CMI86

Hey I have a 2004 trek 820 ST that is in really good shape and I am wondering if it is worth it to invest a little bit in to it for some moderate trail riding ? I ride in Minnesota so none of out trails are really all that gnarly but I do like to jump a little (8 foot gaps max) and ride fast on semi rough terrain but I have noticed when riding a bit hard I do run out of fork travel and the tires (stock) could use an upgrade. Would it be worth it to drop maybe $500 between a better fork (100+ mm) some new tires, better pedals and maybe some better bars ? I have heard good things about the frame strengh so I am considering it as opposed to a new bike. Any advice greatly appreciated thanks.

Dannihilator

The 820 retails for less than $400. Plus the frame isn't nearly quite as tough as it is made out to be. I'd recommend taking the $500 and putting it towards a bike that is more competent.

CMI86

Hey man I appreciate the response. That was kind of my issues is for $500-600 would I even be able to get a better ride than this 820 with $500 in to it lol. I don't have a ton of cash and just want to get the best ride I can for the $$, ya know ?

MisterK

The 820 isn't super duper as ppl have stated. But as a beginer is a decent choice. I see you lack disc tabs and disc hubs , so I'd skip that idea.
Its a 7spd and I'm guessing freewheel. I'd up to some 8spd shifters and swap your derailiuers to alivio or deore. You can swap your crank to another with removable chainrings and keep your square taper bb. Maybe an alivio crank. That's all I'd do personally. If you really want keep a eye out for a used fork.
That's if you're dead set on keeping the 820 and plus side it force to learn to do these things for maintenence purposes (if you don't know full how to yet)

CMI86

Hey thanks alot for the response. I haven't really noticed the gears or crank as an issue in my riding style. It's mainly the fork travel is what really is an issue at the moment. That and the tires. Better pedals and bars just because that seems like a worth while investment regardless. Do you think I could get a better bike for $500-600 than if I invested $500 ish in to this one ?

jimc101

The problem as noted above is the lack of compatibility with current bikes (7 speed and no disc tabs) any money put into a basic bike is probably going to be un-recoverable if you upgraded later, due to incompatibility with current bike sizing / design.

The 820 has always been part of the lowest spec series from Trek, no amount of money will make the frame & forks better, even if you kitted the bike out with full XTR, you would still have a low end bike, just with nice gears.

With any bike, as soon as you are looking to spend more money on it than it originally cost (original cost for the 820 was $219), total replacement starts to look to be a more effective / better value for money option.

trekker pete

The 26er used market has stupid deals out there as everyone wants to go to 29ers. I recently picked up an early 2000s Cannondale Jekyll for 200 bucks. The Jekyll was a $2500 bike when it came out.

If I had a few more nickles to rub together, I would sell this to a guy I work with and buy an '11 Felt sport nine for 500 dollars, as I am one of those with big wheel envy.

The bottom line is good new mountain bikes and small budgets just don't go together. I also have an old Giant ATX 970 that my son rides. It is also full suspension, well, more like rear suspension as its ancient elastomer fork has about a half inch of travel left. I am on the lookout for a better used fork. I have set my budget at $50 for this. Eventually I will find one.

So, is it worth it to update old cheap stuff? Sure it is.....with better, less old cheap stuff. Do your research. You can find 5-10 year old rockshox out there cheap. These are perfectly good, rebuildable forks. They may not have 120mm of travel with every type of imaginable damping adjustment, but they will be a huge improvement over what you have. If you have 500 bucks to spend, put 2-3 hundred on a much better 26er and 2-3 hundred on upgrades/beer.

roccobike

One important fact that I haven't seen in the above posts, if you change the fork you will change the how the bike handles because you'll be lifting the front end. Your fork is 60mm, that's why you're bottoming out. But that frame was not designed for larger forks. That said, I agree with trekker peat but I would keep the used fork to no larger than 100mm. Even that will affect the ride, lifting the front by about 2". 80mm would be ideal but hard to find used in good condition. You also mentioned tires. By all means, buy new tires, but keep the old ones for when you sell the bike, same with the old fork. Other than those changes, and if you can do them on a tight budget, I wouldn't change anything on that bike. We had a 02' 820. They are sturdy bikes that take a lot of punishment, but none of us that rode it tried anything remotely close to a 8' jump. With that bike we were more like 2' jumps. The 820 is a good bike but does not have the handling charachteristics of newer rides, even entry level newer rides. Again, I think trekker pete's recommendation to keep it low budget is a good way to go. Learn on this bike, with a couple of changes, then save your money for the next, better ride.