clengman

This is kind of premature speculation, but I'm concerned that my daily driver is breaking down and I'm starting to think about my next bike. I'm riding a schwinn world voyageur. I believe my frame might be cracked. I haven't found a crack and I'm still investigating the source of a really annoying cracking/pinging, but in the meantime, I'm daydreaming.

So one thought I had was to buy the VO Pass Hunter build kit (includes frame, fork, seat post, canti brakes and threadless headset). I think all the components from my old bike should work on the new frame. So I have FD, RD, crankset, BB, freewheel, downtube shifters, handlebar, brake levers, and a chain. I will need a 700c wheelset ($150 for 700c freewheel set from Harris), brake and shift cables and housings and a stem. Am I missing anything? Is there any reason any of the old components won't work on the new frame? I think the seat tube diameters are the same. I think the BB shells are the same size.

I may at some point buy a more modern wheelset and drivetrain, but I'm pretty satisfied with the operation of the stuff I have now. I figure I can get a decent new frame, keep all the stuff that's working for me for now and not spend as much as I would for a good quality, complete touring bike. What do you think?

fietsbob

I have the 70's & 80's Campag stuff on frames I got in the 90's. no web surfing done ..


I cannot hand hold on your build .. School Yourself with research .. read books . join a bike co op..


read the specs for threads and tube diameters . measure things in front of you..

ThermionicScott 

Might be cheapest to keep your eyes open (or just plain ask) for a used World Voyageur frame to turn up in the C&V forum.

ofgit

Could that pinging noise be a spoke?

clengman

I've had my eye on craigslist, too just in case anything interesting comes up. I'm not sure I'm savvy enough to avoid ending up with a lemon. Trying to be frugal, but I think I might be ready to start spending a little bit of money on some new stuff. I'd still prefer it if I didn't have to spend anything right away.

clengman

I really don't think it is. It only happens at very specific spots in the crank rotation. I understand that spoke noise can correlate with pedal stroke somewhat, creaking or pinging as weight shifts side to side, but it seems like it should change some according to wheel rotation as well. This just seems too constant and too in-time with my pedaling to be wheel-related.

RandomTroll

I doubt that a frame pings. I think something else is broken. If it's a steel frame you can hit it sharply with a small piece of metal, such as a key; cracks make it not-ring properly. I'd look at pedals, bottom bracket, crank, chainrings, cassette/freewheel, wheels first. As someone else noted, a bad spoke can ping.

That said, twice people have attacked my bike while it was parked and bent the frame so badly I bought a new frame (both came with forks) and transferred all the other parts, including the wheels. The second time I replaced a steel frame with an aluminum frame so I had to get a new front derailleur.

Frenchosa

When transferring parts to another bike...for the front derailleur, not only the diameter has to be correct, but the derailleur cable pull has to be the same.,... top or bottom pull. It looks like the VO Pass Hunter is a bottom pull. That VO frame looks nice.. the ping could be a good excuse to buy one. It is one of my favorite modern frames in that price range.

clengman

I now know one more thing that is not causing the noise. I took apart my crankset entirely. Cleaned all mating surfaces thoroughly. Cleaned and lubed the stack bolts. Cleaned and lubed the spindle ends and crank arm sockets. Took it for a little spin and the noise is identical. There's absolutely no change in the quantity, quality or frequency.

I've already eliminated pedals, those have been changed a couple times since I noticed the noise. (I didn't change the pedals because of the noise. Changed them because I wanted different pedals, but I can say with certainty that after changing pedals, there was no change in the noise.) I eliminated the BB. I cleaned it and repacked it a couple weeks ago (Unless there are marks on the bearing races that I didn't notice?). I really don't think it's the freewheel or wheels/spokes just because the timing of the noise coincides so precisely with my pedal stroke. I would think if it wasn't something directly connected to the crank or BB that the frequency would change as I changed gears or it might only occur every second or third crank rotation instead of every time.

Not sure what I might check next. Maybe I'll just go to the shop sometime and see if they have any ideas. :|

Thanks for the suggestions!

clengman

It looks good to me, too. Eventually I'd like to have two bikes to cover all the types of rides I like or would like to try. I'm thinking a Pass Hunter would be a great daily driver, and sport tourer. Then I'd like to get something like a LHT, Saga, Troll... something a little beefier and put a triple crankset on it for loaded touring and maybe some off-road, bikepacking kinds of adventures. We'll see... we'll see...