She is the love of my life

[Jughead]

So I've got Ray, for the road miles. Dougless for the my folder and shopper. Mags, who likes to get dirty , for the trails, The others are relatively new but Mags is getting on a bit. I love her to bits and we've been everywhere. I think she was bought in 95 and still works fine but is beginning to struggle. Is it worth buying new bits for her or ..... and this pains me .....giving her to a charity bike shop like Common Wheel and replace her. I know she'll go to a new home but I'm not sure. Anyone been in this situation before? Any advice would be appreciated.

Anyway, I was in Halfords and had a wee shot of their top Carrera full sus bike. Really nice at 799. No doubt worth **** in the second hand market as bike folks are really snobbish Then again, I tend to hang onto bikes until they die. I've got about 1500 and would lovingly spend it on Mags. Please advise

Gerry

[Vorpal]

I am in the same situation with my hybrid. I bought in 1993, and it's been all over the world with me. I used it as a winter bike last year. I was thinking I would relegate it to winter bike & get a new hybrid or mountain bike. But I replaced the handlebars this summer, and now I'm thinking that I will just buy a used MTB to use for winter commuting, and get some new bits for my hybrid. I haven't decided for certain, yet. I've got a while to decide. I'll have to put winter tyres on something at the end of October or beginning of November.

[Sum]

So I've got Ray, for the road miles. Dougless for the my folder and shopper. Mags, who likes to get dirty , for the trails, The others are relatively new but Mags is getting on a bit. I love her to bits and we've been everywhere. I think she was bought in 95 and still works fine but is beginning to struggle. Is it worth buying new bits for her or ..... and this pains me .....giving her to a charity bike shop like Common Wheel and replace her. I know she'll go to a new home but I'm not sure. Anyone been in this situation before? Any advice would be appreciated.

Anyway, I was in Halfords and had a wee shot of their top Carrera full sus bike. Really nice at 799. No doubt worth **** in the second hand market as bike folks are really snobbish Then again, I tend to hang onto bikes until they die. I've got about 1500 and would lovingly spend it on Mags. Please advise

Gerry

Hi Gerry,

Is Mags the Specialized Rockhopper you've was thinking of upgrading a couple of weeks ago? If so then the same advice still applies: Buying new bits for her is certainly an option however as I doubt Mags will have the correct geometry for a suspension fork or disc mounts then you won't be able to upgrade her to the same level as a modern MTB if you were still intending to do that. Whether or not you want to do that depends on what sort of off-road riding you do and whether you would benefit much from a more modern MTB with suspension and disc brakes.

I guess the £799 full sus bike you saw in Halfords would be the Carrera Banshee X. The bike gets a good review on BikeRadar but it seems to be relatively heavy and orientated at Freeride rather than trail riding. Again it comes down to what sort of riding you want to do; If you prefer trail riding or XC to DH then something like a Giant Anthem might be a better choice.

Note that whilst full suspension has it's benefits, it also has its downsides as full sussers tend to be heavier than their hardtail counterparts and require more maintenance, particularly if you ride them hard throughout the winter. So if the sort of riding you do doesn't really warrant full suspension then I'd suggest a hardtail. The Carrera Fury gets good reviews, as does the Voodoo Hoodoo and Bokor, and the Boardman Team(also available from Halfords). Check out a copy of What Mountain Bike for their 'best buys' at the back of the mag or visit their BikeRadar website for reviews.

Cheers,

Sum

[Ray]

So I've got Ray, for the road miles.

No, you haven't

Ray