upgrading components on giant yukon FX

[newbiemtb]

I'm looking to slowly upgrade some of the components on my bike. Of course i'd like to keep the budget down and do it slowly. My first upgrade was a set of ergon gp1 grips then a set of wellgo w70- DH pedals:
http://www.torpedo7.com.au/products/WEPDCN7W7/title/WELLGO-W-70-DH-Pedal---Alloy

What do you guys reckon could be a good upgrade next that wouldnt cost more then a couple of hundred. things i am looking to improve in order are,

-weight
-control
-climbing performance

could you reccomend brand names and model numbers

thanks

 

[3viltoast3r]

Well lets start off those pedals arent probably the best when it comes to weight.....

If you could provide a spec-list it would make it easier

 

[preemo]

.....and a budget. My experience is that if you are looking to make major changes, it might be better to look at getting a new bike. The cost of the individual parts is much more than the cost of a bike, especially if you buy the bike second hand.

 

[newbiemtb]

lol yeah those pedals are quite heavy but i wanted the large platforms so i dont have to stay clipped in on nasty section of trail.

here are the stock components:
Features

* Rockshox Dart 1 fork
* Giant Air shock w/adjustable rebound & fixed platform
* Shimano Deore/Altus drivetrain
* Shimano crankset
* Shimano mechanical disc brakes

size XS:14.5, S:15, M:17, L:19, XL:20
user
colours White/Black
frame ALUXX FluidFormed™ alloy 4"/100mm travel
rear shock Giant air shock w/rebound adj. & pedalling platform
fork Rockshox Dart 1 4"/100mm
rear derailleur Shimano Deore high normal 8speed
front derailleur Shimano Altus 34.9
shifters Shimano Alyus 24 speed EZ FIRE+
crankset Shimano Acer Class M191 24x34x44
bottom bracket FSA Semi Cartridge
shift/chain guide
chain Shimano IG 8speed
cassette Shimano IG30 8speed 11-32T
brakes Shimano M415 mechanical disc w/6" centre-lock rotors
brake levers Shimano v-brake
hubs Shimano RM65 8sp, QR, cassette disc
rims Alloy double wall disc 26"x36H
spokes 14G stainless black
tyres Hutchinson Scorpion 26 x 2.0"
pedals Flat steel cage
h.bar/stem Alloy riser/Alloy 2 bolt ahead 15 degree
seat post Alloy 30.9 micro-adjust
saddle SDG Bel Air
grips Giant kraton

 

[newbiemtb]

.....and a budget. My experience is that if you are looking to make major changes, it might be better to look at getting a new bike. The cost of the individual parts is much more than the cost of a bike, especially if you buy the bike second hand.

i dont want to do any real major upgrades, just a few smaller ones.

 

[3viltoast3r]

The forks go first. Look for some secondhand 100mm/4". Do a search, many topics on this before. RS tend to dominate the smaller travel fork market.

Change the shifters. Even if you get some deores, it will be better than those...And it wont set you back too much of a pretty penny.

Thats all for smaller upgrades. If you start look to upgrading more than that it will be better to buy a new bike......

 

[red28]

I'm looking to slowly upgrade some of the components on my bike. Of course i'd like to keep the budget down and do it slowly. My first upgrade was a set of ergon gp1 grips then a set of wellgo w70- DH pedals:
http://www.torpedo7.com.au/products/WEPDCN7W7/title/WELLGO-W-70-DH-Pedal---Alloy

What do you guys reckon could be a good upgrade next that wouldnt cost more then a couple of hundred. things i am looking to improve in order are,

-weight
-control
-climbing performance

could you reccomend brand names and model numbers

thanks

How about some new tyres? Potential to save weight, gain control and improve climbing performance.

Personally I'd stick with minimalist clip in pedals and work on your skill rather than use platform pedals. Depending on the type of riding, these can be more of a hinderance and do add some weight to the bike.

Also it is good advise to upgrade the whole bike rather than bits at a time, if you bought a NOS 2007/2008 bike you could probably get it for less than the replacement value of the parts (less frame).

 

[BrindiCruiser]

maybe shifters

Maybe the shifters. But there are not as many good deals on 8 sp stuff as 8 speed stuff these days. I would wait until the whole drive train is worn out, and then may swap to 9sp. Deore or SLX level could be a good aim. Only worth while if you are buying online and getting a good price.

Otherwise buy a whole new bike.

 

[newbiemtb]

The forks go first. Look for some secondhand 100mm/4". Do a search, many topics on this before. RS tend to dominate the smaller travel fork market.

Change the shifters. Even if you get some deores, it will be better than those...And it wont set you back too much of a pretty penny.

Thats all for smaller upgrades. If you start look to upgrading more than that it will be better to buy a new bike......

i'll need to get new brake levers too if i change the shifters yeah? cause looking at my bike, the brake levers and shifters are connected.

what models forks would you reccomend in the rock shox?

 

[BrindiCruiser]

And

I would get SPDs or clip in pedals but I do trail/XC riding. Good performance wieght upgrade. Can be reasonably price too.

 

[Spanky_Ham]

i dont want to do any real major upgrades, just a few smaller ones.

dear sir,

we should preface this buy saying we currently own what we concider a fairly bling bling bike and a bit of riding time.... and we're both drinking beer.

Sage advice ahead.. .beer powered.
​

Ride your bike at every chance you get... pretty soon stuff will

1) Wear out.. this is called life
2) Explode spectacularily... this is called pushing life.
3) Wear out then explode spectacularily.... Nelson calls this Ha Ha.

At this point you'll have gained

A) Knowledge of how the part died see 1,2 or 3 above. This will aid in selection of a new bit to avoid or delay the onset of what ever path the last part took
B) A detailed insite into why that part could of been better for the riding you want to do before it took the path of 1,2 or 3 above. Were you riding above the level of the part? 40 foot high no hands can cans on 80mm carbon XC forks? Are you pushing fox 40's up steep hills while wearing lycra

This will inevitably lead to a decreased wallet weight every time you visit the bike shop in a never ending procession of cash flow... away from you, in an effort to repair/replace what has succumbed to either 1,2 or 3 above....

At a certain point, you will realise that one of the following is occuring...

i) Your ability to upgrade the frame you have it pointless
ii) You have fallen in love with a completely sexy, hot, f*cking awesome bike that you just want. This comes from points 1,2 and 3 occuring cause you ride so much, where you keep going back to the bike shop and seeing nice bikes.
iii) Won the lottery and you want to go bike shopping with spanky - in the expensive end of the store.... where they dont allow pigs.

at this point, you have the option of

1) Take parts you want off old bike, transfer to new bike/frame and sell the rest to poor suckers on farkin who will be in the place you'll be in a few months.
2) Buy a new bike outright and keep the second one to get your mates hooked. (group purchases can be good reducing postage from overseas mountain bike web sites)
3) Buy a new bike outright and sell the older bike on farkin forum to a guy like you'll be in a year or so's time.



hope this helps, we think

 

[Steam powered]

Spanky Ham has got it right.
Been there done that.
Upgrading parts costs about $1000 / kg
Not good for the wallet, also you spend all your time swapping parts on your bike & trawling Farkin, Ebay and chainreaction for all the better bits.

Spend your time riding the rings off it.

Try your mates bikes. See how they ride.
By the time you have the cash, you'll know alot better the type of riding you are doing and the bike you really want

Save up your cash & buy a new last years model. Shop around.
Keep the yukon for dragging mates along or less serious duties.

 

[tmc_2]

I bought the same biek for mx g/f. First thing i did to make it lighter was a new better quality XC wheel set that i took off a much more expensive bike i had no use for. Then i put on some Marzocchi MX Pro eta forks mainly for adjustability of her 55kg rider weight. I also ditch the brakes and got hydraulic disks for performance. My next step is replace the rear cluster with something better quality slightly lighter along with the cranks.

The heavest part of the yukon fx i found so far where the stock wheel set! they are week crap and heavy!.

 

[gpang]

well to help with climbing performance, one of the best things to do is get some bar ends, they help with climbing up hills quite a bit. which cost from 25$ and up for a nice alloy set. if you are wasting a bit of power climbing hills, adding more air pressure to the rear shock may help. otherwise for a bike like that there isnt too much you can do about weight. you might also like to get a nice set of off road skin wall tyres ( around 50$ an end). they can help lose a little bit of weight. I know the stock set of tyres that come with the bike do not offer the most grip if you are doing alot of offroad with lots of loose dirt and mud.

 

[gpang]

oh yeh, the other thing is, that u should have invested in buying the yukon sx model, much more better value for money was about $1099. it had hydrolic disk brakes and a very nice rock shox hydraulic tora forks with a poplock.

 

[triedntested]

I got myself an SX about a year ago and am in a similar position. My biggest problem at the moment is weight.

Which parts could reduce weight the most? Is it worth upgrading to the new Shimano SAINT groupset or should i stick to XT or something equivelant.
Front and Rear shocks are high on my list as well, any recommendations?

 

[newbiemtb]

oh yeh, the other thing is, that u should have invested in buying the yukon sx model, much more better value for money was about $1099. it had hydrolic disk brakes and a very nice rock shox hydraulic tora forks with a poplock.

i only paid $499 for the yukon fx, so i found it was extremely good value for money. didnt have $1099 at the time and it was my first mountain bike so i wasnt sure how intersted i was going to be in trail riding.

 

[Knopey]

I second the Just Ride It idea. The greatest improvement for us beginners bar none is riding time, and it would be easy to spend "too much" on your current bike. Ride lots and aim for a newy in six months when the Yukon will become a spare. You can then whack road tyres on it and have a phulli sik, tough and probably-won't-be-stolen shop/town bike.

 

[Moggio]

Just ride it and don't suffer too much from bike envy... the bike, if it isn't falling apart due to crappy quality will do the job of letting you ride which is what it is all about.

Weight is always a concern, but as my wife says "Lose that fat around the belly first"... true and its a lot cheaper that expensive light weight parts. It takes a lot of money to get parts that will really lower the weight.

The more you ride, things will fail, replace them with slightly better second hand parts and learn a bit about the different pieces. Learn what you need rather than what you want...

Also I ride with a guy sometimes who rides a beaten up fully rigid single speed... thrashes me up hills and down technical sections. Makes you realise how much excess junk you can be riding around with and what is more important is the rider. The bike is just a tool.

 

[gpang]

I got myself an SX about a year ago and am in a similar position. My biggest problem at the moment is weight.

Which parts could reduce weight the most? Is it worth upgrading to the new Shimano SAINT groupset or should i stick to XT or something equivelant.
Front and Rear shocks are high on my list as well, any recommendations?

If you wanna lose weight on your bike the biggest thing you can do is get a new set of forks, that is probably the only thing that will reduce your weight, if im not mistaken, your bike is running a rockshox tora, maybe upgrade to a rock shox recon or reba, or any ways a lighter fork.