creating a franken-bike - too much work?
12-07-06, 01:23 PM
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creating a franken-bike - too much work?
Hi all, I currently have three bikes, two of which I plan on selling because they're a bit too small for me.
1) A cro-moly GT Outpost Trail mountain bike (mid or late 90's? not sure about that) that I bought at a garage sale for 25 cents since it was missing a front wheel - not a bad deal since I got a nice wheel for 10 bucks.
2) aluminum Giant Rincon SE mountain bike - about 5 years old - with a super soft front suspension that makes me a bit uneasy since it collapses so much in sharp turns and can't be adjusted.
3) a mid 90's Schwinn High Plains rigid lugged steel mountain bike that I just bought and will keep because it fits me the best.
So far I have done some pretty basic swaps to make sure I get to keep the parts I like best; I took the riser stem and riser handlebars from the first two bikes to give me a little bit more upright position on the Schwinn, moved around seats, kickstands, and things like that.
What I'm wondering, is if it would be worth it, or possible, to swap the combo shifter-cantilever brake units on the Schwinn with the combo shifter-V-brake units (and brakes of course) from the Giant to get the best possible brakes?
I mainly ask because V-brakes work better, I am better at adjusting V-brakes (I always have a really hard time getting cantilevers to sit right), I already own all the bikes so I won't have to invest in new parts, and the shifter/brake units on the Giant are sturdy metal, but the ones on the Schwinn are the plasticky units that don't seem as sturdy. The person I bought the bike from thought they could do with replacing since they were old as well.
Is it worth it - or possible - to swap out the brakes, and gear shifter/brake lever units from the Giant to the Schwinn? Would I be severely lowering the resale value of my Giant (probably going to sell in the 100-150 range?) by swapping out these parts?
Also, I believe the cables on the Schwinn were very recently replaced, while those on the Giant most likely haven't been.
Any advice would be great - thanks!
1) A cro-moly GT Outpost Trail mountain bike (mid or late 90's? not sure about that) that I bought at a garage sale for 25 cents since it was missing a front wheel - not a bad deal since I got a nice wheel for 10 bucks.
2) aluminum Giant Rincon SE mountain bike - about 5 years old - with a super soft front suspension that makes me a bit uneasy since it collapses so much in sharp turns and can't be adjusted.
3) a mid 90's Schwinn High Plains rigid lugged steel mountain bike that I just bought and will keep because it fits me the best.
So far I have done some pretty basic swaps to make sure I get to keep the parts I like best; I took the riser stem and riser handlebars from the first two bikes to give me a little bit more upright position on the Schwinn, moved around seats, kickstands, and things like that.
What I'm wondering, is if it would be worth it, or possible, to swap the combo shifter-cantilever brake units on the Schwinn with the combo shifter-V-brake units (and brakes of course) from the Giant to get the best possible brakes?
I mainly ask because V-brakes work better, I am better at adjusting V-brakes (I always have a really hard time getting cantilevers to sit right), I already own all the bikes so I won't have to invest in new parts, and the shifter/brake units on the Giant are sturdy metal, but the ones on the Schwinn are the plasticky units that don't seem as sturdy. The person I bought the bike from thought they could do with replacing since they were old as well.
Is it worth it - or possible - to swap out the brakes, and gear shifter/brake lever units from the Giant to the Schwinn? Would I be severely lowering the resale value of my Giant (probably going to sell in the 100-150 range?) by swapping out these parts?
Also, I believe the cables on the Schwinn were very recently replaced, while those on the Giant most likely haven't been.
Any advice would be great - thanks!
12-07-06, 01:35 PM
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Should work, shouldn't be too hard to do. Make sure the number of rear cogs match.
Don't know about the resale value.
Don't know about the resale value.
