After a few opinons on an upgrade route for my '05 Merlin Malt1. It's served me well, but it could fit slightly better, and ofcourse it would be nice to have a better bike! It's currently got MX Comps, Magura Julie breaks, mavic x317 rims, a mix of deore/XT groupset, and fsa finishing kit with ea50 risers.

On the one hand I'm tempted to get a new frame - a steal hardtail like a 456 or prince-albert. Would these frames be much lighter than my current malt1?

I'm only up for spending a couple of hundred quid at the mo, so is going for a new frame going to make the most difference, or could I spend the cash better elsewhere, preferably knocking some weight off... maybe get a better wheelset and upgrade to XT discs? Maybe a new fork with lockout? Better finishing kit?

Opinions please...

The steel frames aren't classed as light frames, my 456 weight a touch under 5lbs, its a 18inch frame, and also the geometry will will quite sharp as its designed for a longer fork in mind really, so new forks will ahve to be added to the list. I would say, depending on the hubs you have, some new wheels, hope pro2's or XT on some 717's, or some new lighter forks.

Thinking about your advice, and you're probably right... though it would be nice to have a steal ht one day, getting a new wheelset might be the best idea, and I can keep the old wheels for when we upgrade my gf's bike to discs - she'll get the Julie's when they eventually get upgraded, as well as the mx comp one day.

cheers.

Go tubeless with XT on 819s? If not wait till something breaks because the spec looks fine.

As John says.

But forks and wheels make the biggest difference. As already mentioned you don't buy steel frames for being lightwieght, you buy them for the zing/comfort factor/toughness.

If your looking for lightwieght stuff you need to think higher grade Aluminuim, titanium (v.expensive) or carbon (again expensive). Same for forks, I'd say though if you want significant fork improvement over your current fork you're gonna need to splash out a bit more than a £200.

Yeah, I know the bike's sound really - I'm just thinking of some xmas pressies for myself... it's all a bit unnecessary, but the cash would only go on some other unnecessary electronic gizmo otherwise ;¬)

New fork definately has to wait a while, as I know that'll be expensive, so gonna ponder some new wheels.

Your can pick up some XT hubs on 717 rim for little over £100, or hope pro 2's on 717 for £200.

I'm only up for spending a couple of hundred quid at the mo
Good luck!

I had a Malt2 that transmogrified into a 456 with Hope/717s and a Revelation fork. There was nothing wrong with the Malt - the only crap thing about it were the Deore hubs - I was forever rebuilding them. If you're rolling on the same hub that's what I'd change first. Hope and 717s like Paul said.

Its a slippery slope unnecessary upgrades. Last summer went for pro II wheels. Then thought new forks, but the fit of the frame was not perfect so maybe. I took delivery of a Cove Hustler with all the bling and a long HP agreement! Bloody nice though!