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+/- £50 max.
You can spend it on either your road bike or your mountain bike in order to improve it in some way.
What do you buy?
Road:
Mountain:
I have some ideas of my own; I would just appreciate knowing how others prioritise their "improvements".
Road: a week in Mallorca.
Mountain: a week in Glentress.
Possibly not in the spirit of the question, sorry.
Road: That budget would do nicely for some 650b wheels/tyres to try on my Charge Plug, in the name of extra comfort and experimenting.
Mtb: Not so sure to be honest, nothing that imminently needs upgrading on either. Would require more thought.
Edit: As oldnpastit said, probably not in the spirit, but the mtb upgrade money would probably be best spent on some coaching!
Almost always mtb - the racer is mostly for commuting.
Charger damper for my Yari plus fitting / lower leg service. If enough funds left I'd also buy the new Bird 145 long travel linkage to increase the rear suspension on my Aeris to 160mm for uplift days.
C&H
Power meter innit
I'd just ride my bike and spend the money on [s]hookers[/s] my kids
A week in Finale Ligure
Road : Wouldnt see me dead there.
MTB : Jedi.
Road? New (parts and money towards) a Di2 Ultegra Groupset.
MTB? New SRAM Eagle drive train.
Road: Deposit for a mountain bike.
Mountain: A few long weekends away.
Road: Nope
MTB: pretty happy with my current set-up, could do with some wider rims.
Can I buy a new surfboard?
This is all helpful. Keep your answers coming!
Neither, hookers & coke and a deep sense of regret for the rest of Christmas
Coaching - upgrade the rider!
Not sure holiday is a fair answer as most of stw would lose more than £350 in wages doing so, assuming your existing holiday allowance is spoken for
MtB. A revive dropper post.
Dropper post is on my Christmas list for the MTB.
Road : a subscription to OS Maps and a Garmin
MTB : some kettlebells n a Gore jacket
Mountain bike- some go faster bits for my 36s. TBH my bikes are all pretty shit hot right now.
Road: new wheels
MTB: a dropper
Mtb: Probably an Eagle drivetrain or coaching.
Road: um. I wouldn’t mind swapping the 105 & Spyres on my CX for hydraulic 105. Does that count?
Road: well I don’t have a road bike so I guess I’d have to get one first. It’s that doable for £350??
MTB: some fancy cranks
I know what he needs 🙂
Dropper and some s/h 29" wheels for his MTB. No question. That'll do more than tarting up the already nice road bike IMO.
Road: mine is retro and not worth 350 so I wouldn’t spend anything on it. Maybe spend it on tools.
MTB: a Gore jacket
vincienup - MemberMtb: Probably an Eagle drivetrain.
Oh yah, that
A couple of ferry tickets and campsite money. Maybe a used bar bag too.
Or a new decent front wheel with Son hub-generator.
Hmm. Not enough moneys for my roadmountain bike!
MTB Eagle or Flights
I built my main mtb for not much more than that..
Some lighter wheels and better cranks, used of course.
Mtb: Shockwiz or Jedi day
Road: for me, some nicerer wheels for my sequoia. More generally, a week in Majorca.
1 x 11 drive train. Possibly some change left over for new tires if its NX and I use current crank.
All part if the the slow save up for bit by bit new bike purchase.
I'd buy a new frame. Probably a commencal or cotic. I'd then slowly build up the bike over time as a 3rd bike.
£350 is a sweet spot I reckon!
Enough to not just casually grab something, but not up there with a frame / bike purchase 🙂
For me (mtb only) it's one of:
Wheels
Dropper post
Fancy lights
Full fork and shock service with a new ramp control
Etc...
Hope santa reads this.
Looking back at all the moneybvevdpwntbon road and mtb, I can honestly say that the biggest bang per buck is paying for a structured training program. So that’s what I’d spend my £350 on.
Road : Bike fit
MTB : Jedi
Kind of depends on the current state of your road/ mtb bikes.
Wheels
Tyres
Road: New Wheels
MTB: I can't think of a single thing 😯
Biggest benefit to my riding, both road & mtb in recent years was a full bike fit. Cost me £250 so there’s a bit left over for some new tyres for each bike.
Road Omata GPS
Mtn Fox36 coil conversion by Push
on a serious note
Given my mtb pretty much has everything I want, I would probably get the cane creek OPT remote for my coil IL and a rear conti projekt baron. coaching session would be the next thing then keep the rest for when something breaks or gets damaged.
Clothing/lid/shoes for either or some cheap flights...
I think wheels make a massive difference to a bike, so depending on what you are running currently then maybe some secondhand lighter wheels that can be kitted with some lighter tyres for days of going fast. Or maybe a wheel build jig and buy some rims and hubs and learn to build your own?
Road- haha no chance, not ever.
MTB - I would put the money towards a set of fox 36's, or a santa cruz bronson/nomad, or a commencal furious.
250 quid of diesel and a chunnel ticket for the camper
Road - New frame.
Spa Audax, Surly Pacer etc....
MTB - some Hope brakes, cassette and chain.
Lovely...
Road - winter boots
MTB - Dropper and shock service / Jedi.
Depends where the bikes are starting from. If they are both 7k superbikes then get some skills training or nice tools.
If they’re BSOs then plenty of things to upgrade.
Decent cloathing can make a huge difference as can good tyres.
Someone won 3rd prize on foxy’s raffle.
Gravel bike: maybe Carbon bars & seat post
MTB: fuel for more trips to Wales
Depends on the condition of your bikes I suppose but my full suss could do with a suspension service and some bearings probably. But that is pretty boring , what I really want is new wheels and I quite fancy tying one of these 2.6 tyres for the front .
MTB is sorted. Can't justify a road bike given I've only worked about 18 weeks this year.
I would put the money towards food and fuel and bugger off for a few weeks in January.... In fact, that is exactly what I am doing. 27th head down to Liguria for three weeks and ride my bike, smile, get some power back in my legs, lose some weight, drink fine wine, eat some fine Italian food and give myself some breathing space...
It's been a long and emotional year spent mostly in hospital at my mother's bedside. Need some me time.
Alpin, enjoy that. It sounds well deserved
Skillz course , drops and jumps.
some 1 on 1 coaching. I paid £105 for three hours with Katy Curd and it was really good.
Probably towards a power meter.
Road - put it towards a set of carbon wheels.
MTB - enter a load of events up front/ pay for a coach
Road: I spent a fair chunk on a complete bike which I still pay the finance for so nothing necessarily for it. Rather I’d get an elemnt bolt to use with it and maybe some new bar tape just to jazz it up a little.
Mountain: because I have full suss and hardtail I’d spread the money a little. Pay for the seals and fluid to be able to do a lower leg service on my revelations. I want a luftkappe for my pikes. Could do with a new mud tyre for the hardtail rather than fix the hole the huge twig made. Maybe some DHR tyres for the bronson. My saddle is a little bit worn so a new and slightly lighter WTB volt saddle for it. Might hire the shockwiz for a day too to check over the suspension on both bikes.
I’d definitely spread it out for more bang for my buck rather than one big purchase but that’s because the spec on all bikes is how I want it to be.
mtb. Buy some suspension forks for the thing !!
Perhaps some nice wheels for the road bike. Can that be done for £350?
Mtb - skills course probably best place to spend it. Who is best at teaching me to go round corners without a)braking or b) falling off or c) both?
Maybe a power meter for the OP.
A day with Jedi (3 or 4 of you go) and the rest on a dropper post.
Sell the roadie to up the budget for the MTB.
Mtb: Coil shock though my air one is getting tuned and I have high hopes. Or some drive train bits, saint shifting and 165 cranks.
Road: I'd also like to try 650b on my Plug and some luggage would be nice.
Someone won 3rd prize on foxy’s raffle.
Sell it for a huge profit?
MTB: new rear rim for the one and a new SLX drivetrain for the other.
Road: lighter wheels.
TBH the road bike is just a commuter so doesn't really need anything as it's a budget runner and apart from the knackered rear wheel on one MTB they're both fine! Yes I have struggled to come up with present ideas from my family to get me...
Road.. No ta
Mtb.. Probably a park truing stand and a maxxd or Toro light
Some Maxxis 2.8" rubber and an airshot....
Ohh! I'll play.
Road: Nice second hand frame for the turbo
MTB: Hope Brakes, or maybe Jedi again. Went last year and it was great!