Do you know that feeling when you've scored a really great deal while shopping? It feels somehow uplifting to land a real cracker for little money. We scoured the market with this goal in mind: well-known, tried-and-tested bike parts for little money. And we found what we were looking for. We put together our show bike as an example using parts purchased cheaply from renowned companies. It looks great and doesn't cost the earth. However, our sample bike is not intended to encourage people to build their own - because customised bikes are always more expensive than complete bikes. However, the slightly cheaper bikes in particular often have one or two weak points that can be fixed. The market offers plenty of opportunities to replace overweight no-name add-on parts with high-quality branded products - even we were surprised by the prices of the well-known tuning parts on our list.
A LOT OF BRAKING POWER FOR LITTLE MONEY
Converting from old-fashioned rim brakes to powerful disc brakes makes the biggest dent in the budget. In addition to the brake system, a new set of wheels is often required because the hubs lack the mount for the brake discs. But there is a remedy for just 368 euros - and not a bad one at that. The Mavic Crossride Disc System wheels are available for 190 euros and Magura offers a complete Julie hp brake system for 178 euros. It may not be the most powerful on the market, but it is easy to modulate and stable. We fitted a white Pro brake system from XLC to our show bike together with the sharp Red Metal 5 wheels from Italian wheel manufacturer Fulcrum. This functional alternative with a customised look is available for 408 euros.
FORKS DO NOT HAVE TO BE EXPENSIVE
Do you need a new fork? Here, too, there are real price hammers. For 249 euros, the Epicon from SR Suntour is the obvious choice. An air fork with 115 millimetres of travel that can be locked from the handlebars, with adjustable rebound - what more could you want? However, well-known names from the high-end segment such as Rock Shox or Manitou also offer sensible products for a hundred euros more. The technology inside the forks is often the same as in much more expensive models. Savings are made on the material - the forks are somewhat heavier as a result.
CULT BRANDS AT A BARGAIN PRICE
Let's take a look at the box of add-on parts: Several companies have interesting price bangers in store here. Cult brand Race Face offers a solid entry-level groupset with its Ride XC parts. We also rummaged through the Ritchey and FSA range to find some interesting budget parts. However, very few people realise that companies like Syntace also have such affordable products in stock. With the Duraflite 2014, you can get a 600 millimetre wide and 222 gram cross-country handlebar for 38.90 euros. The saddle on the show bike comes from the renowned brand Selle Italia - for 49.90 euros.
We particularly liked the fact that there is room for individuality even in this class. In addition to the standardised black, we discovered white handlebars and a white seat post from FSA, Control-Tech and XLC, which we immediately fitted to the show bike. The Xtasy grips further enhance the cockpit. The XLC bottle cage in carbon look is available for an unbeatable 6.95 euros. We completed the bike with the new SLX drivetrain from Shimano (not listed in the table - see download) - the secret winner of the Gear test in BIKE 3/09. The individual SLX parts add up to a total of 204 euros.
Tyres offer considerable money-saving potential. A set of tyres of the highest quality can easily cost 100 euros. But there are also reasonable quality tyres in the lower price segment. If you invest between 25 and 40 euros, you can get a decent set of tyres from almost any manufacturer. The big difference in price is due to the fact that manufacturers do not use special puncture protection inserts or complex rubber compounds. A slightly higher rolling resistance and a higher weight are accepted. A Ritchey Z-Max Premonition, for example, only costs 16.90 euros in the clincher version, but offers the tread of the expensive version.
You can find the entire article with the large overview table of favourable and useful tuning parts as a PDF download below.
