How to upgrade your bike

Though cycling has a well-earned reputation for being an expensive sport, it doesn’t have to be that way. You can of course spend five-digit figures on the latest and greatest superbike, but there are a lot of less expensive ways to upgrade your bike to enhance your riding pleasure and performance. 

Best upgrades for road bikes

If you are looking to improve the weight and performance of your current road bike, the best place to start is with a wheel upgrade. It’s always hard to say one bike part is more important than another, but if we were going to point to one thing that can really impact how your bike ride feels, it’s adding a nice light set of wheels.

The weight of the wheels has a greater importance than the weight of the handlebars, for instance, because of the inertial weight wheels add when rotating. The lighter you can get your wheels, the lower that rotational weight will also be. It will help the bike feel much snappier when accelerating and responsive when turning or negotiating descents. 

Indeed, wheels can make a huge impact when upgrading a mountain bike as well. Top quality mountain bike wheels like those from ENVE and Industry 9 can reduce weight while enhancing durability and ride quality. 

Whether we are looking for the best upgrades for a road bike or the best upgrades for a mountain bike the wheels will always be a great place to start, though new wheels will also be among the most expensive upgrades you can make. There are loads of ways to improve the quality of your ride without spending too much money. 

Get a bike fit

Making sure your bike fits properly, no matter how much it costs, will always be the most important factor for how comfortable you feel, how in-control you feel, and how efficient your pedal stroke actually is. You’ll go faster and feel more comfortable for longer. 

Check out our blog about how to choose the right bike geometry for you if you want to understand just how important getting the right bike fit is for enjoyable cycling. If you are looking for ways to improve your comfort levels on your current bike, getting a proper bike fit can help make sure your saddle height is correct, and that the handlebars and stem are properly positioned for your optimum reach and stack. 

Find a saddle that you love

Speaking of saddle height, happy cycling also relies on ensuring that your posterior is as comfortable as it can be. A high quality saddle that offers the right shape and level of cushioning will do wonders to helping you add more hours to your rides. Keep in mind you don’t necessarily need to have a saddle with a ton of padding. Oftentimes it’s the saddle shape that makes much more of a difference than the amount of padding.

Similarly, you will want to investigate whether your backside would appreciate a saddle with a cutout to relieve pressure points. As with so many things in cycling, every bottom is different, and you may need to engage in a process of trial and error before finding the right match. 

Keep the drivetrain clean

Keeping your drivetrain clean and well lubed will not only relieve you of those grating squeaky chains but will also make your pedaling much more efficient. A noisy chain is an unhappy chain that is increasing friction and soaking up Watts. 

Remember too that poorly maintained drivetrains wear out more quickly, due to the excess friction caused by clogged cogs and pulleys. So to keep the bike running smoothly for longer, a little elbow grease ensuring a clean drivetrain will pay dividends on multiple fronts.

Upgrade tires

If the price of a new set of carbon wheels is an expense too far, you can still feel a huge ride improvement with a nice pair of tires. Whether you are looking to upgrade your road bike or upgrade your mountain bike, improving the quality of your rubber will help you feel a greater connection and confidence with whatever surface you are riding. 

Going tubeless, if your current wheels can support that technology, is also a great way to improve the comfort of your ride as well as reduce the likelihood that you will suffer ride-ruining punctures. 

Higher quality suspension fork

Once you’ve addressed your wheels, the best upgrade for a mountain bike has to be getting a top-notch suspension fork. Having a high quality suspension fork for a mountain bike will help reduce the weight and improve things like how well your bike grips the trails in addition to how comfortable and confident you feel. Make certain you take the time, or find the right advice, on how to set up your fork suspension properly, paying attention to things like rider weight and trail severity.

Save the rim brake

If you are upgrading a rim brake bike, you should be aware that most ultra modern wheel brands are not generally catering to you. That is because the industry is, for the moment at least, fixated on disc brakes and very wide tires even for road bikes. There are lots of pros and some cons to this movement, but there are still some brands that make an effort to accommodate riders who still have rim brake bikes. 

From a “progress” point of view, rim brakes are less desirable than disc brakes because they necessarily limit the width of the tires you can run on your bike. Wider tires, especially tubeless tires, typically offer better comfort, lower rolling resistance, and improved grip in cornering because they can be safely inflated to a lower psi. Check out our blog on how to set the right bike tire pressure to learn more.

It is very difficult to find a rim brake bike that can easily accommodate anything wider than 25 mm tires. And most frames will start showing some rubbing on the inside of the seatstays once the tires start growing past 28 mm wide. Not being able to run wider tires isn’t a super bad thing, and is just something you should keep in mind when looking to upgrade either your wheels or your tires on a rim brake bike.

But please don’t decide to throw away your rim brake bike. It can still provide you with hours of joy on the roads. Rim brakes save weight and look so stylish that if you roll up to a group ride rocking a rim brake bike, you will undoubtedly impress your buddies with your erudite choice of steed.

  The takeaway - How to upgrade your bike

We are firm believers that any day on a bike is a good day, regardless of bike. But you’ll definitely enjoy yourself much more the more comfortable and secure you feel on your bike. You don’t have to shell out thousands of dollars. Just a few well-chosen upgrades can be enough to make your bike as comfortable and efficient as possible to amp-up your fun factor for every ride.