Hi, I hope this is the right place to ask. I decided to start commuting by bike as it’s only about 15 minutes each way. So I got my first bike and learned how to ride. It’s a cheap Chinese MTB from my country’s version of amazon. This was a few months ago now. Since then I’ve been riding almost everyday and taking longer trips along the river trail near my home.

So I’m thinking about getting a lower end Shimano groupset. But I’m wondering what I’ll get out of upgrading. Will there be a noticeable difference in performance? Smoother shifting? More speed in top gear?

Thanks for any insight you can share :) any essential gear recommendations would be great too!

  • _haha_oh_wow_English
    3·
    2 months ago

    Post pics, but if you know how to work on your own stuff and the bike uses standard parts: Sure, why not?

    If the cheap bike fails, you can always rebuild with a better frame later and reuse the parts you already got. The only reason I’d say don’t bother is if the existing parts work fine already/are well made enough that they aren’t a safety hazard.

    I upgraded the brake rotors on my shitty Engwe EP2 Pro and I wish I’d upgraded the fender (but then it failed and broke my arm because it was faulty and the company didn’t give a fuck, thanks so much Engwe!).

    You might also have some luck asking over at [email protected]