Lacch Posted October 4, 2022 Share Posted October 4, 2022 I have a 2021 Talon 2 that I upgraded a bit when I first started riding. (dropper post, new pedals, shorter stem). Since then I've upgraded to a decent FS and have a better understanding of what else the Talon needs to be improved. Is it worth putting anymore money into this bike? It would mostly be as a hobby, to improve my mechanic skills, but also to have a hardtail that I enjoy riding. If its not a total waste of money/effort, I'd like to upgrade the following... - air forks - tubeless tires and better engagement - maybe new chainring, cassette and chain - and on, and on... Worth it? or should sell this thing and start with a better project bike? (my FS bike's specs are still above my skill level, so no need to touch that thing anytime soon) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRider3141 Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 The answer is almost always no...says the guy who upgraded his entry level hardtail beyond what it's worth too. I did some upgrades with the idea it would hold off upgrading to a different bike. It did not work, I upgraded anyway. I also kept both bikes and enjoy riding both for slightly different but overlapping purposes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamsloan Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 This is totally going to depend on your personality. -Do you see a potential use for everything? Do you hate throwing perfectly good things away? Do you keep random nuts and bolts because “I may need that some day!” ^then keep the bike and work on it as a hobby realizing you are just torching cash. - Are the type of person that shudders at the idea of the person described above? Do you have a hard time using “old” and “outdated” gear and parts? Do you want to “see if I can actually make something decent out of this!” ^drop that bike like it’s covered in Fentanyl. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamsloan Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 FYI, I’m the first type. I still have every frame that I’ve ever owned over 30 years of mountain biking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natas1321 Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 if upgrading the bike makes your ride more enjoyable why not, I have a giant fathom that I upgraded the drivetrain, forks, wheels, brakes because it made the bike more suitable to my needs and wants and because I could. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinBike Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 Based on the way that supply chains are these days, having a backup bike is a good thing. I have a garage full of bike. I have three that get ridden every week, pretty evenly. But I also have a geared hardtail bike that I keep in the garage. When a friend is over and we want to take a ride out to get a beer, it's fine for them. When I broke my singlespeed frame, I moved the wheel set over for couple months while they re-welded the broken frame. There is utility in just about any bike as long as you can build a use case around it. Each of my bikes is different from the others. I would never have 2 identical bikes. Two of my four have identical frames, but one is a singlespeed and the other is geared, so totally different use cases. If they were both geared identically, I would get rid of one of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Tip Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 15 hours ago, Lacch said: It would mostly be as a hobby I think you answered your own question right there. Hobbies usually don't make any economic sense. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacch Posted October 5, 2022 Author Share Posted October 5, 2022 Ya, I'm the type to keep around all sorts of old stuff, just incase. Thanks for the perspective. I'm going to need a bigger garage... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bart Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 A light hardtail is a nice tool to have, especially for round town trails or The Nut. Heck we rode the Nut on gravel rigs the other night and it was a blast and one guy was on his converted hardtail mtb with curley bars and SS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntonioGG Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 10 hours ago, Teamsloan said: This is totally going to depend on your personality. -Do you see a potential use for everything? Do you hate throwing perfectly good things away? Do you keep random nuts and bolts because “I may need that some day!” ^then keep the bike and work on it as a hobby realizing you are just torching cash. - Are the type of person that shudders at the idea of the person described above? Do you have a hard time using “old” and “outdated” gear and parts? Do you want to “see if I can actually make something decent out of this!” ^drop that bike like it’s covered in Fentanyl. It's not binary though right? It's a spectrum. I'm on the end closer to the top one, but mostly have no problem passing a bike on to a new owner. However, having unused equipment does stress me out. Neglecting a bike (or old RC planes or cars, etc.) makes me question my keeping it. Also, I've saved several racers/teams at 24hr races with my bag of bolts/nuts. 🙂 I inherited that form my paternal grandfather who kept jars of Nescafe with every nail, string/twine, stuff he found while walking (he never had a car or drove, walked or took the bus everywhere). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mack_turtle Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 (edited) If nothing else, keeping it as a secondary bike is worth it. Think of your FS bike as your main ride, but make the hardtail enjoyable for days you want to challenge yourself more, when your FS bike is out of commission for service, or when the trails are wet and you want a gravel path/ urban adventure bike. Tubeless tires would be a good start, but keep the spending reasonable on the secondary bike. Edited October 5, 2022 by mack_turtle 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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