What to upgrade first?

BackLoafRiver · Sep 17, 2009

Hey all,

So, I have been on my GF Cobia for 3 months now. Love riding a whole lot more than I thought I would. Turns out....shoulda saved up a few more $$ and gone with the upgrade to my 29er. (the X-Cal has a Fox suspension, hyrdraulic discs and a few better components)

I know that to increase my enjoyment out there, I will need to upgrade a few things and wasn't sure where to begin. The upside is that the frame that Gary Fisher uses for the Cobia and up is the exact frame it uses on his top of the line 29er hardtail so that will never need to be upgraded. (obviously unless I went to a full suspension rig)

Of course, if it makes more sense to try and sell the bike now and try and buy 09 X-caliber, maybe that is the better route to go.

On a side note...I wont be able to get out and ride again until Monday and it is killing me.

bvibert · Sep 17, 2009

Is there anything about the current bike that isn't meeting your needs? If not then I suggest holding off on upgrading until you find something that's holding you back, or something breaks.

BackLoafRiver · Sep 17, 2009

The biggest issue I am having is stopping power with the brakes. I am taking it to the LBS next week to check out if the pads on the rear brake have worn down or if the cables need to be adjusted. Right now, I really have to wrench on it to slow me, which has occasionally ended badly. :-o

bvibert · Sep 17, 2009

Your front brake is going to provide much more stopping power, so if you're not already you should be utilizing the front for a majority of your stopping. Just make sure you don't squeeze it too hard and send yourself over the bars.

What do you have for brakes? Discs or Vs?

BackLoafRiver · Sep 17, 2009

I have avid mech. disc. I use both depending on the situation. It could be I am not using my front enough. I thought I had remembered when I was first starting out reading somewhere that the majority of my breaking should be rear. That could solve a huge amount of problems.

Chalk it up to a newbie mistake?

bvibert · Sep 17, 2009

BackLoafRiver said:
I have avid mech. disc. I use both depending on the situation. It could be I am not using my front enough. I thought I had remembered when I was first starting out reading somewhere that the majority of my breaking should be rear. That could solve a huge amount of problems.

Chalk it up to a newbie mistake?

A lot of people think the rear should be used more than the front, probably because they're afraid of going over the bars. The front is going to provide you with a lot more braking power and you're not as likely to lock it up as the rear. Locking up the rear tire can be bad from a trail preservation standpoint and a control standpoint.

If you can't lock up the rear then something is probably wrong. If you've been favoring the rear then it's possible that the rear pads are getting worn, so that might be worth checking. I don't have any first hand experience with mechanical disc brakes, but it's my understanding that some periodic adjustments are necessary to make up for pad wear. On the Avids the adjustment would be turning the red knob (or knobs if you have BB7s) on the side of the caliper in a few clicks to move the pads in. Do not try to make up for the pad wear by adjusting the barrel adjusters on the brake levers (if they have them), it does not do the same thing and will cause you to lose some of the range of motion of the caliper.

I'd make sure what you have is in working order before I considered upgrading. Avid BB5s should be more than adequate for most riding, and if you have BB7s then you have what is widely considered the best mechanical disc brake out there. Some people prefer the BB7 to hydraulic brakes.

If you find that you still don't like the stopping power using the front brake then you may consider upgrading the front disc to a larger size, if your fork allows it. It's relatively cheap and will give you some more power and resistance to brake fade on long descents.

BackLoafRiver · Sep 17, 2009

I will double check the model when I get back from my trip. I don't have any experience adjusting discs so I will leave it up to the shop guy to do and try and watch for a few pointers. I still need to pick up a copy of Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maint.

I had mentioned something about the harm to trails when I wrote my first post but must have deleted it when re-reading it. I did want to mention that I am super careful not to rut out a trail with my rear tire and brakes. After my early season mud episode, I have done a ton of reading on trail care so I don't continue to make stupid mistakes.

boston_e · Sep 21, 2009

Just my opinion... As long as everything is in working order, I would not spend a dime upgrading anything (obviously if something breaks you are going to have to replace it).

I would save all those $$$ that you would spend on upgrades and put it towards a higher end full suspension when the time is right.

Connecticut · Sep 26, 2009

I say save the dough and replace broken and worn parts with higher end stuff when needed.

BackLoafRiver · Sep 28, 2009

bvibert said:
A lot of people think the rear should be used more than the front, probably because they're afraid of going over the bars. The front is going to provide you with a lot more braking power and you're not as likely to lock it up as the rear. Locking up the rear tire can be bad from a trail preservation standpoint and a control standpoint.

If you can't lock up the rear then something is probably wrong. If you've been favoring the rear then it's possible that the rear pads are getting worn, so that might be worth checking. I don't have any first hand experience with mechanical disc brakes, but it's my understanding that some periodic adjustments are necessary to make up for pad wear. On the Avids the adjustment would be turning the red knob (or knobs if you have BB7s) on the side of the caliper in a few clicks to move the pads in. Do not try to make up for the pad wear by adjusting the barrel adjusters on the brake levers (if they have them), it does not do the same thing and will cause you to lose some of the range of motion of the caliper.

I'd make sure what you have is in working order before I considered upgrading. Avid BB5s should be more than adequate for most riding, and if you have BB7s then you have what is widely considered the best mechanical disc brake out there. Some people prefer the BB7 to hydraulic brakes.

If you find that you still don't like the stopping power using the front brake then you may consider upgrading the front disc to a larger size, if your fork allows it. It's relatively cheap and will give you some more power and resistance to brake fade on long descents.

Got up to a bike shop on Friday to have him take a look at the brakes. The rear barrel adjuster did need to be tightened but he noticed that the front brake was set way to far out. Made a few minor adjustments and now, everything is in solid working order.

Also had him check the air in my front fork. Turned out it was way below what it was spec'd to be. He added a ton of air and brought it back to normal. Rides like a totally different bike.

What to upgrade first?

BackLoafRiver

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bvibert

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bvibert

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boston_e

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