Should I upgrade or buy new?

AdamVW

Hi all,

I have a chain store brand MTB that I have been using to commute for the past 2 years and it is OK.

Alloy frame is good and strong, brakes great and it is comfortable and weight is some 15kg (33 pounds). The only real change I made was to replace tyres with Continental 37-559 (26 x 1.5) Kevlar road tyres and they have been very good with puncture resistant tubes full of goo and have not had a puncture since fitting them.

They only thing that really I do not like about the bike is the running gear, I can't seem to set the gears up to change effectively. They may be fine for a while but then the next day, no good.

My questions are, should I replace the running gear with some better equipment or just replace the whole bike with a more upmarket machine.

If I replace the running gear then, what should I replace it with as I do not really know.

I must admit, I have never ridden a good quality bike as such so have nothing to guide me really with this decision.

Your comments would be appreciated.

Cheers

AdamVW

alfeng

EVERYTHING depends on your budget and/or mechanical inclination ...

Try lubing the cables & derailleurs (you can use regular Household oil like 3-in-1 for the time being ...), first.

FWIW. Shimano's low end derailleurs CAN work almost as well (if, not equally well) as their most expensive "stuff" IF properly adjusted & maintained ... but, the more expensive stuff will look nicer and be significantly lighter.

gclark8

Adam,

replace the bike, a CRX2 or 3 will give you a nice ride to work bike.

I still have the Felt F95 for sale.
http://www.triwa.org.au/bb/viewtopic.php?t=1232

__________________
Cheers,
George.

AdamVW

[QUOTE=alfeng]EVERYTHING depends on your budget and/or mechanical inclination ...

Try lubing the cables & derailleurs (you can use regular Household oil like 3-in-1 for the time being ...), first. QUOTE]

Thanks Alf,

Yes you are right, it does depend on both of those points. My budget is actually OK if I had the patience to wait that long! My mechanical inclination could do with some practice though. I wish I had George's talent .

I do however go on leave in two weeks so I may pull it to bits and give it a good clean. I do hit the running gear with degreaser and bike chain lube fairly regularly but it may not be enough. I also suspect the rear derailler has a problem as the wind blew the bike off a gutter onto the road some time ago and it has not been the same since.

Conversely, I have been drueling over the CRX range following George's post, so may have to save the pennies for that. So many decisions, even if I do some work my present bike I will always have a reasonable back up if I buy new I suppose.

Oh Oh, that means I will have three bikes when my Apollo Ventoux for Tri comes off layby in a couple of weeks .

I've heard about these people with a multiple bike problem .

Thanks Alf, you've given me some tips and ideas to go on with,

cheers,

AdamVW

AdamVW

Hi George

Thanks for the advice. The CRX range certainly look impressive and I would love to wander down with the credit card and the wife's blessing and just do it

Sadly, it is not going to happen just at this point in time, particularly the bit about my wife's blessing. She is still wondering how I managed to talk her into the new Apollo Ventoux that I will have in time for my 1st TRI race in December.

The Felt does look nice but as the Apollo I am buying is only a 46.5cm, I think it is a bit big. Also, the bike I will need for commuting will have to withstand DUPs, Pram Ramps, and roughish bitumen roads so I am not sure what would best suit those conditions at the moment. I am not after a dedicated road bike for the commute and would probably go for a flat bar.

The 9km ride takes me about 22 minutes although I did ride it entirely on the road last week and it only took 17 minutes on my old hybrid so the additional ups and downs of the safer ride on the DUPs is somewhat slower.

It would appear then that the CRX range may be a good option as you suggest. Perhaps, when the time is right I may commission you to prepare a bike for me . We'll see next year anyway.

On another note, I was actually discussing your talents yesterday as I have a friend who has a 1970's ladies single speed that has been sitting in her shed and has not even seen the light of day for some 15 years.

I would love to see it done up as apart from some surface tarnish, I think it is in pretty good condition. Unfortunately, my father in law (oops, I let that one out of the bag ) wants to have a play with it and won't part with it.

As I know what a talent you have for this type of project I would have liked to give it to you just to see the result. Anyway, I will work on him and see how we go.

Thank you for your assistance George, I will go back to drueling over the CRX0 for a while .

cheers

AdamVW

gclark8

Hi Adam

any help I an give on the FiL's project, just ask, email or phone is better.

I looked at the Apollo site, your frame is semi-compact.
I compared top tube lengths, my Felt is 54cm, it would be one size too big.
http://www.apollobikes.com/apollopr...s/title/Ventoux

__________________
Cheers,
George.

garage sale GT

Do you adjust shifting using the stop screws or the cable clamp?

__________________
Your mouthwash ain't makin' it.

AdamVW

Hi GT

Well, how is Chicagee right now? Just heading into a warm spell here today at 102F so a bit warm. The pool was nice after work though. That is the beauty of Triathlon Training I think, you can do just about any exercise to fit the weather and not feel like you are whimping out

Anyway, I digress. As far as the derailler adjustments go, I now sort of fine tune it using the knurled thread at the end of the derailer where the cable comes out of the tube. Seems to work but 3rd rear gear seems to be the main problem, is very hard to get right and if it is, then the others may not be. To get it right would require a daily adjustment I would think. I have tried several types of adjustments though.

I don't think it is worth worrying about it too much. I would be more interested in replacing it. I don't know what the lifespan of a derailler is but it has done a few miles. It it only a $150AU bike anyway and has saved me about $2,000 in just bus fares so could be laid to rest with full honours.

Thanks GT

AdamVW

alfeng

Okay, presuming the indexing worked properly at one time AND the only thing that has happened subsequently is dropping-the-bike into the roadway, one thing you need to look at is the frame's rear derailleur hanger -- specifically, the alignment -- IF the alignment is off, then replacing the rear derailler will not "fix" the indexing problem.

I would reckon that for you, the easiest way to check the rear derailleur hanger's alignment would be to remove the rear derailleur, and TAPE a piece of stiff cardboard/yardstick/whatever to the rear derailleur's hanger and/or dropout. Look at the bike from the rear. If the plane of the "cardboard" is skewed from the center plane of the bike, then the alignment is OFF. You can use a PIPE WRENCH to tweak the alignment (sandwich the hanger with two pieces of scrap "wood") ... and, BE GENTLE!

If the frame is steel, then it can be easily (?) tweaked back into alignment by YOU (vs. a bike shop) ... if it is aluminum, then the odds of it being designed to be replaced on a "chain store" bike is low. While you can tweak an aluminum hanger, there will always be a chance that the hanger has been too badly bent to be sound if you were to re-align it.

All is not lost ... you can simply (?) remove the existing derailleur hanger (i.e., with hack saw & file) AND install (bolt on) almost any high-zoot replaceable hanger (i.e., drill the necessary mounting holes, and bolt it in place). The difference is, that whatever hanger you buy won't sit flush within the dropout.

Similarly, you can MAKE a hanger if you have the right size tap (10x1 comes to mind as the threading) ... but, that could be as expensive (for you if you don't have the materials or "tap") as buying an existing replaceable hanger.

BTW. If the frame is aluminum and the rear derailleur hanger isn't too badly bent BUT is out of alignment, then you can try to tweak it back into position AND subsequently ZIP-TIE the cable housing as close to the axle as possible so that if it does break away, the derailleur won't drop into the spokes.