Older models with plenty of life left in the airframe are often excellent candidates for a component refresh, and landing gear is frequently one of the highest-value upgrades available.
Start with an honest condition assessment, not just of the gear but of the mounting points it bolts to — there’s limited value fitting a premium new carbon fibre gear to mounting rails that are themselves worn, cracked, or otherwise compromised from years of use. A genuinely tired mounting area may need reinforcement or repair before new gear will deliver its full benefit.
Weight and balance may have drifted from the original design over the model’s life, particularly if radio gear, battery, or engine have been changed at some point along the way — it’s worth rechecking your model’s current all-up weight against your intended new gear’s rated range (see Day 1) rather than assuming the original specification still applies unchanged.
A gear upgrade is a good moment to address other ageing components at the same time, since you’re already working in that area of the model — tail wheel assembly (Day 16), wheel pant mounting (Day 6), and general fastener condition (Day 17) are all worth a look while the model’s apart for gear work, rather than as separate future jobs.
Don’t assume newer automatically means a straightforward swap. Manufacturing tolerances and mounting standards can shift subtly over the years even within a broadly similar product category — always check current dimension charts against your specific model’s mounting points (see Day 27) rather than assuming a modern part will match an older airframe’s original specification without checking.
An older model with a fresh set of carbon fibre landing gear, properly fitted, can genuinely fly and land like new — it’s one of the better value upgrades available for a model that’s otherwise still got plenty of flying life left in it.
For a real-world example, have a look at our EXTRA 300 50CC Carbon Fibre undercarriage.