It's articles like these that run through my head as I spend time in my bike cave upgrading/fixing/generally playing around wrenching on bikes.
Tonight one of my younger brothers came over and we serviced his 2016 Suntour Raidon 32 fork. Wouldn't hold air, needed a service badly and for $40 and my coaching he's got a nicely working fork again.
I also decided to give him some inexpensive min-max upgrades myself. Bought a larger cassette (HG 11-42) and are eliminating his 2X system and got an inexpensive narrow wide ring. Biggest benefit being he can use a standard dropper lever rather than the over-the-bar type required by two shifters. Add in new grips, 'upgraded' bars and stem that are my old take offs.
He can't afford to upgrade to anything better right now, but for about 100 freedom units (combined outlay) we've made a huge difference in the performance of his bike. And I'm spending time with my brother and we're drinking scotch so what's not to love? Sure, it might not be the level most of us are looking for, but he's stoked because it's going to improve his ride a lot.
Sept. 27, 2023, 10:40 p.m. - BarryW
It's articles like these that run through my head as I spend time in my bike cave upgrading/fixing/generally playing around wrenching on bikes. Tonight one of my younger brothers came over and we serviced his 2016 Suntour Raidon 32 fork. Wouldn't hold air, needed a service badly and for $40 and my coaching he's got a nicely working fork again. I also decided to give him some inexpensive min-max upgrades myself. Bought a larger cassette (HG 11-42) and are eliminating his 2X system and got an inexpensive narrow wide ring. Biggest benefit being he can use a standard dropper lever rather than the over-the-bar type required by two shifters. Add in new grips, 'upgraded' bars and stem that are my old take offs. He can't afford to upgrade to anything better right now, but for about 100 freedom units (combined outlay) we've made a huge difference in the performance of his bike. And I'm spending time with my brother and we're drinking scotch so what's not to love? Sure, it might not be the level most of us are looking for, but he's stoked because it's going to improve his ride a lot.