Originally Posted by
Night_shift
with all due respect upgrading a fork because someone on the internet thinks its "butt ugly" is rarely a good idea. Now, granted a fork is a substantial upgrade.
Personally I'd ride the hell out of it for a year or two completely stock. When stuff starts to fail look at replacing points of contact: the seat, the bar tape, the pedals. Then move inward; the crank wheelset, etc.
Granted, you are going to pick up some pieces here and there out of love but make it a project of patience.
Originally Posted by
thedapperest
Of course, it's just my 2¢, dude can do whatever the hell he wants with it, it's his bike
I appreciate the feedback from those more experienced. It meas a lot. They are just opinions/suggestions. It isn't world peace. No worries guys. Hopefully hell has nothing to do with this.
Somewhere between
replace when worn and
all out modification is where I'm at. A few upgrades which will give maximum bang for the buck or are needed for safety and then ride the heck out of it.
Clipless pedals and proper shoes are going to be a huge upgrade. I rode it 15 miles this evening for the first time. It is very hilly here in NW Georgia and I'm not a climber by nature. 12% grade is not uncommon and the ride was pretty brutal in spots. After two decades of clipless pedals I really wanted to be able to pull up on pedals for extra power on the steep parts. Pedals and shoes will happen first.
Pads will be swapped to
Coolstop salmon colored pads for safety reasons. I have used these almost since day one and they are amazing, especially in the wet. I've removed the back brake and
will run a front brake. The brakes on the bike are really disappointing.
(Please all note that I spelled brake correctly)
The saddle is a comfort issue and will shed a little weight but is not high priority. I feel that there is a lot of weight in the wheels and trying to keep all that mass spinning adds lots of work. Light wheels would be huge upgrade for this bike but I have a daughter studying aerospace engineering at Georgia Tech and tuition ain't cheap. Donations would be warmly welcomed.
Keep any suggestions coming.
-Tim-