$180 vs. $1900 Contact Points - Budget vs. Baller Episode 3
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ธ.ค. 2021
- This time on Budget vs. Baller Henry and Jason dive into the world of contact points. Grips, handlebars, stems, dropper posts, saddles, and pedals all play a role in a bike's performance but do you need to splash out on the latest and greatest? We're here to find out where to spend and where to save.
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We hear you on including more sensible parts, we'll look at that if we do a second season. In the meantime, we've got a bunch of other videos and articles on smart parts choices on a budget: th-cam.com/video/i3_dBYT2Cis/w-d-xo.html
This has the potential to be an awesome series. It’d be good to see Henry’s mechanical skills put to good use, upgrading the existing fork damper & internals, shock tuning, maybe fixing the existing wheels and then adding a few sensible upgrades to see how it stacks up against the baller bike..?
Home mechanic vs baller bike 👌🏼
You should for sure do a second season. Why spend all the time/money in making only one season when people like the content and want to see more.
Agree, I'm going to watch every episode.
Really appreciate you commenting on this and listening to the viewers. Certainly is still entertaining, but the educational and practicality aspect of a video like this has so much more potential, and would likely get more viewers.
Edit: for future comparisons, think oneup carbon bars vs nukeproofs Sam hills signature bar (or even a little cheaper). Something a reasonable slightly above average joe would be deciding on. The fellas who are looking at $280 stems really don’t need that help deciding on something, because chances are, they’ve already got the knowledge. Again, still entertaining, but not as informative as it could be. Thanks again Pinkbike crew!
Also, do NOT do bucklos or the similar cheap eBay forks. They are not safe and are not suited to recommend to impressionable beginners. An inexpensive rockshox would be better.
I'd love for a 2nd series of this where you do budget smart choices instead of cheapest items making the bike worse in some cases. Regardless it's still a fun series to watch!
That’s what I’ve been thinking this whole time
I believe the same, but i also believe they are so sponsored that they won't show us the good cheap way
@@baddreams0919 maybe some of us regular folk should take the idea and make it what it's supposed to be
@@baddreams0919 They are sponsored by Jenson USA for this who supplied all of the products, I'm sure Jenson would be just fine showcasing slightly more expensive but quality parts.
Yeah like a nukeproof build. Cheaper than most but good enough for the majority of riders
Why are they making the budget bike worse? They should do go value parts not the cheapest available!
Yea, I like buying a lot of used parts for my bikes because it's cheaper but some are still pretty good quality and I don't feel like if I buy bars they're gonna snap
Like I don’t understand why they didn’t go for a one up V1 post. It’s almost the same price and what better.
Exactly! The series is turning into an advert for the high end components. Still entertaining though.
I'm continuously suprised that they can even find these bargain basement items. You definitely wouldn't find any of them in the bike shops in my town...
@@gtsimmo1 well considering the high end components were donated for advertising purposes it’s hard to see how it would be anything but an advertisement lol
I feel like a lot of the “upgrades” on the budget bike are actually worse than what was on it.
some of the baller bits are not any better than cheaper items. who is buying a enve stem over a burgtec or other nice blingy lump of metal. I feel they didn't do the upgrades properly. You are not going to put such crap tyres on a bike or a really short dropper.
Just wait for the 7 speed Shinona vs Sram axs drivetrain episode
@@MTBScotland Yeah, who the hell actually runs ENVE carbon bars that's looking for reduced chatter, ENVEs are known to be incredibly stiff, mainly for weight weenie XC bros. One Up carbon bars with a blingy i9 stem would've been just as baller and actually provided the reduced chatter
I think the point is that when you buy a used bike, you might have to replace any of these parts. So even if the budget the bike is downgrading compared to what came on the bike they happened to have picked up, they’re evaluating the range of what someone could buy.
@@waxstub Judy Silver vs Fox 36 factory
If the bike is getting worse it's not an upgrade, there should've been chosen some budget tired that are ok like some cheap trailkings or magic Mary with the bikepark compound and casing and the dropper could be at least internal like the factory one.
The entire premise is simply ignorant. Seemingly, they just need to create (shit) content...good thing they (PB) sold out. Idiots.
I didn't see anything about 'upgrades' in the title? The impression I got was about seeing what younger for little money and lots of money
I thought this series was about budget vs baller upgrades? Every budget part so far (aside from the grips maybe) have been downgrades compared to the parts they replaced. Instead of choosing the cheapest parts possible, it would be more realistic and relatable to compare super expensive niche parts to entry level quality parts.
This! The most budget friendly upgrade is not to change anything. I think a more realistic comparison would like to have a budget for set for each group of upgrades. Then Henry could have saved by not upgrading the cockpit and maybe got a slightly better seat or dropper.
I don't think they are going for a realistic upgrade guide. They are going for entertainment
Problem is, I’m not watching any more of these cause they’re pointless. People are entertained by the underdog, not the fool.
Me on the other hand can't understand why they're using such expensive stuff on their "budget" bike.
you missed the point dude , they bought the cheapest parts you can buy compared to the most expensive .
Make season 2 actually interesting with putting budget good value upgrades on rather than cheap eBay parts please.
Yea. The cheapest parts possible makes this series kind of a waste of time to watch.
@@stonewp exactly, whats the point in upgrading the tyre, bars, stem, front wheel and saddle.
So far the bike ony really needed rear wheel, grips, pedals and dropper. For the same budget they could've gotten some pretty good mid range parts
Agree with 98% of other comments. It's fun to watch but you really need more balance version of the series to be helpful, informative and entertaining.
Smart budget upgrades vs high end/premium stuff. Unless your sponsors won't let you do it.
I think for budget you need to go for good value parts not random cheap ebay junk.
why not make a more bang for your buck bike? it seems like you're downgrading the low bike instead of finding good bang for buck parts
There's a difference between budget and dangerous trash. OEM parts catalog bits are more reliable than some of the sus parts here. Between NOS and closeout items, one can obtain far, far better kit on a budget.
in the original donut media series they are always Improving the cars in the series and seeing if the upgrades are worth it, i think that you should be improving on the original parts on the bike instead of making the bike worse with really cheap parts
YES, That is so true! I dont know the original but I had the samee thought!!
TAKE THOSE BARS AND STEMS OFF NOW THOSE WAKE STEMS AND BARS (different logo same company) they had to change the branding on those blue bars because of the amount of injuries those bars have caused. I personally experienced this!
Damn really? I almost bought those for a neighbors bike I was helping rebuild on the cheap. Good to know.
@@dylan-5287 that’s exactly why this series is a joke. They’re promoting “upgrades” that will actually make your bike worse, maybe even dangerous!! Someone is going to get hurt
I would have more confidence in the cheap Aluminum bars over any carbon bar
@@powerrod1657 until you realise those alu bars are made of butter...
Could we actually get reasonable upgrades. My clapped out hardtail came with better parts than those, the stock components are better than most of those parts. For the suspension the budget option should be a full service of the suspension and replacing anything internally that needs replaced. Seems like the vast majority of the “upgrades” make the bike worse.
for less than $100 you can get a Satori sorata pro, a 150mm integrated dropper post. I've been using it for more than 1 year and it works really well.
It's a single use post, no serviceable parts inside, but it's smooth and has a lower stack heights than some well regarded posts, ran one for 2 years myself.
@@piciu256 yeah but for less than $100 you can’t have everything sadly
@@currymasterrace7153 well, imo it's avesome if you're not very picky, actually I am picky and I was happy with it.
@@piciu256 yep, I was talking about the “single use”
@@currymasterrace7153 I know
I have that exact 8$ stem and I can confirm that it is quite durable from my testing
Have seen many wake stems and bars snap/crack, be careful, id never ride em
@@S.Minkii well it was 12 euros for me and I don't ride too hard so idk if it'll snap
@Emerald Triangle ok no need for taking shots man, im just sayin
Love the series, but would be great to see a slight change for the next season of it: the cheap bike gets used parts off of pinkbike with the goal of getting it to be as good as the baller bike while staying in a set budget. Plus...more goofing off with the bikes every episode 😛
Yeah that would be sick for the second season.
Yeah that could be a good watch.
I would agree. I have started on an entry level bike and have used pink bike to get top components to upgrade my bike in an affordable fashion. Would be good marketing for pb too.
I think you should get the 9 dollar stem in a test rig and see what kg it fails at compared to the stock stem , it actually looks ok thickness wise . Cost is a funny thing , out of the plant its a few dollars , running through several hands and their markups its 50 dollars, same initial cost . I have purchased tapware from china before, in container loads the cost was 12 usd per ceramic mixer tap with european works, sold for 150 each at the store.
i would rather see you put some time in the cheap bike and service it instead of making it worse with new parts
The in-house branded bar and stem combo got so many things right. Unless I know what I need I would never replace them.
I swear by my RevGrips on my hardtail. I have tendon issues in my hands and since putting them on my bike in the softest setting there has a been a distinct difference in the strain.
Me too, got them for my full sus a good while ago and theres a noticeable difference in post ride hand/wrist pain!
I was 100% a doubter of RevGrips Grips. So much so, I avoided them for years. When I finally took the plunge, they solved almost all of my chatter-induced arm pump. I'm a medium sized guy at 5'7" - ish, who raced a lot of downhill in the past. I have tried squishy grips such as ESI Extra Chunky. They help, but the thickness of the grip became an issue. Diety, death grips, etc, all still had arm pump. Revgrips allows me to run a 31mm lock on grip, with a half waffle pattern, and almost entirely leave arm pump ad a thing of the past.... 100% recommend.
100% agreed, but for my long fingers i love large size grips, they are perfect for me. Been riding them for 2 years, having them on all my bikes, never looking back on conventional grips. I am disappointed with badly done reviews of Revgrips, like failure of Seth from Berm Peak, he messed the montage and now Pinkbike not giving a f.ck about trying them properly, ideally on the softest setting and on chunky stuff….
I love rev grips just because the team rides on my local trails and you can always find the owner out there testing new things, the work never stops
If you use flat pedals, BUY VULCANIZED SKATE SHOES. Being able to feel where the pedal is under your foot is a game-changer for me and I'm positive it could help others, too.
I think you all kind of missed the mark compared to the donut series. I still enjoyed it but "budget" doesn't have mean absolute cheapest - just mid to lower range budget conscious options. Maybe even consider the used market place for the next go around?
I have a 2020 Giant that is almost identical to the test bikes(def in better condition). Giants stock/in-house wheel set,dropper, stem, grips, saddle and handlebar are all super solid. In my biased opinion you’d really have to spend up to do better than what the bike already comes with.
Budget vs. baller vs. mid range would be best. I still like seeing the critiques of both in this series. Also it's cool to see you give the budget stuff a fair shot instead of dismissing it right away.
Thanks for using my massive overshoot video 😂🤘🏼
I hope pink bike offer a good dental plan with that $9 stem 😬
PNW makes grips and droppers that aren’t much more expensive than the budget options bought. You could have got some good composite pedals for not much more than the one metal pedal you bought… Can the budget bike be a little more reasonable with the products? I feel like it’s purposely seeking out the worst options. Make more episodes with reasonable budget options how you did with the wheel selection. Maybe some better tire. Continental or WTB isn’t Maxxis expensive.
Putting money where its important makes the most sense. Did you need to replace the stock stem with a $9 one? I’d much rather seen some spank vibrocore bars (or similar) on a stock stem vs replacing parts for the fun of it
i have the $8 stem and ive ridden it for about 3 and a bit years and it has been genuinely great
This is defo one of my favourite series that pinkbike have done. So good cheers Pinkbike!
I've spent over 20 years riding DH, obviously not a pro but I can hold my own. I've found out many of these knock off brands to be quite adequate and at a fraction of the price.
My son has used the same Wake bars and stern for over 2 years without an issue whatsoever. And the Rockbros pedals are great!
I remember Azonic Shorty stems costing $40-$50 and thinking that was high... I cannot justify spending $280 on a stem.
I’ve ran that cheap bar and stem combo on horrible stuff for years now but it’s definitely luck of the draw. I’ve had one strip threads immediately and I’ve had one outlast bikes. Being a broke college student makes it real hard to spend on these components so it was a risk i was willing to take. Good video fellas
Love this series can't wait till next one 👍
The title was promising ! I watched the first episode, then watch a few minutes from the second and then just a few seconds from this. Keep up the good work :)
I feel like even on a tight budget i would justify getting a decent budget stem but i would NEVER ride a 9$ stem. NEVER. EVER. I get that’s not the point of the series though so id like to see a baller vs sensible budget series too ;)
Budget does not necessarily mean the cheapest available. Maybe make it a “value” vs… baller next time.
I’ll chime in for SQ Lab on the saddle. We put one on a bike for a media project not expecting to keep it on; but I personally loved it and bought more for my other bikes.
Best series! Keep em coming
Loving this series
I don't think anyone with a 2017 reign would go and order a zoom dropper that had to be taped to the frame and mike bear tires. something more realistic woulda nice to see
P.S wireless shit weighs more then the normal stuff, why even talk about weight 🤣
Revgrips I rate highly, couldn't ride without them now. The price is a lot but I haven't replaced the sleeves in almost 2 years.
Seriously love this series.
I Love the series, its really refreshing.
Just upgrading dropper lever is great way to turn cheaper dropper much better.
That stem is pure ripoff. What kind of snake oil it was coated with?
I have most of the budget parts in this video on my entry level hardtail
Good to see Henry creating content and riding again!
I need a wider handle bar so i bought that similar bar (cheapest 780 mm) just to get the feel, so if I dont like it i have no regret. Its preety good quality but after several crash finally i replaced it with spank bar, because im not so sure the handlebar will hold its integrity. But overall its worth the money if you just want to feel how to ride with wider bar..
if I had a dollar for every broken wake stem I've encountered, I'd be able to afford that baller stem
Really? Never encountered one. Especially now that MTB stems are so short the leverage on them is less and cheap Chinese ones work fine in my experience.
If any of you have watched the donut series they did this with a couple parts as well, such as those god awful coil overs from ebay. Its about getting the cheapest new thing you can. If ur really on a budget you’ll just be buying ur bike fixing what you can and replacing what you need. What would be more interesting is if they added a category called bargain hunter, where all the upgrades were the best priced items they could find on classifieds and the PB buysell… cause if you want the best buying used is almost always more practical as long as you can condition it back to new ;)
Can't wait to see the suspension episode!!!
you gotta put some intend suspention on there, their forks are just so expensive (espetially the bandit) and the push eleven six if available for your bike
I have a friend who was using the wake stem on his hardtail and the clamp cracked next to the bolt and it wasn’t useable anymore so I’d not call it the safest option especially if you ride hard stuff 😬
for the dropper, the best cheapest one would be a KS Exa.
At this point, henry can make a mike bear merchs and turn the budget to ultimate baller bike
You should get rid of the Wake stem. Got one of those couple of years back. Screws came loose in an instant, thread was gone. This stem is dangerous.
I actually bought a pair of those bars and stem a while ago and they exceeded my expectations the only down side is the bars are kind of short but they're great bars honestly
“Ride sketchy, it’s just more fun!” -The Fatal Mike Bear
That Wake stem is fine. Thousands of people on them.
"Budget" also implies some thoughtful decisions and not what looks like Ali Express parts. This is going in a completely opposite direction of what I would expect. Cannot wait for the Ohlins or Fox Kashima suspension vs. Unknown Amazon brand. What will be the best choice? So many questions!
I love these videos!! the only thing that gets me with things like this is when people dis not being able to afford the new things or when they make people who cant afford the nicest thing feel bad about not being able to.
Love it man! And by the way I love my revgrips have them on all my bikes.
I get where everyone is coming from on these commitments but honestly we all already know the answer. NX is good, $200 droppers are good, sram level brakes are good. All the mid level stuff is good these days it really wouldn’t be much of a video if they did it on mid level stuff.
we want to know how good they are compared to the top of the line stuff, and if the cost is worth it
I restored an old Giant bike last year and put on those Corki grips and they feel great.
lol this is so awesome.
That as to all the comments below my favs go-tos:
Stem... whatever works but Race Face isn't usually a bad price or option
Bars: all preference but worth spending the dollars regardless of the type of riding and I prefer alloy: I'd go with Renthal, Chromag, then Raceface
Grips - any lock-ons work... I have used Dietys, Specialized, to Brand-X and even cheap amazon FLNN ones and they're all good. I do like the overall quality of the specialized however
Saddle - fitment first... and for your purpose. I've had the same specialized saddle on my main bike for 15 years, and I've bought things like Chromag Trail masters etc.. Looks are secondary
Pedals - Having had spent the dollars from Saints for clipless to composites.. I lean towards comps. For my riding, the Stamps, Chesters, Bontrager pedals are fully functional as any, are lighter and most importantly saves my shins. I'll put on the Saints if I'm really going to send it and want to be attached to my Demo
Dropper - Have to say that I've had the most troubles with reverbs, and that x-fusion and KS make competitive ones for cheaper. Also I've had the "dreaded" specialized command post and though they are awkward... it was my most reliable
like everything, its all preference and dressing... so fitment first, and can all be done reasonably cheap.
Are handle bars, stem, seat post contact points? For me contact points are, grips, pedals and seat.
I think for ~285$ you would have something that makes sense.
Would go with:
Merida 170mm Dropper (got that mysef for 135$ new)
Nukeproof Neutron/Horizon Bar (40$)
Truvativ Hussefelt Stem (40$)
Nukeproof Neutron Pedals (35$)
Nukeproof Neutron Saddle (35$)
Should have been called
“How to spend as little as possible to make your bike WORSE than it was before”
Literally two of the things are contact points you don’t touch your bars, stem, seatpost
l gotta say l didnt see anyone riding better than the other guy today and l can trust no name alloy stem n bars as long they re made properly !! and yes wider pedals feel great . l d love to be tester for cheap parts to find others the best deal for their money :) PS I WOULD BE LESS INCLINED TO TRY NONAME CARBON PARTS ALLOY NO PROBLEM
If it hasn’t happened yet, I think you should run the final time trial with both sets of tires so that you can show how far a decent set of tires goes.
I'd take the $8 stem over the carbon one.
I actually used the hikenture pedals, they were pretty good, just had 1 annoying thing: 1 was rotating too smooth. Basically bought the same pedals again with a different name, i believe tankei or something. And that fixed that issue for me. Also my handlebars from red cycling are cheaper at 12eu 700mm 25mm rise with a bit of backsweep.
Great series, but as others have said perhaps "cheap as dirt vs baller" isn't a choice anyone would make. But I get that this is for entertainment, and who knows, maybe you'll find a dirt-cheap gem! All I know is I wouldn't trust my sternum to a $30 stem-and-bar combo.
I think this series could be educational for brand new riders, or prospective riders, who wonder why bikes cost so much, and what is actually wrong with an $85 dropper post when it looks the same as a $300 one to them.
the issue with showing what the "smart" upgrdaes are for the budget is that every rider thats upgrading on a budget will need different things, some will only need a new dropper, some will need grips and pedals, others will need everything. So, pinkbike are upgradintg everything instead of doing the smart updrade of, in this case, dropper, pedals and maybe
I’d love to see a practical build mixed in with this. Somewhere between budget and baller, that combines value with adequate performance. Then you should go do an enduro event with all of them.
My wake bars have held up for a couple of years with no issues, but they're also attached to a Race Face Ride stem and I don't murder my bike at every turn
Same personal result with the SQ Lab saddle, terrible on my Stumpy - BUT put it on my road bike and it’s a game changer … so weird.
Nice épisode 👌
and still rocking rock bros and showing up the competition
The budget option should be buying off Facebook of pink bike so the bike it getting better not worse.
"God no. I can't ride that" haha, I say that all the time. Good to see a fellow gear snob!
I've always wanted to try one of those SQLabs saddles but there's nowhere in Austin to test one without dropping big money and just buying one. oh well.
This is a great series. I think there is 1 thing they got wrong. They should go for bang for buck rather than cheapness. Because the purpose is to see what to upgrade and most stock or used bikes come with better parts than what they are buying.
Man REVGRIPS are massive upgrade! Run them on the softest setting and you will never want to come back to your conventional grips. They literally saved my hands when i could not ride anymore with all those brakimgs bumps in bikeparks….
When the Park Ratchet Hex is worth more than the part its putting on the bike! 🤣
Wake components are a staple in the Philippine bicycle community
Jason: After riding the stock saddle for some while longer rides left me with, and as I described it in my LBS, "FIZZY COCK" ..... They measured me for an SQLabs saddle (I assume that one was measured for 'yo ass'...?) and I parted with what I thought was a lot of money.... after a couple of rides I wasn't that impressed at all but had dirtied it so wasn't likely to be able to return it.....after a month of using it I found that I settled into it and now nothing else is as good....trust me I've tried on the second bike.
All that said, every man has his own butt!
I perked up at "That's like, a $100 an oz."
$1500 (estimate) for 2017 Giant Reign + $2200 wheels + $1900 contact point parts = $5600. I'll just have a new $5600 bike, please.
On the other end of the spectrum, you do know that the word "upgrade" does not mean downgrade, right???
The most valuable thing I will take from this video is the term, allen key interface.
I Agree with the other comments, it's not an upgrade if you're using cheaper parts than the original.
Upgrading the baller option while downgrading the other one.. There's some questionable decisions there. Well, it's just for fun and just a way to make Henry suffer. 😆
Ahhh HENRY.. gmbn is watching 👀
ATTENTION PINKBIKE: Have you even read a single comment in any of these videos in the series? I've never seen a comment section almost 100% in agreement, then the creator completely ignoring that their audience is trying to say.
Really poor job with a series that people were excited about and had potential. A for effort, F for execution.
Anybody looking for a really good budget friendly dropper post lever, check out the Wolftooth rip off one from ZTTO. It’s super plush, fit and forget and will instantly transform the performance of any budget dropper post.
Most bikes these days come with internal cable routing even entry level ones. Can’t understand why they did test something like the dropper post from the likes of Brand X?
My AXS dropper post cannot get low enough without the battery bottoming out on the tire. I would say that's probably the least well executed dropper in recent times. Besides Henry's dropper of course. I cannot understand why the battery is on the back and not the front.
Because of the seat angle.
@@piciu256 77 degrees?
@@piciu256 I mean if you cannot use them on a 77 degree seat angle that is kind of an issue for most bikes lol
@@kaseykohler1490 I meant the battery is not put at the front because of the seat angle, the seatpost is angled backwards generally, plus the seats are narrow up front more often than not. You could try to put it on backwards though, all the bushings etc. are symmetrical, so no harm to be done if it's possible to set the correct seat angle.
@@piciu256 the post does not work backwards. I tried :/. They could have designed the battery to be in the front but just chose not to I guess.
Somewhere in the middle is best! 😅 But this is great for comparison which it is meant for. 🔥👊🏼
Great video Dudes!! Nowadays I'm just waiting for this video every week!! That's how good these videos are!!
Rev grips are amazing an aggressive hard tails!