As a bike mechanic I was always asked about upgrades. This was far easier if it was a regular customer and even better if I had riden with them to match there ride style, budget and what they expected. Sometimes they would be suprized when I pointed them away from carbon. As an example: the Ritchey WCS Alloy bars are ultra lite being just a few grams more than carbon. The price left money for better tires, a lightweight alloy wheel set (which makes more sense in the wet and grime covered roads of Washington state. A cassette and chain rings that had a better gear range for our mountains and quality pedals and shoes for a positive power to the road. Carbon for the win if second are needed when racing. First the weekend warrior alloy fits the bill for longevity since many of our customers dont clean and care for there bikes to keep carbon from galvanic destruction. Affordability so that the most upgrades possible can be done to give a better over all better ride.

Set of lights would come high on my list with daytime flash mode.

A good professional fitting. Been a great "upgrade" for me. ;-)

If you own a commuter bike, mudguards are best upgrade no matter the price :D

Afraid I also jumped on the mudguard band wagon - even though I remove them in the summer it’s a life saver for cold winter days 👍

Good on you, guys. We all like tech advancement and there is a place for style, BUT humility, economy and practicality have always been central to (non-pro) cycling culture. Keep it real!

I would have to include a basic bike computer. Getting a Garmin Edge 130 has changed the game for me. Live Strava and heart rate has made my riding more fun and slightly competitive. Base model = tons of fun!

Pedals to me provided power I didn’t know I was capable of. I got mountain bike clip on for my road bike since I live in the foothills of California much of my rides incide climbing. To engage the entire leg in the full rotation mechanism is a pretty drastic upgrade for the price. Oh forgot to mention that bike shoes would be part of that combo

Good quality brake pads and bar tape for me. May not make you faster but more comfortable and more confident on the brakes

best upgrade i ever made was adding lower gears, spin to win, see to many noobs crushing there knees up climbs in horrid gears

I feel bad for you guys whenever you bring up mud guards 😂😂 which is almost every video

My grandfather had a bike with a huge and puffy saddle and it was comfy af!

It sounds daft: brake calipers and/or pads. I upgraded my tiagra calipers to 105 and the difference is very noticeable. Better brakes mean more confidence when riding twisty descents, it's always more fun knowing you're not going to crash! Otherwise: gear cables, go for fully lined for long lasting crisp shifting.

I changed my forks and front wheel to add a disc brake front. No better braking but reassuring in the wet

Finding the perfect bar tape for you and your environment is essential and not too expensive

Yeah that's true.👍👏

Saddle? Getting the right saddle would be high on my list. There are some great choices available in the £30 - £50 (UK) price range.

1. Better tyres (28 is sweet spot for most people) 2. Cleaning stuff (esp. for drivetrain) 3. Saddles 4. Decent cycle kit (shorts, helmet, shoes, etc.) 5. Mudguard

Lowering rolling resistance doesn't have to cost a lot of money. I'd say one of the best, cheapest ways to lower rolling resistance would be to use ultra-light butyl tubes (best to start with light road tires). These ultra-light tubes (mine weighs 62 grams, size 700cX25) can rival the weight of latex tubes (45-70 grams), and are so much easier to install. They also cost less and maintain their air pressure better than latex tubes. Your regular butyl tube is fine (it weighs 100 grams or more), but it adds a lot of unneeded rolling resistance that you can get rid of by adding these ultra-light tubes. They cost approx., $7 USD where I buy mine.

What did it happen with the fairlight secan long term review? Thanks!

I’d say we can add the pedals changing because sometimes they are « hard to click » and heavy (especially old ones), and of course, work on the settings and measurements of your bike. You can have the best bike ever, if you don’t have a good position, you will not be better than with an average bike but with an excellent position and settings 🤗

I quite literally bought a bicycle WITH an "engine" in it: a Cannondale Neo Quick EQ.

Thanks

Love new tires. But should have included bikefit in the list.

Tires are the best upgrade for sure

Larger cassette and bike lights worked great for touring.

when will the next 2020 Enduro bike of the year episode be out? Until now I have only seen Whyte, Specialized, Cube bikes so far.

Tubeless tyres aren’t worth it. In my limited experience with both road and MTB, they just dumped sealant everywhere (where there were tiny cuts in the tyre) and left you stranded in the middle of nowhere .Thanks for the false sense of security, I was once 40km in the woods with a flat tyre, with no mobile signals.

BikeRadar, this video and others are great. But a suggestion: for non 1st language English speakers, adding closed caption for the dialog would really help.

Contact points. How to choose the most confortable handlebar tape?

Make sure your bike will fit 28mm tires. My Masi will fit one on the rear (just barely) but a 28 hits the fork crown.

How about oval chainrings, they look cool and arguably save your knees from too much preasure.

A carbon seat post. I rode a seven day 545 mile event (ALC in June) in California with an aluminum post. Switched to carbon prior to a seven event ride (RAGBRAI in July) in Iowa and what a difference. My bottom was so much happier.

Color matched bolts for your bottlecages. Useless ? Yes. But not expensive and really add to the look of your bike imo. Same goes for color matched cable end caps !

They say tires are best and affordable upgrade, but recommend going tubeless? so its not the most affordable upgrade after that last mentioned. cause now i have to buy rims that are tubeless ready. You could have recommended lighter inner tubes or inner tubes that don't puncture.

Are there for Ecuador ?

What brand of mudguards are used on a green bike (All-City)? Thanks for the interesting TOP 5 :)

Very satisfying upgrades I've made include: 28mm tires, 40T cassette, sks front mud guard and PlanetFitness rear mudguards (both can be put on or taken off with no tools in a few minutes depending), Domain self fusing handlebar finishing tape (incredible stuff...no more sticky electrical tape glue in summer), and a Brooks B17 seat

What about the santa cruz highball cc x01

I’m enjoying the bike so far kzfaq.infoUgkxMesz3KOGEmwmvyKQfLfrRSUXLFzfVHZA My only real complaints are the brakes and the pedals. I feel like a bike designed for bigger people should have much larger pedals and more heavy duty brakes. I’ve only gotten two really good rides out of it, minimal downhill action, and the brakes feel like they’re already going out. A larger person has more momentum, so I think this wasn’t thought through very well. Also, I wear size 13-14 wide shoes. My feet cramp up on these pedals that are clearly made for smaller feet. Since I’m not a pro rider (and I don’t think many are who purchase this bike) I don’t think that the straps on the pedal are necessary at all. None of this takes away from the enjoyment I get from riding, however. I’ll just head to a bike shop to improve on a few things.

Re-upload? Content sounds familiar

You say the sweetspot for tyre width is 28mm. I've just gone from 33 to 36mm tyres on my road bike and have found I'm going faster, and its more comfortable. I'd suggest tje 'sweetspot' is more like 32mm. I certainly won't be going back to anything skinnier than 32mm.

I have a job and no car/dl. Instead I found a trail bike frame on the side of the interstate in a ditch while walking home from work.

Is it possible to upgrade your Groupset.

Debate is still on - jury would be out !

Any recommendations on mudguards?

I hate the fact that you cant missmach road/mtb drivetrain.. I want to use mechanical xt rear mech with a dropbar and roadshifter...

28 ist the Sweetspot?? Mine are 38!

yea tyres are not cheap nowadays.. a pair of gp5000 tubeless is 240$ CDN plus tax and sealant

Aliexpress means you can pretty much have as much carbon as you like (Doesn't apply to those susceptible to marketing spiel)

“Cheap” upgrades Still good vid tho

They never did find the Holy Grail...Did they? Must have been the bike upgrade of the era

I know it s corona time but...be a bit original, we all ve seen this milion times :/

If I were to ever join a bike raced I'd ride an ebike and smoke everyone out!

what’s that bike in the thumbnail

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

Your voice keeps dipping after each sentence so a tad difficult to understand the last word or coupled with two.

Cleaning is not an upgrade.

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Man, every video you kids make sounds like its put through a Google Translate droid.

1. Tires 2. Cleaning products 3. Contact Points 4. Decent Cycling Kit 5. Mudguards I don't know why I watch this trash content but oh well.

Dont understand most of your British English words in America. Unclear unsteady voice. Too melodious.