General: Opinions on Order of Component Upgrades

So you guys may have already seen a couple of the other threads I've posted asking more specific questions about gearing and cranks.

My next question to you guys is this: Is there any particular recommended order in which you upgrade components on your bike? I just bought a new Flite 100 and plan to upgrade the wheelset, hubs, crankset, headset, stem, handlebars, and seat.

I have heard one explanation stating the importance of priority ranking from the ground up (i.e. wheels first to handlebars last).

What are your recommendations? Is there really a priority? In what order have you guys upgraded your bikes in? As per usual, feedback is greatly appreciated.

Upgrade the parts of the bike that touch your body (pedals, bars/grips/tape, saddle, and dial in the stem length) then don't do anything to it until the part is broken or worn out. Trust me, the Truvativ Touro cranks or what ever are ungly and heavy, but they work just as good as the Sugino 75s that everyone is telling you that you need.

Anyhow, I'm a cheapskate, what do I know? It's your bike, ride it and see what you think. Imagine the new part on your bike. New hubs? The ride would be real smooth. Great, get the hubs. New, lighter rims? You may feel it, you may not. There really isn't a set "order" you have to do things in.

My idea was to first upgrade my wheelset and hubs. Then, move on to my crankset. However, I took my bike out in some messy street conditions (Boston area, lots of salt on the roads this time of year) and now I hear a horrible grinding sound when I turn my steerer. I feel some salt and dirt got into the cheap headset. i really want to upgrade that. Not really sure what to put money into first since they're all kind of pricey upgrades to do all at one time. I do ride brakeless and have been told the importance of changing my hubs and such. Let me know guys.

Learn to disassemble, clean and repack. Cant take more than ten minutes.

You mean the headset right?

it takes me longer than ten minutes to disassemble, thoroughly clean, repack and properly reload the bearings in my old-school threaded headsets, but that's probably because i enjoy doing it so much. however long it takes you, it's a skill worth developing.

i think the approach you take to upgrading should be driven by what you want the upgrades to accomplish: better performance, better fit, more durability, aesthetics, et cetera. ask yourself what kind of problems you are having, and start there. you have done this with the headset. but i have to wonder: if your problem is that riding in messy conditions is getting your components dirty, is the solution to buy more expensive components? are the seals actually better on a more expensive headset? probably a little, but even a chris king headset is going to need some maintenance sometime. the design of the seals is a function of the application, anyway. an expensive, njs-approved track headset doesn't need good seals; a cyclocross headset needs excellent seals. i'm sorry i don't have a more specific recommendation for you, but, as lord athlon pointed out, you may find that just performing some regular maintenance on the headset you already have will suit you fine.

road riders will tell you that upgrading the wheels is the most important, because if you put a lot of miles in you will immediately notice a big difference between a wheelset that is heavy, with has poorly-tuned flex characteristics, and a lighter wheelset that only bends when and where you need it to. that can be a pretty expensive upgrade depending on your needs, however. for moderately abusive city riding, you will probably find that a hand-built, properly tensioned wheelset will stay round and true longer than the machine-built set that came with the bike. i would keep the cheap wheels for winter riding, however, unless you plan on hard-duty winter commuting, in which case the broken spokes and flat tires will start to be a drag. again, it depends on your needs.

then there are the components that affect fit and comfort. the odds that a stock saddle is the right one for your butt are low; even if it doesn't bother you now, find some time to try different saddles. handlebars should be comfortable, not bend too much, and be the right width. obviously, you can buy more expensive bars to "upgrade" but if they are less comfortable, you haven't really done anything positive. as for width, i know there is this whole cult of narrow bars, but please: consider your shoulders. i guess if you never ride for more than 15 or 20 minutes at a time, it doesn't matter that much.

you have probably been told that brakeless riding puts extra stress on the threads of the rear cog and lockring, and that you should "upgrade" the hub to reduce the risk of stripping the threads (with potentially catastrophic results). this is true to some extent, but keep in mind that the purpose of reverse-threaded lockrings on track hubs is NOT to allow you to skid all day and all night, but simply to hold the cog in place during the ordinary leg braking that occurs in track racing. they are not designed for skidding. a better hub will be made of better materials, and have the threads cut more carefully so that the load is distributed more evenly, because this makes everything last longer. consequently it will take more effort (abuse, actually) to strip the threads. but believe me, it can be done.

sorry for going on so long. i hope this helps.

Posted By: cicadashellit takes me longer than ten minutes to disassemble, thoroughly clean, repack and properly reload the bearings in my old-school threaded headsets, but that's probably because i enjoy doing it so much. however long it takes you, it's a skill worth developing.

I totally agree. Its strange, but I love cleaning and repacking bearings, its like a meditation thing.

I just assumed with a Flite that he could undo the top cap and the two pinchbolts, pull fork out of bottom. Hit the bearings up with some brakeleen, spray some on a rag and clean the cups thoroughly, grease with favorite grease, and reassemble. Go to a bike shop and buy a Lizard Skin for the bottom cup. Cheap neoprene/velcro assembly for keeping crap out of the lower cup, comes in many different colors.

I'm definitely not wise or experienced, but I always make sure I have a quality wheel set beneath me. I'm a fat fucker, and cheap wheels don't tend to hold up to my abuse

Posted By: fixedpuch

Posted By: RideEverydayUpgrade the parts of the bike that touch your body (pedals, bars/grips/tape, saddle, and dial in the stem length) then don't do anything to it until the part is broken or worn out. Trust me, the Truvativ Touro cranks or what ever are ungly and heavy, but they work just as good as the Sugino 75s that everyone is telling you that you need.


Actually, i rode the touro's and just upgraded to the 75's i could feel the touro's flex while i was track standing.....i could also see them flex....the sugino 75's are STIFF and strong....much stronger...its a very noticeable difference.

Of course Sugino 75s are stiff and strong. But the Touros hold your pedal to the bike, they stay connected to the spindle and go round and round in much the same fashion as the Suginos do. My point wasn't that Touros are the sickkkk gnar cranks to have, but that people who decide it's time to spend way to much money on their bikes don't need to. Stems, for instance. A Thomson stem is beautiful piece of engineering, it looks great and I'm sure is very stiff. But, they cost a hundred bucks. A Dimension stem comes in just as many lengths, colors, angles and such, and does the same job just as well for less that one-third the price. I was trying to help a brotha out and just be the voice of reason in a cycling world gone mad.

Then you can't get much better than the 75s. The gold standard of cranks since Jesus was a boy.

Posted By: RideEverydayThen you can't get much better than the 75s. The gold standard of cranks since Jesus was a boy.

campy record pista > sugino 75. all day, everyday

if you ride brakeless, then get brakes! im in the process of fitting some myself. things of high importance address comfort and fit including the saddle, handlebars, pedals, stem, and gearing. proper tires are vital, of course. assuming they are fairly functional, things of low importance are wheels, the headset, and the bottom bracket.

Posted By: terrible_one49Seat and bars to make the bike fit you better. I prefer a Fizik Arione seat.

Stem-Thomson.

Get a sealed headset like Chris King. Also, sealed BB and hubs. I suggest Sugino 75's with a phil wood bottom bracket. Hubs, Profiles or Phil's.

i have the a little brother to the arione in the fizik family, the pave. i strongly recommend the wing flex fiziks, but shop around and look for the right size that fits your bones as the widths vary pretty widely across the range. thomsons are the best in the game for stem and seat post, but you can find many used and bargain stems to find the right size for you first before you spring for the pricier options. sealed everything is greatly preferred, but i dont believe in the chris king and pricey bottom bracket hype. any quality sealed headset and bottom bracket should be more than enough. nice hubs are nice, but get tires, fit, and comfort down first as this is many times more important than pricey wheels and crank sets. i think switching up the bearings especially the headset and bottom bracket is going to yield the worst appreciable change to cost ratio of nearly any modification.