Hi everyone, this is my bike and I bought it 5-6 years ago secondhand for only 50€. Until last year, it was sitting in the balcony and last year, my friend and I have decided to make a small tour with our bikes. So, I took it out, changed the brakes, shifters and cables, tires; put pannier racks to the back and front. Since then we made 3 small tours, 1200 km in total. The bike is a tad small for me, I am 188 cm and it was giving me lower back pain on long rides so I decided to upgrade flat handlebars to butterfly bars for more upright position. I did 300 km with these bars in 3 days and I felt more comfortable.
My dilemma is this: I know my bike isn't the most durable bike for longer trips and after every trip, I feel like I need to fix something (as you can see from the various tapes). And I already spent like 200€. The drivetrain doesn't sound good, and rearhub seems like it's slowly dying. Should I spend more money on this bike and upgrade the components or should I buy a new one after this one completely fails? I have been eyeing Trek 920 which I can get around 1100-1200€ or Giant or Cube new for similar amounts. For now, we will only do sub 1000km tours at most but maybe one day I would like to make a longer one.
by AcanthaceaeStill8421
5 Comments
https://preview.redd.it/xgyanelgjcyg1.jpeg?width=4080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8cd446745dda1c6c121a61f6521f1df9b6ae2f46
I don’t know why the image doesn’t show but here is my bike.
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Great looking bike man
Are you able to do repairs yourself, and willing to bring the parts and tools you’d need to do it? IMO touring on a bike you’re not sure about would seriously detract from the experience.
Among the improvements I’d expect from a quick look at the pictures of the Trek 920 compared to what your bike looks like
Easier access to the water bottle on the down tube and having a bottle holder on the seat tube
Less weight – that suspension fork is heavy, and I’m surprised that your rack can be attached to the fork on both sides of the suspension. Even if you went with a steel frame (Trek 520? which might be less money) it probably is going to be less weight.
Disc brakes – better braking, no worrying about a braking surface on the rims. I find it a little more fiddly to get the wheel back on with discs, but accept that as better than tweaking the rim brakes all the time.
It looks like a bigger range, and double front derailleurs are so much easier to fix and adjust than triples.
The drop bars may or may not work better for you – going down on the drops would give you another position. Brifters can be more convenient than the trigger shifters, but I have issues with cable wear/fraying (maybe someone will tell me what I can to reduce that).
If you can afford to get the new bike, I would suggest it. Two years ago, I replaced the cassette, chain, chain ring, derailleurs and brifters (upgraded to Claris from 3×7) for 400 US $, but I did the work myself and had another bike to use so it wasn’t too bad that it took me some time to complete it. Prices have probably gone up since then, and if you have to pay a shop to do anything, it is going to be similar to getting the new bike.
Of course, you should test drive it to make sure that you can be comfortable on it, with hands in the 4 common positions for a drop bar.
Maybe you can try a few new bikes at your LBS’s and see if something fits any better? The people there may be able to give some advice about fit, too. Upgrading to a new bike will offer newer components which are likely to be better, along with modern geometry, which may be more comfortable out of the box. But, you need to go throw a leg over a few bikes to find out – internet advice won’t provide the best answer.