Upgrades to entry level MTBs and Comfort Bikes

Little Jackie

Went for a good ride on the Upland yesterday ( haven't had time for anything but one swim a week lately). Went over some really bumpy terrain and the bike performed really well! Have adjusted the stem slightly, but otherwise the bike is perfect. As I get older, it will be the drop bar Felt that will eventually go! (Not yet though!)

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Jackie

Road Bike: Felt F100

XS Ladies Giant Upland (modified)- see it go!
http://www.cyclingforums.com/t363004.html

gclark8

Yesterday I was given a 10 year old Huffy, complete with the K-Mart sticker.

It has a road frame, 43cm seat tube, 54cm top tube,
side pull caliper brakes
24" wheels with wide rims
14-28 6 speed spin on freewheel
28/38/48 one piece 140mm crankset.

Apart from some surface rust on the rims the bike is in good condition, so the plan is to mod it for a spare bike to for "Little Jackie" and her friends.

First thing is to service all the bearings and cables and then fit:
152mm one piece crank arms,
small strapless toe clips for the pedals,
foam grips for the bars,
24x1.5 Duro City Tyres and tubes,
Suspension seat post, 25.4, with reversable clamp,
Ladies Velo saddle.

More later as the parts arrive...

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Cheers,
George.

artemidorus

I don't want to sound rude, but I don't think that a "Huffy" qualifies as "entry level", or "comfort", more like " convince this person that they never want to go cycling again" level.

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"All that we see and seem is but a dream, within a dream..."

gclark8

The parts arrived today, the nice new Ladies Velo Saddle went on the Giant Upland, freeing up the Giant Saddle for the Huffy.

All finished ! "Little Jackie" just did the test ride and reports its an OK bike for rides to the shops and the pool.

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Cheers,
George.

mjs4300

So what can be done for my Giant Elwood. It is a reasonable bike and I have put cleats on it. Better kevlar tyres because the originals got flats every other day . I have also put a flat bar on in place of the old curved ones. Would you recomend a drop bar and skinnier tyres?, will that improve the performance. I have done almost 6000klm on this bike in the last 12 months (5973 to be exact ). My beloved is not so keen on me spending $2500 on a roadie, so will those things help or should keep buying flowers

gclark8

I would suggest a flower to bike ratio of 1:1, what ever you spend on the current bike, spend on flowers, then the new road bike will become a reality.

However, until then, position, tyres and gearing is the go;
flat bars, level with the seat (check stem position),
Conti Sport Contact 700x28mm or Ultra Gator Skins 700x28mm Tyres,
a Sunrace close ratio cassette, 11-24 (7/8 speed) whatever the bike has.
Any more than this is overkill and needs road bike funding.

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Cheers,
George.

gclark8

Today I fitted some Textro adjustable reach brake levers, "LJ" has short fingers.

Some pix from a week back:

Attached Thumbnails

     

__________________
Cheers,
George.

Little Jackie

Went for a reasonable ride on the "Huffy" today as it was raining too much when I left home and so I didn't take my bike to my final destination. So as it fined up, was pleasantly surprised by the performance of the Huffy. Quite comfortable and, even though I was tired to begin with, I found the ride enjoyable. A good spare bike despite any who might mock!

Once again, George to the rescue!

PS. Contrary to popular belief, I believe that 24" wheels are quite a bonus for someone of my size 5' - especially for acceleration.

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Jackie

Road Bike: Felt F100

XS Ladies Giant Upland (modified)- see it go!
http://www.cyclingforums.com/t363004.html

BikeBloke

One thing I've done with my Giant CRX4 lately, is to change the handlebar grips to those 'platform' style oval shaped ones which are OEM fitment on Avanti Blades these days. The grips are made by Velo and cost $20AUD a pair.

See:

http://www.velosaddles.com/products...cat_id=14&id=79

The comfort is MUCH improved over the standard round grips, due to the weight being distributed over a wider area. For long rides, this makes the difference between wanting to quit riding or keep riding.

$20 well spent.

Now I just want to ride my bike more!

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Cheers,

Bloke on a bike
(Perth, Western Australia)

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2005 Giant CRX4 with:
Continental Gator Skin tyres - 700x23C
Shimano M324 pedals
Satori steerer tube extender
Selle Italia FLX Gel Flow seat
Vetta RT88 cycle computer
2 aluminium bottle cages
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

gclark8

Hi BB,

Yes nice grips, I saw a pair on a CRX4w this week. I fitted a silver Stem Riser for the Lady, nice touring bike!

I still have one black stem riser left and a couple of 11-24 8 speed cassettes for the speed fans.

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Cheers,
George.

robalert

I did a bit of a HUGE upgrade to my 96 model Apollo Himalaya

I finally chucked the flexy RST381 forks which has been rebuilt 3 times and replaced it with serious overkill, a brand spanking new Manitou R7 Super with remote lockout

It has seriously transformed how the bike feels, the geometry feels so much more relaxed but with the long top tube, still climbs really well.

I am still running most of the standard/original parts, original no brand dbl wall rims, parrallax hubs, Alivio rear derailleur, Alivio cranks, chain, shifters and chain rings. Parts that have worn and needed replacement include, rear cluster (7spd), front derailleur, V-brakes (replaced with ? Vanguard Engineering which only cost $30).

Other upgraded parts ripped off other bikes include, UNO adjustable stem, EA50 riser bars, EA50 seatpost and BG Milano seat.

I love this old bike despite many people telling me it ain't worth it. I don't see what the problem is, it runs a full Aluminium 7005 HT TIG welded frame and it weighed in at 12.5kg when new. Even alot of new bike around $1000 now weigh that much if not alot more. My old apollo is like an old pair of joggers.

Also, I find that the old 21spd setup shifts way better than my DeoreLX27spd ever did on my new bike. I am loathe to upgrade to more gears... just climb harder...

Anyway, just wanted to share my "foolishness" in upgrading my old bike

At the moment, it is still running my ContactSport 26x1.3 slicks, but I am dying to take it out for some offroading. It rides really well as a commuter at the moment

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Rob

www.bikenorth.org.au

'07 Giant OCR Composite 3 - R550s with Michi Prorace2

'06 Giant CRX1

'96 Apollo Himalaya commuter - Rigid Fork, slicks, fully racked

DMR Switchback Reynolds 520- Velocity Cliffhangers, SRAM X-9, Easton bar/stem


DMR Trailstar 2 4130- Mavic117, Dice Whiplash, SCUD DH bars, LX 9spd, DMR Crisis Cranks.

'04 Giant VT3 frame - SOLD

gclark8

Hi Rob,

If the Apollo is a 7 speed spin-on cassette, Shimano make a new 11-28 spin on: http://www.cellbikes.com.au/product.php?id=36

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Cheers,
George.

robalert

to my surprise, i found that it was a lockon system... does this mean it was an upmarket one?

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Rob

www.bikenorth.org.au

'07 Giant OCR Composite 3 - R550s with Michi Prorace2

'06 Giant CRX1

'96 Apollo Himalaya commuter - Rigid Fork, slicks, fully racked

DMR Switchback Reynolds 520- Velocity Cliffhangers, SRAM X-9, Easton bar/stem


DMR Trailstar 2 4130- Mavic117, Dice Whiplash, SCUD DH bars, LX 9spd, DMR Crisis Cranks.

'04 Giant VT3 frame - SOLD

gclark8

Hi Rob,

If it has a normal cassette, then Sunrace have an 11-24 7 speed cassette. I put one on Little Jackie's Upland.

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Cheers,
George.