As winter drags on to an eventual close, some of your parts may be in dire need of replacement due to the harsh winter conditions that inevitably have an adverse effect on your bike. Today I’ll aim to give you some of the best upgrades you can get to keep your bike running at its best to prepare ourselves for what seems to be taking forever to arrive, summer.
Tyres
Tyres are very custom to your riding terrain, style and conditions in which you choose to ride. They can make or break a bike’s handling and transform how a bike feels. Experiment with compounds and width to find the sweet spot until you are railing corners like a wizard. A few recommendations for sloppy winter riding are
•Maxxis Assegai
Tyres
Tyres are very custom to your riding terrain, style and conditions in which you choose to ride. They can make or break a bike’s handling and transform how a bike feels. Experiment with compounds and width to find the sweet spot until you are railing corners like a wizard. A few recommendations for sloppy winter riding are
•Maxxis Assegai
•Maxxis Wetscream
•Michelin Wild Enduro
Rotors
To increase the stopping power of your winter anchors without breaking the bank on a set of Shimano’s XT or Hope’s notorious V4, you can instead simply purchase a larger rotor to greatly improve the stopping power of your brakes, to be specific, it will allow for better heat dissipation and storage of heat from friction. At their highest configuration at 203mm, you can find a pair for as little as under £20, (including all mounting hardware), with a simple eBay search. Larger rotors are an effective and cheap way of greatly increasing the power of your brakes and is a worth-while investment.
Going Tubeless
Despite what you have probably heard about going tubeless, I can almost guarantee that it isn’t nearly as difficult or expensive as you might have thought. For newbies, this entails the removal of your inner tube and the addition of sealant, the benefits of which are lighter wheels, puncture-proof tyres and the ability to brag to your friends that you’re running tubeless, which makes you seem infinitely cooler.
Saddle
Are you sitting comfortably when jamming the pedals on a climb? If not, chances are your saddle isn’t doing wonders for your undercarriage. I will suggest some of the ‘best mountain bike saddles’ voted my MBRUK. Chances are most, if not all of these will work out just fine.
•SDG Bel Air 3.0
•Fabric Scoop
•WTB Volt
•PRO Turnfix Offroad
Wheelset
One of the pricier upgrades but definitely one of the most effective to improve your riding experience. Due to the current economical climate with bike parts , wheels are at an all-time low with some Hope and Halo wheelsets suddenly becoming affordable for most riders. I can’t recommend a universal wheelset below as we all run different wheel sizes and prefer different brands, but I can direct your attention to the ‘used’ markets as prices have dropped.
Ayub Makda - TrailWhips Blog Editor.