admonisher

Hey guys,

took me a while to turn little by little my biccycle to full single speed, I am now at a point were the only thing I need to change is my front wheel to get one that is the same thickness as in the back and I need a single speed crankset instead of my 2 disk(turned into one)

My budget is limited so I gott to be smart on my choice.

My backwheel is a single speed wheel with the coasting style disk

Either I decide to get a wheel set for 175$ 50mm flipflop + tires 100$ and then I buy a cheap crankset for 44$ i forgot the brand sorry

Or

I buy myself a crankset I believe the brand is shimano its 150-175$ And I heard its a brand that bike messenger swears buy, Idont remember exactly if the brand is shimano. but in that case I get a front wheel for 90$ or less if possible + tire 50$


I dont want to ride fixie for now, I feel I love to coast hehe, but i guess in 1 year or 2 I could change my mind lol, anyway. I dont think I will go fixie because when I go downhills I use my brakes and coasting a lot.

The technitiant told me my breaks are pretty good, so I am guessing even if I change my front wheel it will still be good, maybe better.


SO what should I invest in more for now? the wheel or the crankset?

Id like to have more tooth also so that hills are slightly easier to climb. montreal has lots of hills.

thanks

fietsbob

Sell more stuff so you dont have to choose.

admonisher

my stuff dont have much value, My old front wheel is a alex rim 700c that needs truing i can make 15-20$ for it, and my crankset i could get 10-15$ probably. I need to choose. I am guessing its better to spend on on the crankset than the wheel., next year if I buy a wheel for 100$ i can sell it for 40-50$ the next year of course.

i think the crankset was sugino not shimano sorry

AnkleWork

Why do you include a rear wheel when you said you only need a front? Never mind.

It seems you don't need any of that stuff and seek permission rather than advice. Why not just go ride?

admonisher

Well I know that I need a better ratio for my cadence but I was wondering what is the desadvantage in buying a cheap crankset, would that mean that it would damage my chain more, or get broken after a year. That is why I think that for softer riding and cheaper repair, I should invest on the crank

and I know I dont need a back wheel, the salesman at the store I guess tryed to make some money with me. I was going to take his advice because I tought having 2 great wheels would be better for my brakes.

Since my budget is small I would have like to get a cheap crank and a cheap front wheel but if it will be causing me trouble to have a cheap crank I might buy a more expensive crank

I am just asking advice to you guys from your experiences of what you bought and what you tried. not asking for permission, asking for advice, on why am i better putting quality on this or that and why. thanks

admonisher

oh and I am riding, not just as comfortable as I would feel, that is why I am making an update, but am looking for the best bang for my buck. and you know what maybe a 40-60$ crankset will do the job I do ride everyday for 10km and eventually i will ride everyday for 20km until I store my bike for the winter

RaleighSport

Just some of my thoughts as input here, as long as your double crankset has the chainring lined up fairly well with the rear cog there's no mechanical reason I can think of to need to swap it out as for your front wheel, same deal even if it is slightly out of true as long as it doesn't rub the brake pads you should be fine, with that said if I were in your boat I'd probably get a new front wheel and then save my pennies for a new crankset/BB later at a higher price point, after that start saving pennies for a GOOD wheelset, unless I know the part will never be reused it's also good to have things like your old crankset/BB and wheels in case you need to do a quick fix on the bike without an LBS trip.

If you insist on wanting to budget upgrade your crankset though this weighs in at 30 dollars and is one of the best bangs for the buck in that price range.
https://www.amazon.com/Sugino-Track-F.../dp/B00ESK259W

admonisher

so RaleighSport, you are saying get a standard priced front wheel which is the 90$+50$ for tire, like this my front wheel and back wheel will be the same size. Than wait until I can get a really good quality crankset like 150-200$ range.

Are you saying that the 30$ single speed crank might be better than my used double ring crank that I use as a single speed. probably it will give me a slightly better alightment and better ratio for up hills. because it is already to hard a cadance on flat ground for me.

is there much of a difference in a 30$ to 80$ crankset? I guess not much eh. I think your advice is probly good because I can have a 30crankset which can last me 1 year or 2 and then i can get myself a 200-250crankset and feel the difference.

unfortunately I dont try to make my bike look beautiful and expensive because I am afraid it could get stolen so I am very careful of the piece I choose. I live in montreal and lock the bike downtown sometime

RaleighSport

Than I can tell you exactly what I personally would do in that scenario: leave it as is (better anti-theft=ugly is good!), and possibly get a smaller front chainring since you're having issues pedaling on the flats, if you have a local co-op you can probably even find a good chainring that is quite ugly. Oh and I picked up that 30 dollar crankset a while back when it was about 80 as a temporary and I've yet to swap it out, it works well.

nfmisso

If your current chain ring lines up; just get a ring with the number of teeth you need, and a new chain.

Front wheel: tension and true what you have.

Generally higher priced cranks are lighter, and LESS robust than lower priced cranks. With regard to BB; nothing is more robust than a Shimano UN55; there are many that are lighter, some a LOT lighter. On almost everything related to bicycles, more money = lighter and less robust.

admonisher

wow that crankset is good, thats good, If it wasnt for you I would have felt bad in getting it because One guy in the comment said when pedaling one arm fell off, I guess maybe he did not go to a bike shop to get it install, he probably did him himself

just to gage what you have here.

How long have you been riding with this crankset and how many times a week you ride and how many kms a day. I might go to my local bike shop the guy have a manuel with all the equipement that exist for the year and he can order me this one or the 44$ one that he suggested to me. He wanted me to get a 150$ sugino one too, but I might go for your option since it as an 80$ value.

It most be pretty heavy for 80$ I guess eh?

admonisher

nfmisso what do you mean by BB, I am not used to bicycle jargon yet, I am pretty new to this.

and you are saying that quality is same its either I get it lighter or more robust not both. and when you guys say robust do you mean also durable? cuz then I would be guessing more expensive= more durable.


as for wheel, what would be the difference for me from a 80$ wheel vs a 200-250$ wheel?

to get it easier when going high heels, which mean in general faster cadence on flat ground I need more tooth or less tooth on the front ring

meaning

if I have 5 in the back and 10 in the front but that I decide to have 20 in the front instead of 10 it means I will have to pedal faster and hills will be easier, right?

RaleighSport

I've got thousands of miles on the crankset, an average week for me and that bike doesn't exist, it can be zero miles or 300 miles... I've only replaced the ring once (as teeth do wear out) but my current ring has gotten old enough to be turning brownish from the original black, they hold up well, and like nfmisso said, pricier=lighter=usually less durable, you're not a pro racer so weight should not be too high of a concern for you.

admonisher

oh and my front wheel is thicker than my back wheel, it plays a bit in my balance, so I am going to buy a new one anyway so that it balances. the one in the back thinner and in the front its thicker. and both of them use different valve style for air pumps. Talking about airpumps I do need to by a airpump for home.

admonisher

nice Bike RaleighSport.

RaleighSport

Very old pic, it has a front brake, different stem, and different saddle now.

AnkleWork

Wonder what that means?

ValVal

nice bike ! how do you like your deep vs ? I've always been afraid of the weight, but they seem strong as hell, and extra strength would be welcome to endure the ignominiuos potholes of Montreal streets.
So much truth in this thread : i have a shimano UN54 BB (Bottom Bracket) which literally have tens of thousand kms in all conditions (including winter) and is still good for many more. This thing costs 30$.
From my riding and wrenching experience : well choosen cheap components are definitely among the strongests.

admonisher

I love this saying


So for the wheel what front wheel do you guys use and how much does it cost.

Does the low price high quality apply to the wheels also? I guess i will ever go for a wheel that would cost more than 150$ by fear of the bike looking to nice and getting it stolen.

RaleighSport

Deep V's are awesome, astonishingly stiff and the weight isn't a huge deal breaker.. my bike is actually still relatively light despite the Velocity's and the heavy BB/crankset, but then again.. everything else on the bike is of a much higher "grade". I've yet to have truing or aero issues yet either.. love that wheelset.
Velocity Deep V to Formula hubs Velomine.com : Worldwide Bicycle Shop, fixed gear track bike wheelsets campagnolo super record vintage bike got mine on sale for 150 a while back.. the wheelSET

admonisher

nice, I did not know deep V was a wheel, sorry. I guess I could get myself one Deep V for 90$ as a front wheel and be cool. What so you mean by the wheel being stiff vs i guess being flexible or soft?

admonisher

oh I see that you have no brakes so you are using a fixed gear here.

I am a guy who is afraid of riding too fast, especially downhill. down hill I use my break a lot and coast. which mean I am not ready for a fixed gear yet I guess

RaleighSport

As I said before I have a front brake on it these days, and deep V refers to the rim in the wheel do you have pics of your rear wheel? You can probably find a similar front for cheaper.

admonisher

yop I will get you a picture for tomorow so that we can better evaluate things

Bill Kapaun

Wouldn't it be cheaper to get a different cog in the back than a new crank set or ring?