this post was submitted on 11 Oct 2024
43 points (100.0% liked)

Bicycles

3125 readers
71 users here now

Welcome to !bicycles@lemmy.ca

A place to share our love of all things with two wheels and pedals. This is an inclusive, non-judgemental community. All types of cyclists are accepted here; whether you're a commuter, a roadie, a MTB enthusiast, a fixie freak, a crusty xbiking hoarder, in the middle of an epic across-the-world bicycle tour, or any other type of cyclist!

Community Rules

Other cycling-related communities

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
Evkob@lemmy.ca
43
Is it worth upgrading my cheap Chinese bike? (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 month ago by doyun@lemmy.world to c/bicycles@lemmy.ca
26 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Hi, I hope this is the right place to ask. I decided to start commuting by bike as it's only about 15 minutes each way. So I got my first bike and learned how to ride. It's a cheap Chinese MTB from my country's version of amazon. This was a few months ago now. Since then I've been riding almost everyday and taking longer trips along the river trail near my home.

So I'm thinking about getting a lower end Shimano groupset. But I'm wondering what I'll get out of upgrading. Will there be a noticeable difference in performance? Smoother shifting? More speed in top gear?

Thanks for any insight you can share :) any essential gear recommendations would be great too!

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] _haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Post pics, but if you know how to work on your own stuff and the bike uses standard parts: Sure, why not?

If the cheap bike fails, you can always rebuild with a better frame later and reuse the parts you already got. The only reason I'd say don't bother is if the existing parts work fine already/are well made enough that they aren't a safety hazard.

I upgraded the brake rotors on my shitty Engwe EP2 Pro and I wish I'd upgraded the fender (but then it failed and broke my arm because it was faulty and the company didn't give a fuck, thanks so much Engwe!).

You might also have some luck asking over at !micromobility@lemmy.world