With just about every part on a Mountain Bike being replaceable, you would think that you can just upgrade a cheap bike to a decent standard.
So are cheap bikes worth upgrading?
Unfortunately, is not a good idea to upgrade a cheap Mountain Bike, and in most cases, it is not worth upgrading.
Taking a few of the points from earlier in the article, cheap Mountain Bikes are not worth upgrading for two reasons:
- Upgrades are often more costly than the whole bike
If you take a look at some of the most common upgrades for Mountain Bikes, you will quickly see that just about everything costs a few hundred dollars. When you’re able to buy a Mountain Bike from Walmart for just over $100, it does not make sense to throw on that kind of money into a cheap bike. Even if you decide to upgrade the least expensive components, you would get a way better ROI investing in a decent Mountain Bike.
- The Bike is so Proprietary that most parts will not fit
Another reason that cheap bikes aren’t worth upgrading, is that fact that they rarely fit the standard bike components sold on the market.
Not only can the nuts and parts be uncommon, the geometry and assembly of the bike frame could prevent any changed or upgrades entirely.
Of course, there is always an exception to most any rule and with a keen eye and some skill with bike tools, an experienced rider can possibly upgrade a cheap bike into something worth riding.
However, this is not recommended for a beginner.