Is It Better To Buy Expensive Or Upgrade A Budget Bike?

It’s no secret that mountain bikes can get expensive, with top-end options sometimes running into five-figure sums for complete builds! But can you upgrade a lower-spec bike with the parts found on a top-of-the-line bike for cheaper? Well, we found some examples, did some math, and now we’re going to find out!

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Do you think it's better to buy expensive, or buy budget and upgrade? Let us know down below!👇

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[gmbn]

Do you think it's better to buy expensive, or buy budget and upgrade? Let us know down below!👇

[wolfura]

Someone once said to me; Start mountain-biking, it's fun and you just need a bike. Now I have an empty wallet and an electric mountainbike instead of a car. Best choice I made though, totally worth it.

[boniedwa]

But you can sell parts you are replacing, so the cost of new ones is lower. You can also change parts when they wear out or break, you will have to do it anyway, so this cost can also be added to the top models. So it's best to buy the cheapest carbon model and replace what breaks or wears out. The advantage is that as a beginner you do not need a top model, riding a cheaper one will develop the skills in you and when you are better you will replace parts.

[TrIpMo]

What about the parts coming from the cheaper models? If you sell them, you probably can get like a £1000-£1500 back.

So upgrading is the better choice.

[metal_anomaly]

I think we're missing the point here. The point of upgrading a low end bike isn't to put the exact same compnents on it as its more expensive version. Instead you choose the best value parts and make your own bike. A better comparison would've been taking different, but comparable choices for all parts into account. Most people aren't buying a specific, usually overpriced crankset or any other part "because it's from orbea", or "because the higher end model has it".

Also, starting out with a bike worth 2K+ is starting already at the point of diminishing returns. There's a lot of bikes worth 1K or less that are upgradable to a very reasonable level. Most people aren't going to upgrade to say, carbon cranks anyway, because again, diminishing returns.

No hate btw, love your other videos, i just don't think this one got the whole point right.

[Kozza-]

Buying the low end bike and upgrading would be best choice especially for someone starting out in the sport because as they upgrade they could learn how to work on the bike at the same time.
With the high end bikes unless the spec is exactly as you want it why not custom build your own from a frame set maybe even using high end parts of your last bike

[komoonkh]

I understand that videos like this are mainly a showcase for the brand that sponsors your channel, but with those prices, the percentage of viewers who actually have money to buy those bikes is very low. Most of us shred a budget hardtail. Lets be honest here.

[scriptosaurusrex]

I think what was missed in this video is the ability to upgrade gradually.
Not everyone can afford a top bike, or wants to go into debt buying one.
If you buy an upper mid range bike, like the ones you list, as long as it is a decent upgrade on what you already have, you can start there.

Notice you are occasionally on the limit of stopping power? Brakes first.
Don't like the suspension, that goes first then.
Shifting legitimately holding you back? Upgrade there first then (even better as you can do, shifters first, derailleur a couple months later and sprockets and chain whenever they wear out anyway) and so on.

It's a good way to spread the cost. By the time you max it, the components will potentially be cheaper (or you are getting an upgrade for similar cost) - assuming we don't continue tp see massive price rises way above inflation....

[chrisridesbicycles]

I build fully custom. Not only do I like the process, I can get the saddle and grips I am used to in the first place and also can add a bit of colourful bling on parts like headset spacers.

[yeetyboigaming]

Over time it is probably better just to do little upgrades over a period of time although this is a bit more expensive its more wallet friendly and it feels very nice getting nice new parts for your bike. Also once those parts have worn out a bit you would need to replace that part anyways so really it's just better to upgrade th bike over time.

[pauljakobschilling]

Super interesting topic! As mentioned by others however having the spare parts after the upgrade is worth something. I think often you overpay for higher specs.

[OneTrueCat]

The fact you keep offering up 2k+ bikes as "budget" is a huge disservice to the sport and the continued growth of our community, not to mention it tells manufacturers that there's nothing wrong with the truly obscene pricing that they get away with at every tier of cycling of every kind.

[norfiril]

I’ve been doing that for years. The good thing about buying the low spec (if the frame alone is not an option) instead of the top end is you can customize your bike. You can choose those components you are interested in from the top spec and discard those you don’t (i.e. carbon wheels). Also you can choose better components than those on the top spec and pay similar or less money for a much better bike

[jasonw]

If you need to upgrade shortly after buying the bike then you might as well save a bit more and get a higher spec bike. But in any case I think it's always better to consider the frame when buying a new bike as its almost always the most expensive part and no amount of upgrading can drastically change how it is. The scout is a good example because the lowest spec is still the same frame as the highest so you can build on it over time.

[kubagajda]

I've bought a lowest spec slash new, and straight off stripped it of its parts to bring everything to xt level. With a bit of patience and searching I've manage to only pay about 10-20% of retail price for everything if to factor in the price the original parts were sold for. Good enough for me

[RyanAlexanderBloom]

I bought an $1800 bike and put $200-$300 of upgrades on it and it’s comparable to a $3000 bike in my opinion. Not a pro racer, but a good bike. I got essentially everything I wanted, dropped like 3lbs or 1.5kg in raw weight, and it was a steal in today’s bike market. Full suspension 150/130, 27.5, 180mm discs, dropper, etc. It’s either a big trail bike or a small enduro but it’s pretty much the amount of bike I need for my local trails.

[chiefsilverback]

This video definitely overlooked the fact that you could by a Scout frame and slap all those parts on and you'd have a nice bike because of the better fork.

For the Occam build, you could get the carbon frameset and build up, but you could also opt for the Factory suspension components but only go to XT for the drivetrain and brakes and save a chunk of change...

There is no frame only option for the aluminium Occam so you have to buy a built bike, but at the H10 level you can opt for Fox Factory as ~£500 upgrade option...

[ShadLife]

I generally upgrade to what I personally like so it's worth it for me because even if I get a top spec bike I tend to switch parts to my liking anyway. So I generally will get the lowest or mid range bike with the same frame as the higher spec, then upgrade not to what's on the higher spec bike, but to what I persoanlly want on my bike.

[JC-ugix]

Upgrading is a lot more fun and allows you to custom spec everything to your own liking

[merlinzipp]

In reality you would probably not upgrade the FOX suspension just for the Kashima, thereby saving 1059 pounds on either the aluminum or carbon frame lower spec bikes. You may not want a carbon frame in the first place.
As a bike shop owner, I would buy complete bikes just for the components to build on higher level frames because of the significant cost savings.