Upgrading/Replacing Cassette, Deraileur and Crank

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Minusorange

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I'm looking to do as the title says, only I have no idea what would be an upgrade or crossgrade for my current setup.

Currently it's a Deore deraileur, Truvativ E400 3.0 22/32/42T Crank and Shimano HG20 nine-speed 11-34T, no need to replace the shifters so I figure it should be an easy straight swap out of the parts and some new shifter cable. Do I need to replace the bottom bracket or is it worth replacing if I'm swapping out the crank ?

Might get some new pedals too any recs ?

It's for an MTB

Any suggestions for upgrade/crossgrade parts that aren't overly expensive ?
 
Why are you upgrading would be my question. I'm very out of date with the mtb world, but changing all drivechain parts together is advisable for equal wear. Chain, cassette and chainrings. If the cranks have rarely been removed any wear on splines on bb is negligible, so you can keep the same bb if it's fine and its length is satisfactory for the new cranks/alignment/gears.

Pedals are personal preference. Thinner the cage the less mud sticks to them. Number of pins is not always a decider in amount of grip, their size and positioning play a roll, with pedal size and shape, concave or flat adding to comfort.

Hope that helps.
 
If you are running a 3x drivetrain I would look to upgrade to a 1x. Personally I would go 1 x 11 as you won't have to change the freehub on your rear wheel and 11 speed is massively cheaper than 12 and less faff. You can pick up a Deore/SLX cassette, cranks, chainring, derailleur, chain and shifter for probably about £250 - 300 depending on how you source the parts.

Cassette I would personally go brand new unless you can find one that has genuinely barely been used i.e the pain on the teeth hasn't been damaged at all. Rear mech is not so important so you could go secondhand but beware of bent rear mechs. There are plenty of people selling brand new and unused parts for cheap. Shifter is likely to be much of a muchness so you could go secondhand. Chain and front chainring go for new. Cranks you could go second hand again.

A 1x system is so nice IMO. Gives you plenty of range, easy to service and makes gear management on the trails so easy.
 
I'm still on 3x9!
Sram x9 with a deore /xt cassette and Can't really justify upgrading it really.
It's nicer and probably lighter to go 1×X. But it's not something that bothers me and 9 speed parts are cheaper.

Also the Mrs 1x11 system runs out of steam on flat tarmac downhill, so that's an immediate disadvantage if you do any road riding.
 
I thought about this a lot recently as I changed my chainset and front derailleur. I'm on 3x8 (28/38/48 and a 11-32 cassette). I think I will change the cassette to one with closer ratios at some point, but they're hard to find in stock at the moment.

I decided I like the flexibility that a triple chainring offers. I know they've seriously slipped out of vogue, but I like them. It's comforting to know I'm not going to run out of gears. I'd probably change my mind if I did a lot of off track and had other things grabbing my attention but 99% of the time I ride on roads and park gravel/cinder tracks and gear selection is a nice thing to think about.
 
The benefit to a 1 by system is easy of maintenance, simplicity and not worrying about keeping 2 sets of gears in sync. If you don't ride off road on proper MTB trails however, those advantages aren't quite so stark. If you run out of gears on the tarmac you just need to get a larger front chainring. I run a 32t and I can go like a bat out of hell on the road on the way to the local woods if needs be.
 
fez said:
The benefit to a 1 by system is easy of maintenance, simplicity and not worrying about keeping 2 sets of gears in sync. If you don't ride off road on proper MTB trails however, those advantages aren't quite so stark. If you run out of gears on the tarmac you just need to get a larger front chainring. I run a 32t and I can go like a bat out of hell on the road on the way to the local woods if needs be.
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At about 200 rpm? ;)
 
fez said:
Maybe :p

32/10 is plenty good enough for a MTB. I was going close to 30 I reckon.
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Yeah, I was kidding :). I often ride on roads using 38/11 or 38/12. That's just enough for me to be able to pull away quickly but easy pedalling on the flat.

What's top and bottom on your cassette? I am assuming that a single speed means bigger intervals in the gears?
 
inogen said:
Yeah, I was kidding :). I often ride on roads using 38/11 or 38/12. That's just enough for me to be able to pull away quickly but easy pedalling on the flat.

What's top and bottom on your cassette? I am assuming that a single speed means bigger intervals in the gears?
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Range on the rear cassette is 10-42 I believe as its an 11 speed cassette on an xD freehub so you can go down to 10t.

10,12,14,16,18,21,24,28,32,36,42

I did have an 11-46 shimano but I think that went from 37t-46 which is a massive gap and completely stupid.
 
inogen said:
I thought about this a lot recently as I changed my chainset and front derailleur. I'm on 3x8 (28/38/48 and a 11-32 cassette). I think I will change the cassette to one with closer ratios at some point, but they're hard to find in stock at the moment.

I decided I like the flexibility that a triple chainring offers. I know they've seriously slipped out of vogue, but I like them. It's comforting to know I'm not going to run out of gears. I'd probably change my mind if I did a lot of off track and had other things grabbing my attention but 99% of the time I ride on roads and park gravel/cinder tracks and gear selection is a nice thing to think about.
Click to expand...


Mine was originally 3x8 but I bought some second hand 9 speed shifters and a new 9 speed cassette. My existing deraliure could cope with it.

To be fair I spend probably 85% of my time on the front middle ring but it's nice to have that extra top and bottom end.
 
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