Originally Posted by
james89
Rough crowd in here today. I wasn’t asking if I should or shouldn’t replace parts on an old bike. I thought these forums were filled with people that liked doing that sort of thing (yes I know not to dump loads of money into a 30 year old bike. It will still be a 30 year old bike). There is no dream bike - I think half of you guys are nuts with these 5 thousand dollar dream bikes. Simply updating it a little, finishing with a $250 bike sounds much more enjoyable than spending 2k-3k on a new one, and both of them will still ride around some trails the same! I’m not out competing and doing time trials. All I’m doing is putting a little life back into a good old bike. Guess I need to look elsewhere when I have other questions lol jeeze 🤔
I think you might be mistaking roughness and honesty. People will be honest about a lot of this stuff so people don't throw good money towards not so good. In the only text world of a forum you cannot glean emotions or anything from them so it makes it tough to actually figure things out and people make it out to be like they are being attacked or people are just negative towards them when that is not always the case.
In terms of dream bikes 5k will get you a fine mid-priced bike for some that might be all they can dream but a dream bike will probably be in the 10k and well up from that category if you are actually dreaming. However many folks here including myself have built bikes from parts bins or lower cost stuff that is fine it is just knowing when to do it and when to be more cautious.
In the case of this bike, what doesn't work and what is the lowest cost way to get it working again and then save up for the bike you want? Or if this is all you can dream then it is almost the same but without the savings.
The 2-3k bike will work a lot better than a base model bike from 30+ years ago. There is some old technology that is great and vintage bikes can be fun but there is a lot to the modern bikes that makes them a lot better. Now if you are just doing really short rides to nowhere like in the neighborhood once and a while it may not matter so much but if I want to hit trails a modern bike is way easier and potentially fun as a beginner. Suspension is quite nice and modern geometry does help out quite a bit along with better shifting and wider range gears.
Do what you will, it is your money but just have the caution we have thrown out there and know we aren't out to get you or anything.