What was your favorite bike upgrade?

NorthCascades
NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Might be a fun thread for the cyclists here. What one thing that you changed has the biggest effect on your enjoyment of cycling?

Replies

  • KelBlundell
    KelBlundell Posts: 47 Member
    I love my trek road bike, but I need to upgrade to cleats and shimano brakes which I'm sure will help!

    My big thing in last 3 months has been integrating hills even on my short cycles. Helped me start to tackle bigger hills and I scaled 1500ft last weekend as a result.

    Bookmarking for tips and recommendations!
  • naomi9271
    naomi9271 Posts: 127 Member
    edited July 2021
    Getting a decent saddle. By far. (Though I haven’t got the power meter yet :smile: )
    I have an ISM saddle now, FWIW.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Biggest impact was being persuaded to try a drop bar road bike instead of my flat handlebar hybrid, in effect upgrading the whole bike. Never thought my injured back would tolerate a lower riding position but a friend not only volunteered to ride with me on a long charity ride but also loaned me his spare bike for the event. Opened up a whole load of of new opportunities to go further and faster.

    Second to that would be my first Garmin Edge for navigation, what a world of difference to be able to explore new areas with reasonable expectations of being able to follow a route and not get horribly lost.

    Best component upgrade was fast carbon wheels.

  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    Carbon racing wheels is my #2 pic. Feels like a different bike with them. More sure footed and unquestionably faster. The placebo effect never wore off, every time I get on the bike I expect to be fast because I'm using good gear, so I push myself harder.
  • amorfati601070
    amorfati601070 Posts: 2,890 Member
    Really tough question.. I've had like 9 bikes in the space of decade lol.

    Probably Di2. The little robot zippy sound is still so satisfying. The shift is so crisp.. Also, setup and indexing is a breeze.

  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    Saddle had the single biggest impact on enjoyment... Tires were probably the most benefit for least money.
  • kcjchang
    kcjchang Posts: 709 Member
    Enjoyment, GPS cycling computer (Garmin Edge 530) to avoiding getting lost and smart trainer (Elite Drivo) to add some spice to my indoor workouts.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    Saddle had the single biggest impact on enjoyment... Tires were probably the most benefit for least money.

    If my undercarriage could have its own vote then a professional bike fit (including saddle pressure analysis leading to a new saddle) would get a big tick.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,596 Member
    On my road/touring bicycle(s)

    Brooks saddle
    Shimano M324 MTB Pedals
    And mtn bike gearing that can help me climb walls.
  • Onedaywriter
    Onedaywriter Posts: 326 Member
    Two thing for me:
    - gator skin tires when i was large. Reduced the number of flats by like a million fold
    - Brooks saddle. No more sore butt!
  • mjbnj0001
    mjbnj0001 Posts: 1,258 Member
    I've stayed mostly stock with this bike (Trek X-Caliber 9 2018), the whole bike itself was an upgrade/change from my traditional 80s road tourer (Fuji Touring Series IV - a bike I loved, but no longer was the best for me). It was a retirement/Christmas gift from the family - "go ride," they said, "it'll be good for you." And they were right.

    Anticipating a ride profile of 50/50 road/offroad and 80/20 paved/unpaved (something that I more or less have kept to), my main time-of-purchase upgrade was puncture-resistant "balloon" tires with a fairly slick tread (Schwalbe Big Apple, 29x2.35). This has worked great. I also added a more comfortable saddle than stock, but now that I've lost about 85lbs., I think it's time to consider something else down there.

    I had hand numbness as my range increased; adding Ergon GP-4 bar-ends took care of that.

    I ride flat pedals; this old dog isn'tgoing to learn a new trick, and there's a story behind this decision I won't go into here. However, the sharp traction pins have, of course, occasionally taken their toll on my calves or shins. This spring, I took a couple of good divots out, and finally switched pedals. My new ones, Look Trail Grips (pictured below), have been an absolute joy and have been working quite well in a variety of situations without any bloodletting. They have been, I guess, the best upgrade yet. In the bike picture, my original pedals are shown.

    t502o45nkm09.jpg

    h548508n9hni.png

  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    Some things I've done recently that have been nice on my "endurance" style (drop handlebar, relaxed geometry) bike:

    - Going to 32mm tires and running them at 60psi
    - Adding a Redshift suspension stem (gives a little bounce)
    - Buying a Garmin Edge 530 computer with a Varia RTL515 radar

    I like the stem so much, I've been tempted to put some suspension in the seat post. But, the tires really add a lot of cushion to the ride relative to 100+ psi 25mm tires.
  • Djproulx
    Djproulx Posts: 3,084 Member
    MaltedTea wrote: »
    Can't say I'm a bike enthusiast but I'm enthusiastically into my grey commuter bike 😅

    Every year (present one excluded) she gets an orange gift. Orange is my fav color so I switch out an accessory or add gear.

    Her last gift was orange pedals.

    Your bike sounds very cool. My bike has a two toned grey frame with black tape, so orange accents would be quite an upgrade. :)
  • solieco1
    solieco1 Posts: 1,559 Member
    Professional bike fit!
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »
    Some things I've done recently that have been nice on my "endurance" style (drop handlebar, relaxed geometry) bike:

    - Going to 32mm tires and running them at 60psi
    - Adding a Redshift suspension stem (gives a little bounce)
    - Buying a Garmin Edge 530 computer with a Varia RTL515 radar

    I like the stem so much, I've been tempted to put some suspension in the seat post. But, the tires really add a lot of cushion to the ride relative to 100+ psi 25mm tires.

    I used to run 23s at 110 psi. We all did. We thought it was faster. I'm on 28s now, but on wide rims so they come out to 33 mm. I run them around 70 psi. Profound difference. Not just in comfort, the bike corners like it's on rails.
  • Jetrail
    Jetrail Posts: 209 Member
    For me it was when I went to the 1x10 drive system. Ditching the front derailleur just made a world of difference as far as mountain biking. Now as far as my dream upgrade would be I want that sram Gold eagle group set lol
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    Jetrail wrote: »
    For me it was when I went to the 1x10 drive system. Ditching the front derailleur just made a world of difference as far as mountain biking. Now as far as my dream upgrade would be I want that sram Gold eagle group set lol

    I can imagine that works for off-road. For on-road, my biggest gripe is that some of my gear changes are too large, an by that I mean that some adjacent cogs are different by two teeth instead of one. I've considered using a "straight block," but I frequently need the full gear range. And, I have an 11 in the rear!
  • Motorsheen
    Motorsheen Posts: 20,508 Member
    my new ultralight wheelset.

    it makes all the difference.

    also.... a saddle upgrade is an affordable luxury
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    My watch says I need to change the batteries in my pedals. It's been telling me for the last couple rides, so I'm about to do it.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I haven't really upgraded anything on my road or mountain bike...but I used to primarily ride an aluminum CX bike because I was riding various terrain when I first started...then started riding mostly road and decided to upgrade to a carbon road bike, and that was pretty killer.

    Now I have three bikes...the CX bike stays on my direct drive smart trainer for Zwift...road for road, and my MTB when I want to go play in the dirt.
  • helen_goldthorpe
    helen_goldthorpe Posts: 340 Member
    On the actual bike, di2 or possibly tubeless tyres for not worrying too much about punctures.

    For cycling enjoyment, training properly with a coach and losing weight by sorting out my nutrition has made a huge difference to how good I feel on hills in particular.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    NorthCascades wrote: »
    My watch says I need to change the batteries in my pedals. It's been telling me for the last couple rides, so I'm about to do it.

    When I was downloading a firmware update from my mobile phone to my pedals I had a flashback to my first job as a computer operator in 1978 running a machine the size of an elephant using paper tape and punched cards.....
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    Not really an upgrade, but still kind of an upgrade.

    About 10 years ago I bit the bullet and went with a full custom steel singlespeed frame and build. At the time there weren't a lot of slack 130mm hardtails on the market, and I wanted one that could be run geared or SS. A lot of the "tech" is pretty dated now (no dropper post, no boost hubs, etc), but damn the thing rides well.
  • Djproulx
    Djproulx Posts: 3,084 Member
    helen_goldthorpe wrote: »
    On the actual bike, di2 or possibly tubeless tyres for not worrying too much about punctures.

    For cycling enjoyment, training properly with a coach and losing weight by sorting out my nutrition has made a huge difference to how good I feel on hills in particular.

    Yes! Me too. A bit more work to go on the weight.

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