Refurb an old bike or get an entry level new one?

[aussieal]

First post in the pedal powered section, looking for some advice on getting an old bike serviced/picking up a good entry level mountain bike.

It’s been a while since I did much riding, but am looking to get back on my bike. Won’t be using it to commute or anything but will be used for regular suburban rides and forest trail stuff every month or so.

I have an old (10 years plus) muddy fox MTB that hasn’t seen the light of day for some time but is still in decent condition and have thought about getting a local bike place to give it a service, maybe update a few parts to get me started. Not sure how much this is likely to cost though.

Do you think that would be worthwhile, or would I be better off starting afresh and getting something new straight off? Budget would probably be about 300 max I reckon. If so, what would you recommend looking at to get back in to it?

[Paul Drawmer]

Just get your old bike out, oil the chain and mech, put new brake blocks on, adjust the cables and off you go.

Then whilst you're getting used to it again, you can plan your upgrades!

[Furberger]

Exactly. Not too much will have gone wrong in that time assuming you haven't kept it in the canal. Oil everything, pump up the tyres and take it for a spin. If it can't do what you want then look for something new, but 300 doesn't get you a massive amount these days.

[londonbabe]

any £300 new bike will be crap and need another £200 spending on replacement parts before it is any good.
So refurb your existing one.

Bikes get better with age, not worse.
I regularly ride on bikes between 30 and 50 years old that are way better than a lot of newer machines.

[aussieal]

Great advice guys, just what I was looking for. Upgrade the old bike it is then.

Will actually feel quite good riding around on a bike I got in my teens!

Thinking I might get some new handle bars, was never a fan of the ones that were on it originally.

Any good tips on where to shop online for parts?

Cheers

[Mr E]

Wiggle / chain reactions

[anonymous-user]

its not worth spending too much on it though, once you have spent £200 on it, thats the difference between your current budget and a new bike and a new £500 bike will be vastly superior to an old muddy fox clunker even with some upgrades.

the central part of any bike are the frame, forks and wheels. with all due respect, the muddy fox bikes were never the highest quality even at the time, so those components wont be equivilent to entry level stuff today.

a new wheelset will be £100 from merlin cyles, handlebars are about £20 from the likes of wiggle et al, then by the time you have replaced the chain, brakes etc you are closer to £150 and you still have a heavy old frame and you;'re running dated transmission.

I'd spend nothing on it and start saving for another £200 to add to the budget.

[Rolls]

^^^ would agree with these words of wisdom!

[aussieal]

I see where you're coming from, would not intend to spend too much on it.

Reckon I'll just get the chain oiled, new brake pads and see how much I use it for the first few months. If I'm getting out on it a bit then maybe treat myself to something new in September time.

Which brings me back on to what to look for new for around 500. Glad to see I have the same approach with bikes as I do with cars, always increasing my self imposed budget!

[craigb84]

aussieal said:

I see where you're coming from, would not intend to spend too much on it.

Reckon I'll just get the chain oiled, new brake pads and see how much I use it for the first few months. If I'm getting out on it a bit then maybe treat myself to something new in September time.

Which brings me back on to what to look for new for around 500. Glad to see I have the same approach with bikes as I do with cars, always increasing my self imposed budget!

You could probably get onto a rockhopper for that cash. Excellent bikes.

Would mirror what others have said though. Tart the old one up with a new chain and whatnot and upgrade to something new when you're ready. I wouldn't be going crazy with new parts as its unlikely to add much value to an older bike.

[anonymous-user]

well £470 gets you this Felt which would be more than capable of some good off road trails. its a good example opf an entry level bike to be honest, ok, most of the components are the lower end of the manufactureres ranges but i can promise wholeheartedly that whatever new bits you add to the Muddy Fox, this will be a far more enjoyable riding experience... Tredz have a good number of £400-500 hardtails from the likes of Saracen etc, they are all worth a look. I rode a £500 specilaised hardrock for years subjecting it to all manner of abuse off road.

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Felt-Q520-Mountain-Bike-20...

[deadtom]

pablo said:

stuff

mostly this, but its worth remembering a frame alone can be upgraded like any other part of a bike. so even if you do end up with an old heavy frame with nice bits on you're only a new frame away from having a decent new bike and you will have spread the expense out over a longer time.

[ROB_GTR]

I was in the exact same position a few months back.

I was going to strip down my Raleigh Max and re-paint, replace certain parts etc and modify accordingly.

I was advised on here that it was a complete waste of time and to use my money for something newer etc.....

So, i set a budget of £500 and started looking that led to £800 which was a reasonable hardtail and then went out with the intention to buy......

£1300 later i had a shiny new Cube Reaction which is a million times better than i could have ever got the Raleigh to and the quality, weight of the Cube is fantastic.....

I haven't been out on it in 3 months now

[anonymous-user]

deadtom said:

mostly this, but its worth remembering a frame alone can be upgraded like any other part of a bike. so even if you do end up with an old heavy frame with nice bits on you're only a new frame away from having a decent new bike and you will have spread the expense out over a longer time.

this tends not to work out best in practice though.

as an example, the OPs bike almost certianly has V- brakes, or possibly even cantilevers. So he has to replace the old brakes with the same style of brakes, which in itself is no big drama but hardly worth the expense as the upgrade in performance and durability is neglible, yes you can get XT v-brakes quite cheap but they still offer poor braking in wet and muddy conditions and will murder cheap rims.

upgrading the frame relies on him finding a new frame worthy of an upgrade that has the same brake mounting points which may be harder as most mtb frames these days will be set up for discs. Also remember that canti's and v-brakes require different cable guide mountings at the rear brake although you can get round this with an adaptor.

[Rolls]

And you may also run into compatability issues with the bottom bracket / forks / seat post etc if you start upgrading those...

[deadtom]

pablo said:

also stuff

this is true, I should have added that this approach requires a reasonable amount of knowledge about bikes, so isnt ideal for a beginner.

[rhinochopig]

My advice would be to buy a new complete bike. I tried with an old Ti framed dynatech and pretty much nothing would swap over simply.

I would also avoid buying a bargain frame and building up from 'spares' as this inevitably costs more too.

I've done 4 frame builds and all - bar one - would have been cheaper to do as a new bike purchase.

[Rolls]

rhinochopig said:

My advice would be to buy a new complete bike. I tried with an old Ti framed dynatech and pretty much nothing would swap over simply.

I would also avoid buying a bargain frame and building up from 'spares' as this inevitably costs more too.

I've done 4 frame builds and all - bar one - would have been cheaper to do as a new bike purchase.

Is nice doing this though! (although you inevitably end up with a much higher swpec than originally planned... - or maybe thats just me...)

[anonymous-user]

Decathlon sports have some decent enough hardtail MTB's for around £350. A £700 bike from a big brand wont be a lot better !

Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 14th February 01:40

[Bacon Is Proof]

londonbabe said:

Bikes get better with age, not worse.

Do you want to buy my 12yr old GT?
It was £1,600 new, I'll let you have it for £2,000 as I like you.

Edited by Bacon Is Proof on Tuesday 14th February 21:44