Upgrading Your Mountain Bike
Upgrading can be carried out as parts wear out, or beforehand if you find a replacement that is more efficient, comfortable, or easier to use.
With a few tools and a little experience, a bike can be stripped to the frame and rebuilt with different parts in a matter of hours.
One reason to upgrade certain parts is to reduce the weight of your bike.
Weighing just a few grams less, you achieved a higher speed for the same energy input, which is particularly helpful when climbing.
This is particularly important for mountain bikes as the lighter weight counts at all times off road.
You must never sacrifice strength just to reduce weight however, as this will increase the risk of your bike failing.
The lower the quality of the bike you start with, the greater the improvement if you upgrade it.
The reverse is also true, the higher the quality of the bike you start with, the smaller the improvement will be if you upgrade it.
Upgrading can often mean customising, so what starts out as a model number on an assembly line becomes unique to you.
Much upgrading has to do with experimentation.
For every lasting mechanical improvement that comes out mountain bike development there are dozens of dead ends.
So if you do choose to upgrade to a particular part do your homework on that part before you purchase it.
Often times if you are deciding to upgrade a number of parts at the same time it may be more cost-effective to buy entirely new bike.
It is generally advisable not to spend more than a half or two thirds of the original price of your bike on improving it.
If the parts become too good for the frame, it is time for a new bike.