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-   -   Am I Crazy, Ignorant, or Both? (https://www.bikeforums.net/commuting/1019706-am-i-crazy-ignorant-both.html)

Ubermich 07-19-15 09:48 PM

Am I Crazy, Ignorant, or Both?
 
1 Attachment(s)
So I picked up my Trek 820 (approx 2003 I think?) to start training on in preparation of commuting in the fall. My wife then decides she wants a bike too. I see this as a fantastic problem! We find her a bike, but it's a package deal and I have to take a Magna Excitor as well.

So now I have my Trek and this Magna Excitor. I was thinking I'd turn around and see if I could get $20 for it. Then I rode it up the street and found it's really not as bad as I expected. It's significantly more comfortable on our non-maintained roads AND it sure feels lighter (though apparently I'm going to have to actually put it on a scale to verify since I can't find any specs). The only issues I have with it are the shifters, derailleurs, and hub.

Now I get that this is nowhere near most of your standards, but I'm wondering if I've stumbled upon an opportunity to improve my ride and learn a bit about the mechanicals. (I like to learn on the cheap stuff, since breaking expensive stuff is painful.)

The Trek 820 has nice indexed Shimano shifters with nice Shimano derailleurs. The front is a dual-pull. Both fronts are band clamp type. Both bikes are 3x7. If I get new cables and swap the rear wheel, derailleurs, and shifters (or more likely the whole handlebar and possibly stem) I should end up with a lighter bike that rides better over light bumps with the better hub and smooth shifting.

Am I thinking wrong or ignorant of something here?

To give a better idea, this is a street on my commute. This is considered a "well maintained street" with 1-2" vertical change in the seams you see. http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=465562

ShortLegCyclist 07-19-15 10:11 PM


Originally Posted by Ubermich (Post 17995547)
So I picked up my Trek 820 (approx 2003 I think?) to start training on in preparation of commuting in the fall. My wife then decides she wants a bike too. I see this as a fantastic problem! We find her a bike, but it's a package deal and I have to take a Magna Excitor as well.

So now I have my Trek and this Magna Excitor. I was thinking I'd turn around and see if I could get $20 for it. Then I rode it up the street and found it's really not as bad as I expected. It's significantly more comfortable on our non-maintained roads AND it sure feels lighter (though apparently I'm going to have to actually put it on a scale to verify since I can't find any specs). The only issues I have with it are the shifters, derailleurs, and hub.

Now I get that this is nowhere near most of your standards, but I'm wondering if I've stumbled upon an opportunity to improve my ride and learn a bit about the mechanicals. (I like to learn on the cheap stuff, since breaking expensive stuff is painful.)

The Trek 820 has nice indexed Shimano shifters with nice Shimano derailleurs. The front is a dual-pull. Both fronts are band clamp type. Both bikes are 3x7. If I get new cables and swap the rear wheel, derailleurs, and shifters (or more likely the whole handlebar and possibly stem) I should end up with a lighter bike that rides better over light bumps with the better hub and smooth shifting.

Am I thinking wrong or ignorant of something here?

To give a better idea, this is a street on my commute. This is considered a "well maintained street" with 1-2" vertical change in the seams you see.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=465562


I wouldn't trust any part of that Magna to hold up over time, not the frame, welds, suspension, none of it.

Meanwhile the Trek 820 is a great bike and if in good shape can meet your needs for decades to come.

If you want to cushion the ride, see if the 820 will take balloon tires like Big Apples -- IMO those are just as good as suspension for the purpose of smoothing out rough streets, plus the 2003 820 had a suspension fork according to the Trek Archives.

Dave Cutter 07-19-15 10:20 PM

The 820 is a fine used bike with decades of life ahead of it.

Ubermich 07-19-15 10:24 PM

The 820 does have a suspension fork, but it is an RST and it is shot as far as I can tell. I tried adjusting the dampening at the top of the tubes and no matter what it almost bottoms out just pushing on it.

CliffordK 07-19-15 11:21 PM

If you want to tinker on the Magna, go for it.
Maybe go down to the local Co-op for some parts.... But there is no need to canibalize the Trek to fix up a $20 bike (to make a $25 bike).

bmthom.gis 07-20-15 05:34 AM

If you have a co op, go donate the Magna to them and see if they have a rigid fork for your 820 (if your shocks are shot). There is nothing on that Magna that will be of any use to you, but if it is working, your coop could probably find someone to give it to who is in need of free transportation.

jfowler85 07-20-15 07:09 AM

Do it man, those are your bikes so feel free. Forget the posers; while the Trek is a fine bike, we all know that nearly every box shop bike frame comes from the same handful of PRC factories.


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