Upgrading Mountain Bike Vs Upgrading Parts

This is one of the most difficult questions that many mountain bikers face - whether or not to part with their mountain bike and purchase a replacement, or invest money into their bike, via upgraded components and parts. The answer to this question is not always easy, and we get plenty of customers coming into our bike shop - looking for mountain bikes for sale, whilst browsing a range of components and parts to fit their existing bike. In this post, we look at some of the factors we consider, when deciding whether to upgrade our own bikes or improve them with replacement parts.

Replace: if the bike no longer fits

If you have found that you have outgrown the bike that you are riding - then it’s a much better idea to think about replacing the bike, rather than looking to replace and upgrade any components on the bike. Other reasons for the bike fitting poorly - is being gifted the bike by friends and family. There’s very few components and parts you can buy for a bike which will change the fit and feel of the bike, if it does not fit right although you can make marginal to medium gains with new stems, bars, saddles and seatposts.

Replace: You can no longer find the right parts

At Westbrook Cycles, we have some of the most comprehensive inventories of OEM parts and replacement parts for a wide range of bike brands, all of which can be navigated through our parts finder. These parts finders include a GT parts finder, Bergamont parts finder, Cannondale parts finder and a Scott parts finder.

Luckily, it takes many years for parts to become obsolete - but if you cannot add the new parts to your bike that you want and need, such as dropper seatpost, it may be time to move onto a newer model.

Replace: Your riding has evolved

Most mountain bikers start riding in a discipline that they do not stay in. For example, a lot of mountain bikers start riding hardtail mountain bikers cross country, before evolving into downhill and trail riding. If you are riding an XC hardtail mountain bike, but want to be flying through downhill trails, it’s likely you need to change your bike to a full suspension bike VS upgrade parts on your existing bike. Although it can be tempting to order new bike forks with greater travel, although the forks will have greater travel - there’s a risk that the geometry of the bike will be negatively affected by such a change.

Replace: You have damaged the frame of your bike

If you have damaged the frame of your bike - it’s not advised to pump money and new components onto your bike. In this case, it’s much more economical to replace the bike.

Replace: It’s not economical to upgrade

If you purchased your bike for £2,500 several years ago, it does not make huge financial sense to upgrade the bike with £1,000 of parts - as this value will never be recouped if you plan on selling the bike in the future.