dassguy

Hello All,

I recently started biking last season here in Colorado and cant seem to get enough of it. for my first bike I picked up my 92 Giant and I love it. There are a few things that need to be taken care of before I start again this year. With that being said I could use some help with figuring out what to use. Any other upgrade suggestions would be great. I know the bike has had a few things already upgraded before I purchased it.

The List:

(Not sure on any sizes)
Wheel Set
Tubes
Tires
Tune-Up

Any and all help or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

likebike23

It's hard to recommend anything without knowing what the bike is, what type of riding you plan to do on it, any issues with the operation/fit of the bike, etc. Maybe you could take some detailed, in focus pictures of the bike (we want to see the side with the derailleurs). An overall pic and pics of the drivetrain help. Also read the numbers on the sidewall of the tires for size (26x2.0, 700x28, 27x1 1/4, etc.).

Italuminium

Hello and welcome to the forums!

Giants of any age and vintage are mostly very nice bikes that are very rewarding to ride and work on, if a little devoid of the cachet associated with more famous brands. If tires, tubes and wheels are upgraded there is not much more to be gained if you're just interested in daily riding, since a better groupset or more carbon bling will have very little appreciable effect in speed or ride feel. Unless you need another saddle, handlebar or seatpost to fit the bike better anything else is mostly cosmetics.

That said, we do love to see pictures here: it's much easier to help people out with fine-tuning their rides when having a pic to work off. have a look at the threads here for inspiration.

dassguy

Like, I guess I left a few things out. I will take some in focus pictures tonight of the bike. As far as what type of riding I will being doing; I currently ride 20 miles M-F to work and home then the weekends are my long rides averaging about 30-40 miles a ride normally consisting into the foothills of the Rockies. Regarding the fitment; I feel as though I am extremely leaned over and has my back aching after a ride. Hope that helps. Pictures will be loaded today

dassguy

Sorry for the confusion Italuminium, the tires, tubes, and wheels all need to be replaced or upgraded the tires are cracking, not sure when the tubes where last replaced and both f&r wheels have bent spokes. I do believe that the brakes and gear set have been upgraded to the Shimano 150 sets. I will be sure to take some detailed pictures tonight.

poke em

Clean, tune and ride it. These Cadex bikes ride very nicely. I picked this one up cheap, and rebuilt it for a friend. He is an MTBer so had back issues. I addressed it with a quill adapter, riser stem and short reach bars like this and he loves it. I would look into the Vuelta wheelsets that forum members have been talking about lately. They are decent for the price and would look right on a carbon bike.

dassguy

That looks great. I road it all last season and loved every second of it. I'll have to take a look into those wheels. By chance do you know which size I should be looking at? I found that mine are 700x28. I would love to get rid of the stickers on it and give it a nice clean look to it.

Italuminium

ah, ok. Shimano 105 is fine kit. In that case, I'd go at your list bottom to top: overhaul, see what's wrong with it, and upgrade tires and wheels (in that order ) according to budget. Wheels and tires are the biggest determinant in a bike ride.

dassguy

Thanks for the help. So by taking it in for a tune-up they will be able to tell me what's wrong with it? Sorry for all the newbie questions. Thanks for all the help!

wrk101

Older bikes that have been bought used rarely need just a "tune up". Tune ups are very basic in scope. Your cracked tires are an indicator of the maintenance this bike received by its former owner. Basically zilch, which is the norm. Most people tend to ride bikes to failure, then take it in to get the offending part fixed, and then ride until the next failure.

The good news is tires are cracking does not mean wheels need to be replaced. Get new tires, the tires on the bike may be 23 years old (pretty common for used bikes to have original, aged, rotted tires). Cables and housings are another item useful to replace. I've owned a lot of vintage wheels, many older than yours, and most were OK, most needed truing and tensioning.

Nothing wrong with Shimano 105 stuff, I would keep the components.

Many of us would also recommend you get hubs and headset serviced (bearings and grease). Some shops will not give you the full lowdown as many customers are not willing to spend the $$ my list would cost. Its one reason doing the service work can be very rewarding. Realize shops have to pay their help, taxes, rent, insurance, etc., and make a profit of course. A handy person can save serious $$ doing it themselves. The choice is yours.

I have bought a lot of older bikes over the years, and I have yet to have gotten one where the prior owner maintained it fully. So my ownership starts with a complete teardown and rebuild. Fortunately, I have the tools and supplies in hand, so its not that big of a deal. I would go broke if I had to pay a shop to do all of the work.

Tune ups around here are usually pretty basic, adjusting derailleurs and cables. Realize with shop labor running anywhere from $60 to $75 an hour, mechanics can't dig in very deeply without costing serious $$.

dassguy

Very true I see where your coming from. unfortunately I cannot do it my self since I do not have the space or the correct tools to do so. My thought on the wheels had nothing to do with the tires being bad more so to do with them having bent spokes. first on my list for this season is a good tune-up

wrk101

That's why some people seek out a local bike co-op. Free or close to free, with access to tools, space, mechanic volunteers. Based on your description, you could spend $300 or more having someone else fully deal with issues. Its one reason bikes in "project" condition are best suited for people with the time/tools/aptitude/pile of parts, as it is really easy to get upside down on an older bike if you have to pay someone to do it.

Bent spokes are a symptom of problems. I wouldn't ride it 20 miles a day without that being dealt with. Around here, a tuneup would not cover this kind of issue.

Here's one, I have no experience with this one, but it sounds pretty good:
https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-bike-depot-denver

dassguy

I've heard of that place might have to make a trip up there. If I want to do this on my own I could find the space to do so. Its just I am still new to road biking and just learning all this so I think I'd rather take it somewhere. What would contribute to the bent spokes?

Italuminium

I see you added pics, nice bike! When you first posted that you're feeling stretched out in your back, I figured you rode a size to big, but now that I see that seat post way up I think it is actually a little small, allthough depending on your body it may fit fine. Maybe raising the stem a little will help.

dassguy

Thanks, now that you mention it the seat post is way. I am about 160lbs and 6'2. I tried lowering the seat and it just didn't feel right. So I proceeded to move it up. Might have to fidget with it some more along with looking for a new saddle, but that doesn't seem to bother me at all.

Tim_Iowa

A bike co-op is the perfect place for your situation. You don't have the knowledge to do it yourself, but don't want to spend the coin to have it professionally done. A bike co-op will have the proper tools and the personnel should be able to talk you through any repair.

The bent spokes means that the wheels are toast. They bent because someone applied too much force when the spokes weren't properly tensioned. The spokes probably loosened over the years, and someone tried to ride hard and fast on it.

You will either need new wheels or to rebuild the existing wheels with new spokes. Bike co-ops may have decent used wheels for a cheap price. They'll also have used parts if anything else needs replaced. How many cogs does this bike have on the back wheel? If it's 7 cogs, then you have 126mm hubs and you have to stick with them. If you have 8 or more speeds, you can use any modern road wheel (130mm hub). You can't widen this carbon/aluminum frame.

As for fit, try to raise the handlebar stem. The bolt head at the top of the stem loosens it from the fork. Raise to the min insertion line stamped on the stem, straighten it with the fork, and re-tighten.

dassguy

Thanks for all the help and suggestions from everyone it is greatly appreciated! By far the single best response I have got on any forum before! You guys are great!

dassguy

Tim, I've been doing some looking into some new wheels I have found a numerous that are 8/9/10 speed but have a spacer that can make them compatible with 7spd. Is this something I should be considering? Are there any brands that I should just stay away from? Thank again!

wrk101

I would stop shopping for wheels. Its a waste of money and time. Google bike sizing, you will find at 6-2 this bike is WAY too small for you, several sizes. Best bet is to keep an eye out for a bike your size, then sell this one. Spending money on a bike that is the wrong size is not a good idea.

The good news for you is tall road bikes tend to sell at a discount, and your current bike is a popular size, so it will be an easy sale.

Size first, then shop. With google, there is no reason not to get the size dialed in.

Tim_Iowa

It's very important that you fit the correct sized hub on this frame. 7 speed hubs are 126mm wide (Over Locknut Distance (OLD)) and 8/9/10 speed hubs are 130mm wide OLD. 4mm is a big difference. On a steel frame, you can bend the rear dropouts open and stuff in a wider hub. Your bike is carbon/aluminum, and should not be bent thus.

You're stuck with 7 speed, 126mm hubs. Though a 7 speed cassette will work fine on an 8/9/10 hub with a spacer, the 8/9/10 hub will not fit in your frame. That said, this is a cool old frame, and is worthy of updating if it fits you, you like the ride, and it's in good shape.

There are very few new wheels sold with 7 speed hubs. Harris has some 126mm wide wheelsets ~$130-$150 that are for thread-on freewheels. These are decent wheels, and will be strong. Not the lightest, but they're cheap. And honestly, there's nothing wrong with freewheels. They're cheap and proven. I just built up a 7 speed freewheel hub into a wheel for my touring bike. A 7 speed freewheel will shift exactly the same as a 7 speed cassette; your bike will work fine with either.

Otherwise, look for used 700c wheels with Shimano 600 or 105 hubs. Measure them ($3 plastic caliper) to ensure they're 126mm. Try to find hubs with Hyperglide bodies, not Uniglide bodies. Or just find a set with freewheel hubs (measure again, really old 5-speed freewheel hubs are 120mm).

dassguy

Very good, that clears up my questions nicely thanks again! I love this bike and love the ride. I think just making a few more adjustments to the seat and handlebar height and ill be good. That's why I'm wanting to upgrade it and don't mind putting some extra money into the bike, getting it where I want it. Thanks again for the help!

cyclotoine

looks like someone mountainized it with shimano deore and XT components right from day one. Cool. I want those cranks for my '92 rocky mountain... it's a nice bike but it does sound like it is way too small for you. I spent a couple years flipping bike quite a bit just to learn as much as possible. I would sometimes get a buyer really excited about a bike and they'd come over (i assumed foolishly they knew what they wanted) only to have a guy who is 6'4" coming to look at a 52cm bike for himself. Some people I just said the bike is too small it won'd fit sorry and didn't even show it to them. After a while I started to question people about who the bike was for and how tall they were and give them some tips about sizing, I probably made a lot more work for myself but in the end I think I gave people what they needed. i even had one guy who was about 6'6" come to look at a bike and I ended up changing the handlebars, brake levers etc for him to make the bike fit him better, he was very happy.

Edit: the story about refers to a 25"/62 cm frame, although the 6'6" fellow would have been better off on a 65 or 26" frame I set it up with riser bars and a long stem. He was just commuting, he liked the bike and knew that finding 26" frames can be quite difficult. This different than someone who is 6'2" and fits readily available frame size trying to squeeze on a bike that is way to small. I am not suggesting to the OP that he should try and make this work.

dassguy

As you cant tell Cyclo, I am still very knew to this and learning as I go through this. I have a question for you; The components that are here are for mountain bike? I'm working on getting to rising the bars a little bit and possibly trying a different set and stem. Overall the bike seems to fit me well.

cyclotoine

Yes, the derailleurs and cranks are considered mountain bike components, however there is nothing wrong or incompatible about running them on a road bike, they just provide a wider gear range (good for climbing mountain passes).

To raise the bars you will need to buy a different stem, look for nitto technomic of consider an adapter and threadless stem. I am not surprised that you might find the bike to fit well, especially if you are young and athletic already. However, I have a hard time believing that it actually fits well and that you will be comfortable over long distances. You may be able to make it work but I think it will ultimately end up feeling a bit cramped.

Tim_Iowa

Fit is a very big deal. How tall are you? What size is the bike? Measure the distance from the crank to the seat clamp (center of the crank bolt to the approximate center of the seat clamp lug). A rough rule of thumb for bike sizing: take your height in feet and inches, subtract 3, and that's a good frame size in cm. Ex: Bob is 5'10. He should ride a 57cm frame, give or take a cm or two. Of course there are many more variables, based on body shape, torso/arm length, etc. But it's a good guideline for traditionally styled road frames (level top tube).

Another rule of thumb: stand over the bike, in front of the seat. You should have no more than an inch or two between your crotch bones and the level top tube. Any more than that and the frame is too small.

Ensure this frame fits before you spend too much time on it.

RE: MTB components:
Yup, your frame has Deore components. They look to be early 90s, about the same age as the frame. They're designed for MTBs but work fine on any bike. The rear derailer can handle a much larger cog (~32 teeth) than most road derailers (~28 teeth). That gives you lower gearing for hills. I use a MTB rear derailer on my touring bike for that reason. The Deore crank is a triple, which also gives you lower gearing. It has smaller chain rings than a road crank, however, so that takes a little away from your top speed on downhills.

As cyclotoine says, these parts are perfectly fine and should work well on this bike. MTB components are generally a little heavier than those for road bikes, and are usually more durable due to that.