Apollo Evade Upgrades

Gambisk said:
You are going to end up spending £1000 on parts and still have a run of the mill bike.

If you are determined to upgrade then wait until a component breaks then replace it with something better. If you are serious about taking this bike off road on proper trails then I imagine the first thing to go will be those wheels, followed by the fork, then drivetrain and brakes. You are going to waste a lot of money upgrading/replacing these as they break, instead you save that money then you could buy a used bike of a much higher spec.

Example costs:
Shimano SLX groupset - £300-450
Rockshox Reba RL - £190-250
Superstar wheels - £200
Wide bars, headset and short stem - £100

Which is the guts of £800 on fairly entry level parts. Or you could listen to everyone else and save that money and buy a decent bike with all the components already on it like this one http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1769529/
Click to expand...

Couldn't have said this better.

OP - Nobody is having a dig at you, we've all been there with <£250 bikes one time or another.

For comparisons sake, when I was in my late teens, my parents bought me a £200 GT Palomar. Over the next few years, I upgraded pretty much everything on it, spending several hundred quid.

I eventually reached a point where I realised that the upgrades I had made were the price of a decent second hand bike, not worth a fraction of what I'd paid for them if I wanted to sell on and generally not the best of ideas.

Ride your bike for now, enjoy what it can offer you and sure, upgrade your pedals and grips, but don't bother spending big on handlebars, wheelsets etc. as you may as well put that money into savings and buy a whole different league of bike when you're ready for something better. There's nothing worse than ploughing hundreds of pounds into something that ends up sat in your shed or doesn't make your riding any more enjoyable.

If you're looking for some suggestions for grips - look at the ODI Lock On range. You'll be able to transfer these to a new bike and are about £20.

Suggestions for pedals? Something like the DMR V8's for £25.

Tyres, you're looking at spending at least £30-40 per wheel for something half decent.

Just so you're aware, adding the above up, that's roughly £150, nearly the price you paid for your bike.
 
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Just ride the bike an enjoy it, get fitter and if you are still riding it next year think about upgrades then.
 
if you must - consider 2nd hand etc - bikeradar, pinkbike etc for bits and bobs, but as others, ride it, enjoy it, save the money to one side and use it to buy another/better bike if and when required.
 
If you're going to insist on upgrading an entry level bike like that then at least understand that it is not money well spent, unless you are really attached to that bike and you really like it.

I've recently spent £100 getting a Carrera road bike frame powder coated. The paint on the bike is worth more than I'd get for the frame second hand. This is not money well spent. It won't make the bike faster. It will barely make the bike lighter. It won't increase the resale value. Did I do it for any of those reasons? No, I did it because I have a perverse attachment to that bike and I had the money to do it and I wanted it in red so damnit all now it's red. I've also spent the thick end of £100 upgrading the groupset to slightly less bottom of the range Shimano parts. Again, it won't make it faster or lighter, and will only make it marginally more valuable, but it will make it a tiny bit more comfy to ride when I'm using it. It's still going to be a chunky, heavy, slightly uncomfortable frame, though, and I could put Ultegra on there and it wouldn't solve those problems.

If you're going to insist on upgrading this bike you need to accept that it is not a wise use of money. That's fine if you've got money to spare, but by your own admission you don't. You can put all the bling you want on that bike but the frame will still weigh a ton and not be very good.

Sorry, but that's just the way it is.
 
If you want to take it off-road in the wet, maybe get some DMR V8 pedals. I got some for my £100 mountain bike a few years ago to stop my feet slipping off the plastic pedals. Now they're on my signficantly more expensive mountain bike.
 
This isn't a case of buy a more expensive bike it is a case of spending where it is appropriate. For context my MTB cost £179. I've had it since forever and I still take it to the local(ish) trails when I get the chance. I've upgraded the pedals, because I smashed one against a rock and it split. I upgraded the brakes, when they wore out. I upgraded the bottom bracket when the seals went and it filled up with dirty water. That is it over about 14 years!

My current bike I quickly replaced the tyres because they were puncture prone and the sadle because it hurt my bum.

Basically I think what we are all saying is get out there and ride it, find its faults and fix them over time rather than throwing money at problems that don't exist yet.
 
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