MTB: Help me upgrade my bike

nicholas_yiu · 18 Jan 2008 at 18:02

At the moment, I have:

Carrera Kraken 2001 frame (resprayed, aluminium, only v-brake compatible)
Suntour XCM forks (with lockout and preload adjustment)
Mavic Crossride front wheel
Mavic XM317 built on deore hub rear wheel
Deore cranks
Deore front and rear mech + shifters
Time ATAC pedals
SRAM 8 speed casette and chain
Specialized saddle
Club Roost handlebar, titec stem, m-part sports headset
Deore 525 front hydraulic disc
xt rear v-brakes
Panaracer fire XC pro tyres

It's currently on slicks because I use it for commuting as well.

I do XC/All mountain and think I've got a decent-ish specs for XC but it's struggling a bit on the all-mountain bits. The weakest bits are obviously the fork and the frame.

I now have about £150 spare (by selling the junk in my room on ebay) and think I should upgrade either my forks or frame or both.

What do you guys think? I'm going to get them second-hand. I think I can get some pretty decent forks for £150 second hand. I'm thinking about something that is air-sprung. However, is that necessary or would something like a tora 305 be fine?

Is so, I can spend about £90 on forks and £60 on a decent-ish frame, which also give me the option of upgrading to a rear disc brake.

To be honest, I'm quite happy with V brakes on the rear except for the hearing damaging causing squeal and the brake pads lasting the average of 2 rides but I want to know what you guys think.

Should I spend my money on something else other than frame and fork?

Thanks in advance

Alasdair · 19 Jan 2008 at 13:17

Sixty quid won't get you a decent frame, you'd be best off saving your cash and splashing out on something really top notch.

Why don't you consider a set of decent lights and go nightriding?

monkeypants · 19 Jan 2008 at 14:13

Alasdair said:
Why don't you consider a set of decent lights and go nightriding?

Because he wants to get a decent bike to enjoy day riding more first?

nicholas_yiu · 21 Jan 2008 at 18:49

You are right I want to enjoy day riding more first lol. I am still very much a beginner.

The price my junk went for turned out to be a lot higher than I expected. Therefore, I ended up getting a second hand rock shox psylo and a handsome dog talisman frame for £180 including the delivery. It's still a little over budget but I think it's pretty good.

I heard good things about rock shox psylo but haven't heard much about handsome dog frames. The "talisman" I've got apparently is a double butted CrMo frame which weights 1.9kg for the size I got and is both disc and v-brakes compatible. Being a steel frame should be a lot more comfortable than my old frame and it's also lighter. The geometry is also exactly the same as my old frame as well so shouldn't take too long to get used to.

I don't think I've got a particularly good deal but I think this new frame/fork combination should be pretty decent for what I do. What do you think?

monkeypants · 21 Jan 2008 at 21:28

Psylos are awesome forks. I have a set and they're so deliciously coil sprung that I don't ever want air spring forks.

The Handsome Dog frame looks nice, but I can't find any reviews. Try it and see!

It seems you have got a good deal, I got my 2003 Psylo Race forks for £100inc delivery, and the talisman frame sells new for £170.

It seems you have got quite a lot for your money, dispite being slightly over budget.

nicholas_yiu · 21 Jan 2008 at 22:39

monkeypants said:
Psylos are awesome forks. I have a set and they're so deliciously coil sprung that I don't ever want air spring forks.

The Handsome Dog frame looks nice, but I can't find any reviews. Try it and see!

It seems you have got a good deal, I got my 2003 Psylo Race forks for £100inc delivery, and the talisman frame sells new for £170.

It seems you have got quite a lot for your money, dispite being slightly over budget.

Just out of interest, how often is a service needed on your Psylo forks?

I'm a bit worried because the forks are second hand and might be in need of a service. I had a look at the service manual and it looks fairly difficult to do at home. Has anyone here tried servicing forks themselves?

Would you say I should leave them until they stop working properly or should I do it now before installing the forks? Obviously, I cannot afford to get a bike shop to do it for me right now but I should just manage the cost of new seals and oil if I do it myself.