How original is your bike?

[RustyMTB]

Mountain biking is spendy!

I was thinking about my bike over the weekend, it's coming up on 6000 miles on the original battery & motor, so in that sense it doesn't owe me much & nor is it really worth anything by now however it occurred that I've either replaced or upgraded nearly the entire bike.

Over the years, it's had new suspension three drive trains, Renthal bars, new dropper post, god knows how many tyres, a new rear wheel, three saddles & a full bearing refresh. The only original parts left are the frame, brakes, cranks, motor & battery & the front wheel. It's Trigger's broom on wheels. Am I an outlier?

 

[Hobo Mikey]

An original bike is not a used bike.

 

[Bndit]

I have changed only Brakes and rear shock to coil on my Bullit. And I have leftover wheels from previous bike as second wheel set. Good spec as standard so no need to upgrade.

 

[tedturbine]

Still got my 2019 commencal meta power, tyres, brake pads, front wheel bearings, chain, cassette, renthal bars, 630w battery, love this bike but it's getting time to change to something with more power and range to keep up with my mates

 

[Ou812]

I usually do frame only builds so I get exactly what I want from the start. I wasn’t able to do that with my Levo Pro though, the only thing left on it from original is the wheels and saddle. I replaced pretty much everything within the first 150 or so miles of having the bike.

 

[Stihldog]

Mountain biking is spendy!

…and it’s my hobby.

I still use my 2020 Rail 9.7 but the only thing original is the frame, battery and motor (rebuilt).

My wife has another hobby but we both respect each other’s passion.


Her collection of Sid Dickinson tiles may have a greater value than any of my bikes or bike upgrades. (Shakes head).

I justify upgrading on my bikes by avoiding the service and maintenance fees of the lbs’s. Still try to purchase parts locally though.

I like tinkering on my bikes and any friend or family or neighbours bike that wanders into the bike cave. Even though I only use that special bike tool once …it’s still worth it…right?

 

[RustyMTB]

I mean, I've kept up with trends by extending my fork to 170mm with a new air spring & 63.5 degree head angle with an angle set. It's basically a whole 2025 bike.

Apart from all the scratches.

 

[RustyIron]

Am I an outlier?

Now that you mention it, my mates and I haven't changed much in the 40+ years since we had our first cars. We were always reading magazines and searching out the coolest parts: wheels, headers, intakes, carburetors, stereos, shift kits, cut outs...

My current bike is a year and three months old. It has an upgraded shock, fork internals, saddle, brakes, tires, grips, tool kit, pedals, and who knows what else. The wheels/hubs are original. The derailleur, chainring, cranks and bars are all original. The seatpost is the one that came on the bike, but I dislike it and a new one should be arriving any day now.

 

[RustyIron]

Her collection of Sid Dickinson tiles may have a greater value than any of my bikes or bike upgrades. (Shakes head).

Dude! Those are pretty cool. By the way, it's "Dickens." I didn't know that, but I googled on the guy. Stihlgirl clearly has good taste. That raises the question, "What's she doing with a dirty old mountain biker?" If it's to hang the tiles, nice work. The alignment looks good.

 

[Plyphon]

I put new grips and a mudguard on mine.

 

[BAh30]

only things OE are the frame, dropper, saddle, stem, headset & crankarms.

 

[Stihldog]

Dude! Those are pretty cool. By the way, it's "Dickens." I didn't know that, but I googled on the guy. Stihlgirl clearly has good taste. That raises the question, "What's she doing with a dirty old mountain biker?" If it's to hang the tiles, nice work. The alignment looks good.

Yes, I’m the dirty ole biker. She expects perfection so I hauled out the lazer levels …but I told her, one more tile could collapse the entire structure. (Using man-logic of course).
She’s limited to certain walls for the rest of the house. I want the MTB’er tile for the cave. , but Sid Dickens just retired.

 

[Zimmerframe]

I mean, I've kept up with trends by extending my fork to 170mm with a new air spring & 63.5 degree head angle with an angle set. It's basically a whole 2025 bike.

Apart from all the scratches.

Mine's stock. I keep wondering about the fork. I thought I'd upgrade it to SAM spec, but then noticed the rear triangle was different. Then noticed the front triangle was completely different too ..

Whilst the front fork feel great as is, I don't like the geo feel and part of me wonders if a different fork might help with the feel from the rear. I really can't work out why the rear always feels so turd on it. So you prefer the front like that ? I might throw a 170 Fox 38 on the front and see how it feels. Or is bigger better ??

 

[RustyMTB]

Is it a 34 that cmae as standard? I can't remember but I found it a bit flexy on the trail, so swapped it for a Yari then turned that into a Lyrik with a new damper. Thing is I really like the charger damper & find it plush & very tuneable so I don't know if it's better per se than a Fox equivalent but that it definitely suits me.

On the back, I swapped in a super deluxe but I find it blows through all the travel even at 320psi & a bunch of tokens. Looking around, I found a fair bit of commentary on that being a characteristic of the FOLD linkage design. They dropped it on subsequent bikes, so maybe it's the case. Biggest difference is the angle set, the bike has short chainstays & slacking out the front definitely makes it feel more planted downhill, still meh climbing though.

 

[MOG]

Just had a long hard think. I came to che conclusion that my 2022 Rise now consists of the original stem, front forks, bits of rear shock, and the dropper lever. And that is it. 2nd motor, 2nd battery, 3rd complete drivetrain, shorter cranks, new tyres, new wheels, carbon bars, different dropper, warranty parts replacement on rear shock and a complete replacement frame.

 

[Zimmerframe]

Is it a 34 that cmae as standard? I can't remember but I found it a bit flexy on the trail, so swapped it for a Yari then turned that into a Lyrik with a new damper. Thing is I really like the charger damper & find it plush & very tuneable so I don't know if it's better per se than a Fox equivalent but that it definitely suits me.

On the back, I swapped in a super deluxe but I find it blows through all the travel even at 320psi & a bunch of tokens. Looking around, I found a fair bit of commentary on that being a characteristic of the FOLD linkage design. They dropped it on subsequent bikes, so maybe it's the case. Biggest difference is the angle set, the bike has short chainstays & slacking out the front definitely makes it feel more planted downhill, still meh climbing though.

Fox 36 Rhythm. I liked the 180 Lyric with the RCT3 on the Kenevo, but the fox has slightly nicer low speed damping - though I would always forgive the Lyric that as it kicked ass everywhere else.

Have a Fox 38 and Zeb ultimate. Find them both pretty comparable once setup, the 38's not on anything at the moment so I could try it.

Been through similar to you with the rear. Just blows through no matter what - even if you can get it feeling right when you're not on the bike.

Maybe I should just sell it .... it's just that it's fast on easier point to point stuff.

Ooops have de-toured your thread to Jam sh1te ..

Kenevo - Stayed stock ish (different spring). Changed brakes and transmission as I'm not a SRAM fan and it was crap.

E-Mythique. Stock ish .. Changed fork (original high speed damping didn't work).Brakes and transmission. Original transmission skipped gears on the rough and the brakes were a bit lacking. Other than that, best bike I've had.

Tempted by a base megamo .. then swap lots out ....

 

[nickf]

My 2022 Trek rail is coming up for 5000km and I recently wondered if it was worth selling it while it still has some second hand value and buying a new bike. But after test riding a couple of 2025 Santa Cruz I decided the old Rail is still a damn good bike so I'm sticking with it!

I changed to 155mm Miranda cranks early on to cut down on pedal strikes, Spank Spoon pedals (now on my 2nd pair after trashing the originals from too many pedal strikes!!), swapped in 35mm rise Renthal bars with a 40mm Husslefelt stem and DMR Deathgrips, then a Jade X coil shock, Hope Tech V4 brakes, and recently fitted a Smashpot coil to the Domain RC forks. Thinking of fitting a Charger 3.1 damper in place of the basic Motion Control thingummy. Obviously gone through lots of sets of tyres too! I've replaced my well-maintained Deore chains every 800km or so, but to my amazement the Deore cassette is still visibly indistinguishable from a brand new spare one (when it's cleaned) and shifting is still almost faultless!

I'd be hard pressed to say what is the most significant component change, but I think the Hope brakes might just get my vote.

 

[irie]

My 2022 Trek rail is coming up for 5000km and I recently wondered if it was worth selling it while it still has some second hand value and buying a new bike.

Frame, motor, and brake hose is stock but nothing else is. Mine has done about 4,200 miles and wife's about half that.

Can't see any reason to change our 2022 alloy Rails, only issue is relatively noisy Bosch CX motors but nothing else.

 

[nickf]

Frame, motor, and brake hose is stock but nothing else is. Mine has done about 4,200 miles and wife's about half that.

Can't see any reason to change our 2022 alloy Rails, only issue is relatively noisy Bosch CX motors but nothing else.

I came to the same conclusion. The Vala I test rode had the new gen 5 CX motor, but to be honest I didn't notice any real difference in performance and my trails are so full of loose rocks that on the descents I rarely hear the gen 4 motor rattle above the sound of rocks bouncing off my frame (and shins!).

 

[Pyr0]

On my Levo, I've swapped my handlebar, saddle, brakes, grips, gears, fork, shock (twice), wheels(twice), cranks & chainring.
The motor was replaced too, does that count?
Still using the original dropper post and stem.

 

[ZR1]

I bought a bottom spec vitus so it was built with price in mind.

so far - forks, brakes, grips and gears. Rear wheel, tyres and motor were changed becuase they needed to be.

Thinking about, carbon handle bars, shock and stem

 

[Zimmerframe]

I bought a bottom spec vitus so it was built with price in mind.

so far - forks, brakes, grips and gears. Rear wheel, tyres and motor were changed becuase they needed to be.

Thinking about, carbon handle bars, shock and stem

Oh yeah .. I forgot I put a loam labs stem on and one up oval carbon bars .. ooops ..

 

[ZR1]

Oh yeah .. I forgot I put a loam labs stem on and one up oval carbon bars .. ooops ..

Did you find the bars worthwhile? I demo'ed a few bikes recently and its proving costly as I want to tweak everything on the mythique now!

 

[Zimmerframe]

Did you find the bars worthwhile? I demo'ed a few bikes recently and its proving costly as I want to tweak everything on the mythique now!

Honestly, no! The stem and bars just ended up looking prettier. I think you've done the main "givers". The standard shock works a treat. I have a fancy Fox one I bought for it, but never bothered changing as I'm more than happy with the stock one.

 

[Koban]

Only frame and motor are stock of my Torque ON CF. When I received the bike. I stripped it. Sold the parts and build it up following my own spec. Also building your own bike is fun.... ;-)

 

[DirkWisely]

I've got a Levo comp alloy. I think the only original part left on it is the dropper and motor/battery. Dropper has worked like a champ and I'm not sure what I'd get out of a more expensive one.

 

[JP-NZ]

On my Rail I'm the opposite, I purchased the highest spec I could afford and have only changed Saddle, SPDs and grips.

Although I do have a new set of wheels and a coil shock to fit.

 

[HandsomeDanNZ]

My Merida is about as stock as they come, with the exception of going tubeless, then adding new pedals and grips.

The bike I had before was original in name only - I had a 2011 Giant Reign SX which had the original frame and not a single other piece on it that was from the same era.
It had been frankenbiked to within an inch of its life and to be honest, was a great bike. It really just needed to be motorised.

I don't think it'll be long before I start upgrading things - a 170 airshaft will probably be first, then new bars, with slightly more rise will be next. Saddle will likely get an upgrade as well - then I'll be adding new mudguards, as the one that's left is quite flimsy and the rear one broke after about a month.
I'm keen on trying Schwalbe radial tyres, so that'll also come eventually, but I have loads of life left in my current tyres.

 

[CarolinaCrawler]

My E Mythique only has the original frame and electronics, everything else was replaced. I bought it with that plan though. I would have purchased the lowest spec bike but they were not available when we got ours.

My Decoy SN is stock save from touch points. I just swapped the tires to test a theory, so that may be permanent or not depending on how it works out. I have a shock, dropper and fork for it but it rides so good they way it is I'm having a hard time changing anything. But knowing me I'll get bored one day and change it. I mean after all, if I want to change it back its only 30-45 minutes and its back the way it was.

 

[p3eps]

My bike is a bit like Trigger’s broom. It started as a 2019 Levo SL… got new fork, AXS drivetrain, AXS seat post, rear shock, brakes, crank arms, bars, grips, stem, headset, saddle, tyres… and then I bought a ‘frame only’ 2023 Gen 2 Levo SL and swapped it all over.
Some new bits on there… AXS Transmission, brakes, bar, grips, wheel set, saddle and a new AXS dropper.

The only stock part of my bike at the moment is that frame, motor, crank arms and bottle cage.

As much as I love riding it, part of the fun of ownership is upgrading. Learning how to fit the parts, service, adjust etc… and getting parcels delivered makes me happy