So here is my deal. I save my lawn mowing money and bought a mongoose hilltopper when I was 15. Rode it everywhere and on plenty of trails. Sold it in my early twenties.
Fast forward a bunch of years and I was yearning to get back into shape and mountain biking again. I searched for months for a good deal on a used bike, but most people seem to think their 10-15 year old bike is worth 2/3 of the cost of a new bike. seems like it's only when they hit 20 plus years old people will part with them for a reasonable sum....
So rather than waiting more months, wasting another summer looking for a great deal that wouldn't have modern geometry anyway, I just bought a new specialized pitch sport for $625. Would have been nice to be able to buy $1,000+ bike but just didn't have the funds.
So now a bit over a month later I know a lot of what I didn't know, and now know my bike isn't all that great. Ha.
I have added a dropper post to it but that's it so far. It's obvious my fork is not going to last a whole lot longer... That's not really surprise though, I had really planed on upgrading after a year or so, when I bought the bike... Haha, a year or so.....
So an air fork is in the plans in the next couple of months through suntour upgrade program, but after that I'm not sure.
Stripped down to its frame is something like the current specialized pitch really a "bad" bike? I definitely want to stick with 27.5 wheels, all of the bikes with 29ers I tried, the wheels just seem ridiculously comically huge. I'm not actually sure if my 2018 or 19 but they are both the same anyway as far as I can tell and components and geometry. Head tube angle is 68.5°, , seat tube is 73° so that's comparable to all of the nice cross-country hardtails I see, other bits of geometry are similarly in the middle of the "nice" bike range (comparing xl to xl and l, I am pretty sure I would be a large on some bikes XL on others... I have seen plenty of $1500-$2000 hardtails recommend here with all angles and lengths on both sides of what mine has.
So my real question, whould I be stupid to slowly upgrade this bike, $200 at a time? To the level of a $1500 hardtail? Not monetarily, but performance-wise. Obviously I know that a $1,500 hardtail is a better buy monetarily than buying a $500 bike and upgrading the components to the $1,500 level. But once there, is the $1,500 bike still better, performance-wise is my question? (I plan on getting a full suspension bike as well eventually but will be keeping this one as a backup)
Once I upgrade to a decent fork, 1x11 drivetrain, decent hydro brakes, maybe wheels? etc, am I still going to be wishing to sell it and buy a $1,500 hardtail?
If so, why?
If it matters, I'm 6'1" with a 32" inseam. I bought an XL pitch. Here are the geometry specs. When I upgrade the fork I plan to go with 120 mm, vs the 100 mm that's on it now.
CRANK LENGTH 175MM
STEM LENGTH 80mm
SEATPOST LENGTH 400mm
SADDLE WIDTH 143mm
HANDLEBAR WIDTH 740mm
REACH 460mm
TOP TUBE LENGTH, HORIZONTAL 649mm
STACK 618mm
WHEELBASE 1165mm
CHAINSTAY LENGTH 435mm
FRONT CENTER 733mm
BB DROP 43mm
BB HEIGHT 310mm
SEAT TUBE ANGLE 73°
HEAD TUBE ANGLE 68.5°
SEAT TUBE LENGTH 510mm
HEAD TUBE LENGTH 135mm
BIKE STANDOVER HEIGHT 808mm
FORK RAKE/OFFSET 42mm
FORK LENGTH, FULL 495mm
TRAIL 94mm
Fast forward a bunch of years and I was yearning to get back into shape and mountain biking again. I searched for months for a good deal on a used bike, but most people seem to think their 10-15 year old bike is worth 2/3 of the cost of a new bike. seems like it's only when they hit 20 plus years old people will part with them for a reasonable sum....
So rather than waiting more months, wasting another summer looking for a great deal that wouldn't have modern geometry anyway, I just bought a new specialized pitch sport for $625. Would have been nice to be able to buy $1,000+ bike but just didn't have the funds.
So now a bit over a month later I know a lot of what I didn't know, and now know my bike isn't all that great. Ha.
I have added a dropper post to it but that's it so far. It's obvious my fork is not going to last a whole lot longer... That's not really surprise though, I had really planed on upgrading after a year or so, when I bought the bike... Haha, a year or so.....
So an air fork is in the plans in the next couple of months through suntour upgrade program, but after that I'm not sure.
Stripped down to its frame is something like the current specialized pitch really a "bad" bike? I definitely want to stick with 27.5 wheels, all of the bikes with 29ers I tried, the wheels just seem ridiculously comically huge. I'm not actually sure if my 2018 or 19 but they are both the same anyway as far as I can tell and components and geometry. Head tube angle is 68.5°, , seat tube is 73° so that's comparable to all of the nice cross-country hardtails I see, other bits of geometry are similarly in the middle of the "nice" bike range (comparing xl to xl and l, I am pretty sure I would be a large on some bikes XL on others... I have seen plenty of $1500-$2000 hardtails recommend here with all angles and lengths on both sides of what mine has.
So my real question, whould I be stupid to slowly upgrade this bike, $200 at a time? To the level of a $1500 hardtail? Not monetarily, but performance-wise. Obviously I know that a $1,500 hardtail is a better buy monetarily than buying a $500 bike and upgrading the components to the $1,500 level. But once there, is the $1,500 bike still better, performance-wise is my question? (I plan on getting a full suspension bike as well eventually but will be keeping this one as a backup)
Once I upgrade to a decent fork, 1x11 drivetrain, decent hydro brakes, maybe wheels? etc, am I still going to be wishing to sell it and buy a $1,500 hardtail?
If so, why?
If it matters, I'm 6'1" with a 32" inseam. I bought an XL pitch. Here are the geometry specs. When I upgrade the fork I plan to go with 120 mm, vs the 100 mm that's on it now.
CRANK LENGTH 175MM
STEM LENGTH 80mm
SEATPOST LENGTH 400mm
SADDLE WIDTH 143mm
HANDLEBAR WIDTH 740mm
REACH 460mm
TOP TUBE LENGTH, HORIZONTAL 649mm
STACK 618mm
WHEELBASE 1165mm
CHAINSTAY LENGTH 435mm
FRONT CENTER 733mm
BB DROP 43mm
BB HEIGHT 310mm
SEAT TUBE ANGLE 73°
HEAD TUBE ANGLE 68.5°
SEAT TUBE LENGTH 510mm
HEAD TUBE LENGTH 135mm
BIKE STANDOVER HEIGHT 808mm
FORK RAKE/OFFSET 42mm
FORK LENGTH, FULL 495mm
TRAIL 94mm