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
[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Note that these days there are some cheap Chinese bikes that have decent aluminum frames. Don't know if they are the majority yet or not. It's safer to bet they're not. A reputable brand would guarantee a decent frame as you said.

[–] DarkThoughts@fedia.io 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

There's cheaper reputable brands as well, like Ragley for example. Of course prices differ with the regions & import taxes but with Chinese products you typically can't tell for sure what you're getting. And a bad frame is really something I would stay away from if you value your own health and safety. If that thing breaks mid ride it can have fatal consequences.