. M520 SPDs. Twenty quid.

When I joined, it was Kenda Nevegals.

Ahh, the Golden Age of mountain biking.

The Brand X dropper post seems to have nailed it. Cheap and functional.

Ergon touring grips.

Especially the GP2s or GP3s with stubby bar ends for confident climbing and happy hand-rests when riding long fir-roads or other surfaced transitions. The grips themselves have the perfect compound/s and shock absorption across the heel of the thumb. As they age they seem to feel even better. Quality.

Conti Race Kings (folding, 2.2)

Fast and nimble, fatter than advertised, grippier than they look and with low rolling-resistance. I can’t stop using them.

I put a Timber! Bell on the bike last week. Non-confrontational, no ‘get-out-of-the-way’ connotations, just ‘hello, here I am.’ A great little bit of functional kit.

Mt Zoom and KCNC for lightweight bits.

OneUp alloy flat pedals.

i feel like out of the things i’ve bought, it’s probably (2nd hand) hope pro 2 evo hubs, which have seen my through numerous frames and forks (3 each end) with adaptors

Minion DHF.
SDG Bel-air saddle.

Surprised there hasn’t been any arguments yet 🙁

Some good pointers so far though.

Most things Shimano – particularly anything with Deore on it for function and durability Vs cost.

Deore 4-pot brakes. Teh shizzles.

I do like XT gear shifters though.

BrandX/TransX/Generic brand droppers – my replacement one just cost £40, last one did 3 years!

Sparkly paint jobs.

Shimano XT 4 pot brakes from around 1998/99. Had some since then and never had to re bleed them.