What would be a good upgrade for this shifter/brake?

[Munkyak]

Hey guys,

Im looking to upgrade some components on my 2012 Scott aspect 29tour, and it has the "Shimano ST-EF 51 L, 8R, EZ-fire plus" combo setup for the brake and shifter. I was loking to upgrade the brakes to a hydrolic setup but noticed it was an all in one.. I guess my question is there an upgrade for this that is an all in one or should I just upgrade both individually, or does this require a lot more? I'm pretty new to the sport, so any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks!

Link to the specs for this bike:
Aspect 29 Tour - SCOTT Sports

[TiGeo]

If you want to upgrade to hydraulic brakes, you will need to get a separate shifter/brake lever set up. There are 8-speed shifter pods out there. One thing, what is driving you to upgrade the brakes?

[millertm]

I guess the question is how much you want to spend. You would be able to get another set of brakes "al la carte" and just clamp them to your bar next to your shifter. Or you could get another set of shifters and brakes that come in an "I-Spec"setup (I-S is just Shimano for shifter and brake connected). The fact that you are using an 8 speed setup is not to uncommon. I had a shifter break on my 7 speed bike and it was "I-Spec" so I got another brake lever and a new shifter. Talk to a local LBS and they can point you in the right direction.

Mark

[Munkyak]

If you want to upgrade to hydraulic brakes, you will need to get a separate shifter/brake lever set up. There are 8-speed shifter pods out there. One thing, what is driving you to upgrade the brakes?

I was told by my lbs that the 3 things that would be worth upgrading on this bike would be the shifter, the brakes and the front fork. The fork seems fine for what I'm using it for right now, and I upgraded the front rotor already to a 205mm to see if I could get some better braking out of it, it helped some, and was a pretty cheap mod. I've ridden a couple of friends bikes with hydrolic brakes and it just seems effortless to get the amount of braking I'm looking for. As far as the shifting goes, whats on there seems to do fine, but i wasn't sure if I could just replace the brakes without replacing the shifter too.

[Munkyak]

Any suggestions? i'm a noob to the whole thing, and ive decided i for sure want to upgrade these components.

[dirtdan]

What bike are you riding and what kind of riding do you do?

[Ddeand]

I just got my first mountain bike, and I spent a lot of time talking with the techs about possibilities for upgrades and improvements. They were all pretty emphatic with their suggestion that I ride the bike for a good chunk of the summer before I decide to do anything more drastic than seat, pedals, and stem (basic riding and fit things). They went as far as to recommend that I don't change anything until something breaks - then do an upgrade if I wish. But - when I got the bike, they recommended that I get hydraulic brakes and as good a shock as I could afford, so maybe my choice precluded many upgrades for a while. The techs were pretty adamant about just getting out and enjoying my new ride.

Have fun with the new bike!

Dean

[Munkyak]

Dirtdan: It's a 2012 Scott Aspect 29Tour, I posted a link in the first post for specs. I mostly do commuting at the moment, which has helped figure out what could definitely use an upgrade, but this coming spring and summer I plan on getting into more trail riding / basic single track and maybe some back country stuff eventually.

Hey thanks for the suggestion ddeand! I bought the bike last summer, and put a TON of miles on it. The 2 things I thought could use an upgrade was the brakes and the front fork, so I upgraded the front brake to a 203mm rotor and that helped a little bit, but it still seems like I have to get into it pretty hard to get any sort of stopping power. that's why I was thinking of upgrading to a hydrolic setup.

Really I guess my question is what would my options be for upgrading the shifter? it has a 3x8 setup on it. when I talked to my LBS they said to upgrade that I would have to upgrade my whole groupset and that a "good" setup would cost $1,000 -- which at that point I might as well just buy a new bike it seems like.... are these guys just feeding me a line or is this true?

[Mutantclover]

Well I can see where they're coming from saying to legitimately upgrade the shifter you would be looking at a new groupset. The reason is because an 8-speed system uses a much wider chain than 10 speed and even 9 speed. This means the front and rear cogs, chain, and shifters are created with that chain width in mind and no amount of calibration or tweaking will make them work with a different width chain. Many derailleurs are limited to a certain chain width as well.

Now, to buy a new groupset? That would probably cost around 300-400 for Deore stuff if you shopped around online, which is solid even for everyday offroad use. You would then need some special tools or the right cyclist friend to install them as well. But the current Deore brakes are not very good, you would want SLX or XT. Deore is going to be updated soon and the brakes might be better then, but that has yet to be seen (link Shimano Deore 2013-2014 Mountain Bike Groupset - Details Revealed - BikeRadar).

As for the fork, I had a SR Suntour fork once too (from 2004). It was really not that bad. If you are happy enough with it, maybe wait to upgrade that last if at all.

If you really just want to fix up your brakes and keep it at that (as you can see that might just be the best option), probably the only thing I could suggest is to change the calipers (keeping the levers you have) for Avid BB7's. No they are not as good as a good hydraulic, but they are much better than a BAD hydraulic.

[pimpbot]

Well I can see where they're coming from saying to legitimately upgrade the shifter you would be looking at a new groupset. The reason is because an 8-speed system uses a much wider chain than 10 speed and even 9 speed. This means the front and rear cogs, chain, and shifters are created with that chain width in mind and no amount of calibration or tweaking will make them work with a different width chain. Many derailleurs are limited to a certain chain width as well.

Now, to buy a new groupset? That would probably cost around 300-400 for Deore stuff if you shopped around online, which is solid even for everyday offroad use. You would then need some special tools or the right cyclist friend to install them as well. But the current Deore brakes are not very good, you would want SLX or XT. Deore is going to be updated soon and the brakes might be better then, but that has yet to be seen (link Shimano Deore 2013-2014 Mountain Bike Groupset - Details Revealed - BikeRadar).

As for the fork, I had a SR Suntour fork once too (from 2004). It was really not that bad. If you are happy enough with it, maybe wait to upgrade that last if at all.

If you really just want to fix up your brakes and keep it at that (as you can see that might just be the best option), probably the only thing I could suggest is to change the calipers (keeping the levers you have) for Avid BB7's. No they are not as good as a good hydraulic, but they are much better than a BAD hydraulic.

Groupset? Bullshiz.

I just say find a used set of Rapid Fire 9 speed shifters somewhere. LX shifters go for about $20 used. Get a 9 speed cassette. You can find new regular kinda grade ones for $35. Find a 9 speed chain, and you're in. Your 8 speed chainrings should work fine for 9 speed chains. I've done it, works fine. The rear derailleur is the same for 8 and 9 speed.

I second the Deore hydraulics. They work as good, or close enough to the upper end stuff. What you're paying for with the upper end stuff is pretty much weight savings and pretty finish.

[dirtdan]

Dirtdan: It's a 2012 Scott Aspect 29Tour, I posted a link in the first post for specs. I mostly do commuting at the moment, which has helped figure out what could definitely use an upgrade, but this coming spring and summer I plan on getting into more trail riding / basic single track and maybe some back country stuff eventually.

I would just go ride it. You haven't pushed the bike nearly hard enough to say that certain components are holding you back. Also, any shop that lists the first upgrades you should get, but leaves out the wheelset, shouldn't be taken all that seriously... The bike is fully capable of handling singletrack trail riding without any problems.

[bob13bob]

Just ride it. If the brakes are not stopping u after you've upgraded the rotor, maybe get koolstop brake pads. What brake is it?

sent from one of my 4 gold leafed iphone4s's

[Munkyak]

I think ill do just that.. soon as the snow goes away ill get out there and ride it and see whats up, then ill come back to this. I might just upgrade the caliper to the BB7 which seems like a cheap upgrade for right now! thanks for all the advice guys!

[dirtdan]

I think ill do just that.. soon as the snow goes away ill get out there and ride it and see whats up, then ill come back to this. I might just upgrade the caliper to the BB7 which seems like a cheap upgrade for right now! thanks for all the advice guys!

That will be a good and inexpensive upgrade. I've loved the BB7's I've run. I'd probably also add some good housing and stainless steel cables and sealed ferrules which are cheap enough since the stock cables and housing often suck.

[Munkyak]

Is there any noticeable difference between the 2011 and 2012 bb7?