Posts
3
Joined
8/23/2025
Location
Scottsville, VA
US
Edited Date/Time
8/23/2025 12:43pm
Hello all!
New here and didn’t see much in the search results..
Bought a 2011 pitch comp full suspension bike today for 350 bucks. Am pretty mechanically inclined in cars tractors welders and the such but haven’t touched a bike much in 20+ years. Trying to see if there are any upgrades to make it semi relevant in 2025. Plan to ride it how it is. Maybe take it in and get it looked over once real good to make sure I’m not missing anything.
Plan to ride it and upgrade it as I go. Anything I should be aware of that’s hard to find? Can a 26” be upgraded to include things like forks with more than preload adjustment?
Just ride it. Save every penny that was earmarked for an upgrade, and use it get a new bike when you have 1500 to 2500 USD.
Then don't upgrade that bike either, and save until 5-6000.
BTDT, all of us.
Yup. I wouldn't spend a cent on it with the exception of necessary maintenance, and a cheap second hand externally routed dropper post. Every bike deserves a dropper.
The pitch was a good bike for the time, and it has aged well (more like less poorly than most bikes, at least. most bikes from that era are tragic). Very short rear end but a reasonable amount of reach and a reasonable seat tube angle. Quite robust. But still not worth spending money on - the things that are truly limiting are not upgradeable. You can't fix the geometry, the wheel size, or the parts compatibility issues with the frame.
dropper post, brake bleed, suspension rebuild, thats it.
it's an alloy frame, it could be drilled for internal dropper routing.
agree on other points here - just do basic upkeep, ride it a ton. try and figure out what you like & don't like about it. find local shops doing demo days to ride something newer and compare.
You can do that? My oldest son is on an alloy bike with no routing for a dropper and I had wondered if that was a thing. Mainly because I have a take off dropper that fits his bike other than being an internal cable dropper.
I had one of these back in the day, I picked it up in my shop rat days. These were good times, where niche bike shops were still specialized dealers. When this released, this bike was sorta the sleeper as it had largely the same geo and similar kinematic to the top of the range enduro, at half the price. The version I ended up with came with the original pike in coil suspension flavor, which was a great fork at the time.
I digress... echo what others have said. Bleed the brakes, do an air can service on the rear shock re-using the same seals and do a lower service and air spring service on the fork. Those are all easily doable as a first time mechanic by watching youtube videos and should not require special tools.
I would not drill the frame for a dropper seat post. I did crack one of these frames (my fault) but it is for sure not overbuilt and is pretty light for an alloy frame. I would just get a PNW cascade externally routed dropper for it (link here). there may be cheaper and good enough externally routed droppers, but I am not in the know.
Depending on the terrain you ride, I would also likely make it a 1x drivetrain. While I can make a case for not spending the money on it... you can generally get take-off lower tier 1x (11 or 12 speed) capable drivetrains for very cheap these days (should be possible under 150 bucks, shimano cues, sram nx, shimano deore). Re-use the crankset, and just get a 1x, "narrow wide" chainring in the proper bolt pattern from amazon for like 10 bucks.
Rear shock and brake longevity are a question I would have. Those appear to be shimano brakes and if they are leaking from the calipers or levers they are toast long term. Take-off brakes are stupid cheap... even then, only replace them if they are fouling pads by leaking... consider them a triumph or fiat car situation. Put cardboard under em and only fix the leaks if they are so bad you have to stop your drive to top off the oil.
Rear shock on that model wasn't great if I recall correctly... the good news is that the top of the range pitch pro, also had a pretty meh shock (fox rp2 boost valve). Again, take-off air shocks in this size (7.875 x 2.25) trade hands for the cost of a pack of bubble gum these days.
If you get into dead ends, or have other questions as you work through it, post here and I will help.
Edit: found a photo of my old bike. I remember taking this photo not long after I got it, it went through a lot of revisions in parts before I sold it... I grew a lot as a rider on this thing. good times.
Thank you for the information! I went by our local place yesterday and they did some tires and said ride it. For what parts and all are they said riding it and getting better at riding it is perfect!
They recommended saving my upgrade money and getting a stump jumper with full suspension. We shall see! Hit the trials yesterday and today and man I have missed this!!
The recommendation to save money and buy a stumpjumper is the absolute smartest thing you could do. I'm also a car guy tinkerer and I am too generally too stupid to take my own advice, or general advice like that.
In this case however, ride it, fix what breaks, and buy something when the time is right is the answer.
Yes you can definitely drill an alloy frame for internal dropper routing. I even took a gamble and drilled a carbon frame for it too, haven't had any issues with that one yet.
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