Upgrade parts, or new bike?

[boumba]

Just wanted to gauge people's opinions on weather it's worth upgrading my second hand Reid Helix bike that I picked up for a $120.

I commute a ~20km round trip to work 6 days a week on the single speed bike, and have started to thrash it out pretty bad.
Serviced it all myself when I got it, but after 3 weeks it's back to how it was when I got it.
Creaking bottom bracket, cones on the wheels have been stripped out once already. And it feels like the bearings in the headset have been crushed, because when pointed straight, they settle into a grove of some sort.

I used to ride both downhill and BMX going back 2-3 years, so am used to building up bikes from scratch.
Is it worth me upgrading the parts on the Reid frame, which seems pretty solid, if not a bit on the heavy side.
Or should I go out and start from scratch?
Choose a frame and start researching parts?

Cheers guys!

[Puffy]

New frame parts are going to be very costly. Full service raplaceing all the bearings/races etc would be under $300 at my LBS.
How are the other components? Brakes/Derailers etc?

Personally, if the frame fits, and I like how it rode I would just get it fixed properly.

YMMV.

[boumba]

New frame parts are going to be very costly. Full service raplaceing all the bearings/races etc would be under $300 at my LBS.
How are the other components? Brakes/Derailers etc?

Personally, if the frame fits, and I like how it rode I would just get it fixed properly.

YMMV.

It's just a basic single speed bike.



I do like the shape of the frame. And seems like it's good enough quality. So far anyway.

Cranks have a fair bit of flex in them though. Chaining isn't symmetrical, causing a tight spot in the chain. Looking to swap fro drops or bullhorn bars. Better headset.

Do you think it would be worth just building a new setup (Slowly) around the current frame?

[simonn]

You could probably ebay the bike for not much less (or even more ) than you bought it for and then buy the bike you really want.

If you really like the frame and want to tinker (I do, all the time ), then I guess it depends on your cash flow situation on whether you do it all at once or bit by bit.

[bychosis]

N+1 time. Keep this frame if you like it, purchase another bike with parts in good condition. THEN either strip down the new one and rebuild your current one OR slowly upgrade parts and end up with two bikes that are running smoothly.

[InTheWoods]

Am I right in presuming that due to the lack of comments, that the buckle in the seattube is actually meant to be there? I don't really know much about old bikes so I'm probably just proving that, but it looks really odd to me.

[Mulger bill]

Never heard of a Helix from Reid so I can't comment on the OPs steed ITW, but yes, there are bikes out there with that sort of seat tube. AFAIK, the idea is to shorten the effective seatstay length.
Here's another one belonging to another member...

[boumba]

Pretty keen to have a tinker with it. So I may just start purchasing new parts for it and slowly swapping it over.

The frame feels alright to ride, but I haven't ridden any other single speed road bikes before, so have nothing to compare it to.
I guess so long as there's no cracks and I'm comfortable on it, why not keep it.

I think my first upgrades will be some new cranks (SRAM Omnium potentially?), pedals with straps (Odyssey twisted plastic with BO Gear straps?), and some drop bars with cycle cross levers (Fyxation Rodeo Pursuit Bullhorn?), and a new headset (Brand?).

Hard trying to work out what's best for me, but think I'll just start with a few things and see what suits my style of riding.

[jaseyjase]

The good thing about upgrading parts is that you can always take them with you onto your next frame, if/when you decide to upgrade.

So think of them more as an investment