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I recently bought a used hardtail MTB (my first bike ever) with Shimano's Acera groupset, double-wall wheels, but the front SR Ssuntour suspension has only 30 mm travel, which isn't enough for riding trails (I guess).

My question is :

  • Do I stick with the usual fork until I gain some skills ( I'm a complete beginner )
  • If not : is it as simple as replacing the front suspension with another one that has longer travel and then I'm ready to go, do forks need certain compatibility with other parts.

Thanks for your time !!!

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  • What bike did you buy?
    – Argenti Apparatus
    Commented Jul 13, 2020 at 19:26
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    Does this answer your question? What should I upgrade first?
    – ojs
    Commented Jul 13, 2020 at 19:41
  • What components? The bike. The entire bike. Unless you're really good at scrounging deals on components, it's almost certainly going to be cheaper to buy an entire new bike with the level of components you want than it would be to replace the components on your existing bike one-by-one (and since you're asking what to change you likely don't have the knowledge to spot good prices on components...). And then you'd still have the original frame that's likely heavy and doesn't ride as well as a higher-level frame. Go test ride a bike in the range you want to see what I mean.
    – Andrew Henle
    Commented Jul 13, 2020 at 20:05

1 Answer 1

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Buying bike then immediately trying to upgrade components is a mistake. It would have been better to take all the money available for post purchase upgrades and putting it into just buying a higher specification bike in the first place. Components cost significantly less when purchased as part of a whole bike.

is it as simple as replacing the front suspension with another one that has longer travel

No, it isn't. A longer travel fork needs to be longer to accommodate more wheel movement, the frame needs to have a higher headtube to accommodate the longer fork without altering the headtube angle. Additionally there are compatibility issues with headset bearing sizes. Inexpensive frames use headset bearings that are the same size, better forks use a larger lower bearing.

Ride the bike, save up money, buy a better bike when your improving skills and finances allow.

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    thanks, such a helpful community <3
    – hait_making_art
    Commented Jul 13, 2020 at 20:14

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