Converting a Trek 830 for touring - advice?
06-28-08, 12:42 AM
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Converting a Trek 830 for touring - advice?
I've got an older (10+ years) trek 830 I've used to get around town for several years now and I'm finally going on my first real bike trip (nyc to boston) so I'm giving it a bit of an overhaul. I've read a lot of advice on how to convert mountain bikes into commuters or usable touring bikes, but after finding this forum figured I would join / post and see if anyone had any other advice.
So far at the advice of friends / my local bike shop I've replaced the rear gear cassette with something more roadbike-ish, picked up some bar ends for switching up hand positions, dropped some $ on safety lights (2x planet bike superflash + sport light + 1W blaze head), replaced the stock saddle with something with minimal cushioning, and gotten a general tune-up. I already have hybrid tires (michelin transworld city) I picked up last year, a rear fender, rack, and panniers I primarily use for lugging stuff to the post office / groceries.
Some other suggestions I've found online:
(1) Fork - people don't seem to like the fork on the trek 830 and say it's worth replacing - not really sure why - could someone explain this to me? Would a different fork make a big difference for touring? What kind of fork?
(2) Narrower tires / Slicks - I've already got hybrids and am unsure if this would make much of a difference. Would moving to full slicks (26 x 1.6) like the continental contact sport tire (rei) with my current setup make a noticeable difference? Should I look at thinner tires? How thin of a tire would it be safe to use with this bike?
(3) Lighter wheels - having never ridden a bike with lighter wheels I'm not sure how much effect this would have, but people rave about the difference lighter wheels can make. Is this something I should look into? Is this stupidly expensive compared to other changes I could make?
I don't want to break the bank here, but I am getting more into cycling and would rather tweak this bike a part or two at a time as I can afford it than try to save up for a whole new bike. If you think that several different upgrades would be helpful try to prioritize them so I can get an idea of what (if anything at all) I should be looking at first. Any advice you can give me will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
So far at the advice of friends / my local bike shop I've replaced the rear gear cassette with something more roadbike-ish, picked up some bar ends for switching up hand positions, dropped some $ on safety lights (2x planet bike superflash + sport light + 1W blaze head), replaced the stock saddle with something with minimal cushioning, and gotten a general tune-up. I already have hybrid tires (michelin transworld city) I picked up last year, a rear fender, rack, and panniers I primarily use for lugging stuff to the post office / groceries.
Some other suggestions I've found online:
(1) Fork - people don't seem to like the fork on the trek 830 and say it's worth replacing - not really sure why - could someone explain this to me? Would a different fork make a big difference for touring? What kind of fork?
(2) Narrower tires / Slicks - I've already got hybrids and am unsure if this would make much of a difference. Would moving to full slicks (26 x 1.6) like the continental contact sport tire (rei) with my current setup make a noticeable difference? Should I look at thinner tires? How thin of a tire would it be safe to use with this bike?
(3) Lighter wheels - having never ridden a bike with lighter wheels I'm not sure how much effect this would have, but people rave about the difference lighter wheels can make. Is this something I should look into? Is this stupidly expensive compared to other changes I could make?
I don't want to break the bank here, but I am getting more into cycling and would rather tweak this bike a part or two at a time as I can afford it than try to save up for a whole new bike. If you think that several different upgrades would be helpful try to prioritize them so I can get an idea of what (if anything at all) I should be looking at first. Any advice you can give me will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
06-28-08, 02:14 PM
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Well, I think you should have posted this in the Touring forum. I also have an old Trek 830 which I converted for the road. I think the most important upgrade is the tires. Get the Continental Grand Prix in 26×1.0, it would probably be too skinny for heavy touring, and maybe your old rims are too wide for them too, but you will be much faster than with your old tiresn. I wouldn't bother replacing the fork (if you have the steel one as I have).
