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

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

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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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[–] CosmicGiraffe 1 points 1 month ago

If you're just commuting & riding flat, even-ish trails, you maybe don't need a MTB at all. You'll get much bigger changes in handling/comfort/speed from changing the style of bike than the marginal gains from upgrading individual parts.

What are you hoping to gain from a drivetrain upgrade? It might make more sense to look at changing the type of bike you have, rather than trying to transform a MTB to act like a hybrid/gravel/road bike