Bicycles

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Is it worth upgrading my cheap Chinese bike? (self.bicycles)

submitted 1 month ago by doyun to c/[email protected]

26 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Hi, I hope this is the right place to ask. I decided to start commuting by bike as it's only about 15 minutes each way. So I got my first bike and learned how to ride. It's a cheap Chinese MTB from my country's version of amazon. This was a few months ago now. Since then I've been riding almost everyday and taking longer trips along the river trail near my home.

So I'm thinking about getting a lower end Shimano groupset. But I'm wondering what I'll get out of upgrading. Will there be a noticeable difference in performance? Smoother shifting? More speed in top gear?

Thanks for any insight you can share :) any essential gear recommendations would be great too!

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[–] grue 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

the cheapest thing that would make the most obvious difference is replacing the tires with something light and narrow

Apparently, the racing people have recently decided that wider tires are better these days.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

True but they're still narrower than what you get on a run-of-the-mill MTB. 32-38mm is great.