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When to Invest in Upgrades
Our bike mechanic says sometimes it's better to wait awhile before adding new parts to your bike.
By Bicycling.com
If You Want to Shave 2 Pounds or More: "It averages about $500 to shave a pound of weight off a bike. If you really want to take off weight, you need to spend more than $1,000, and you've basically got a new bike right there."
If All You Want is 3 More Gears: "To upgrade to 27 speeds, you've got to change a lot of things--cogs, shifters, chainrings, chain. You'll spend about $500-$600. Sell the one you've got as a down payment on a new one, which will be lighter and have better geometry."
If the Rest of the Bike Will Still Be Obsolete: "For example, there's no use putting disc brakes on the bike if it still has a 7-speed freewheel on it. Generally, if most of the bike is more than 5 years old, it's probably not worth it."
If You Want to Create a New Kind of Bike: "We had a customer with a hybrid, and he wanted to make it more of a road bike. All of the sudden you need brake levers, shift levers, stem, handlebar--it's not easy."
If the Fork You Want is Worth More Than the Bike: "We see that frequently. People have 4- or 5-year-old bikes with cantilever brakes and a 1-inch steer tube and they're looking to upgrade to a suspension fork that's $200 or more--and that's what the bike's worth."
Originally published in Bicycling magazine. Copyright © Rodale, Inc. 2002
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