When you listen to the upgrading of mountain bikes there are many questions that arise in our mind which are:
- Changing old bike parts with new cheap parts to save the old genuine parts.
- Changing the contact points of your bike which include saddle, pedal, handlebar, grips, and tires.
- Upgrade riding protective gears which include helmet, shin guards, back and chest protector, and elbow pads.
- upgrading a mountain bike also depends on the rider and the trails where he/she is going to ride.
- Upgrading an old fractured and broken part of a mountain bike with a new part.
- Upgrading bike parts because of the weight issue.
Highlighting all of these stuff in your present mountain bike you can do any change with your bike, it totally depends on you and your riding level, most important is that always upgrade your riding level through the single hard trails before buying a new mountain bike, because these bikes are used to run through the single trails with the closeness of trees left and right and in the beginning never go on a ride as the other riders are following the hard trails.
In the beginning, upgrade your riding level and learn each and everything about your bike and the bike parts especially the contact points of your bike after that you will easily well understand what you have to upgrade in your mountain bike.
Upgrading a mountain bike is not an easy step for a cheap mountain biker, you know we all are mountain bikers and we do not have many thousand dollars to change every part of our bike, because if you took step towards upgrading every part of your bike, it will cost much more even the upgrading price will match to the buying price of your bike because all new things come with spending more bucks on them.
if any part related to your bike is annoying you and you decide every day that you want to upgrade that part then it is necessary and its need, go for it.
The things which really need money to spend on them because of their worth based on your own choice are as under:
- New tool kit for your bike so that it contains all spanners and all the Hex keys and Allen keys which is the beginner need for the repairing of your bike
- If your bike has a coil fork then it is not absolutely better for a mountain bike on the hard trails because you will not be able to handle the bumps which you will get through the front tire due to coil forks, upgrade to an air fork which will give much better suspension on the bumpy trails.
- The most common annoying thing is the dropper post and saddle of a mountain bike, most of the time it irritates and is not comfortable during the ride when you stand and pedal forward mostly if you got a climbing trail, you will sit and stand on the saddle hundred times in a single trail, and if the saddle is hard and is not participating, it is a basic need to upgrade it with a new comfortable saddle.
- If your height is not in good relation with the stem of the handlebar then it is necessary to add spacers below the stem body to higher the height of the handlebar of your bike. it is not costly, you just need to buy some spacers( 3 or 4) open the stem body of the bar insert the spacers in the handlebar downtube, again fix the stem body, and tighten the clamp bolts with the Allen key and Hex key.
- The other important thing is that check the gear shifters of your bike whether these are:
- Grip or twist shifters
- Friction shifters
- Thumb shifters
- It is a must to test, research, and get knowledge about the gear shifters from youtube or their websites and the best experience you can gain with your present gear shifters which are installed in your bike. daily riding on the trails, it is clear and you know well about the shifters, if these are better working and does not cause any trouble and tiredness in your wrist arms, and fingers then these are good and if you want to upgrade them with new shifters then never think more and install the other type of shifter in your mountain bike.
- the other hidden upgrade is shifting from tube tires to tubeless tires for both wheels.
- And the other complicated upgrade is shifting from old tires to new tires, it mostly happens because of the bike brand which includes mountain bikes, BMX, hybrid bikes, and road bikes, single trails need the installation of thick knobby tires for a bike because the thin slick tires are not enough to stay safe through the harsh trails.
- Another small upgrade which we almost ignore is the rim tape and inner sealant of your mountain bike, which needs to be checked almost after every two months of riding, if these become old and expired you will face any unexpected moment on the single trails in the shape of puncturing, pinching and flatting of the tubeless tire.
- Upgrading the hub axle and 7-speed cassette into the 12-speed cassette.
Upgrading repairing keys/tool kit of a mountain bike:
Never do the mistake of buying cheap tools for repairing your bike because these would not last long and you need your mountain bike for riding for more than 20 to 30 years, cheap tools won’t help you to work better after some months.
The best and long-lasting repairing tools are:
- T-Handle
- Allen Key
- Hex Key
- Park Tools
Buy all the needy repairing tools which are must to repair your bike including:
- Screwdriver
- Torque Wrench
- Spanner
- Repairing Stand
- Cassette Tool Kit
IF you do not contain any tools, then you can upgrade tools and buy them because all of these are necessary stuff and help a lot in the future for repairing purposes.
Upgrading the fork of a mountain bike:
Coil forks are not recommended forks for single trail mountain bikes, forks should be more comfortable and easily movable up and down when the bike runs on single trails. the recommended forks are given below:
- Yari
- Suntour XCT
- Reba
- Raidon
- RS Sektor
- Fox 36
- Rockshox Recon
- Revelation
The given list contains expensive and cheap forks, so according to your budget range buy a good quality air fork for your bike.
Upgrading the saddle of a mountain bike:
It is one of the most necessary contact points between you and your bike, it does not cost enough if you know that upgrading the saddle is important because sometimes the width of your body and the saddle does not matches plus the length of the saddle also disgusts while riding through the trails, in those circumstances you can upgrade your saddle with a new comfortable saddle, here are some good ones:
- WTB Volt
- WTB Pure Team
- Ergon SMC4
- Specialized
- Brooks Cambium
Upgrading the dropper post of a mountain bike:
Dropper posts are the long tubes below the saddle that support the riders’ weights and help to ride in a more comfortable position, this is the reason that upgrading the dropper post is a good decision, these are not cheap and feel like you have bought a new bike for yourself.
Upgrading spacers in the stem of a mountain bike:
Spacers are the round-shaped hollow circles that are inserted below the stem body of the handlebar, due to which the height of the stem increases above and helps to participate with the riders heights, these are a cheap and easy way of upgrading the height of the handlebar same as that of the saddle of your bike and feels more comfortable by adding spacers within the stem body.
Upgrading gear shifters in a mountain bike:
Gears shifters are a necessary accessory for mountain bikes because everyone needs to have installed the best, most comfortable, and smooth gear system within the handlebar of the bike, the most accurate and safe gears are grip shifters properly installed within the grips and you do not have to care about them on the trails, even after accidents the twist shifters do not broke and stop their work, whereas the choice is yours the thumb shifters are also a better option of steel and aluminum material.
Upgrading tires of a mountain bike:
Tires are the most expensive upgrade on a mountain bike. it totally depends on the trail where you are riding your mountain bike, according to the trail you have to choose the best tires for your bike. never compromise on the quality and price of tire pairs when you are going to buy because tires will last long as as you ride your bike, Maxxis company tires are a worldwide popular brand of mountain bike tires.
The trails decide the type of tires because the tires have differences in their weight, protection level, knobs, side knobs, and without knobs. the trails contain rough sand, rocks, bushes, etc, every rider’s trail is different from the other one, that’s why the selection of tires also be different from bike to bike.