Originally Posted by
gypsy_hipster
Does anybody know anything about Miche wheels? I can get them for a really good price, but I haven't heard much about them. Here's the front wheel I was looking at:
http://www.amazon.com/Handspun-Pelot...8000891&sr=1-5
The Alex wheels are still a possibility, though, especially if I decide I need to shave a few dollars off in the wheel department.
My fiance works at a company that makes bike racks, and I'm lucky enough to have access to all the free powdercoating I want! I just powdercoated some tomato cages for my garden - I'm always looking for things to powdercoat.
The brakes that came with the bike were in decent shape, but most definitely NOT aluminum. I didn't weigh them but they were crazy heavy. Same goes for the crank. Once again, I didn't weigh it but it seems to weigh as much as the frame itself! The stem and seat post are also pretty heavy.
So, what I'm taking from this is:
- Buy a decent but low-priced crankset, and go for a compact double or a triple trekking crankset instead of a road double to spare my knees.
- Splurge on decent brifters (and a new derailleur) or save by keeping my current derailleur and buying friction downtube shifters. Y'know, I've ridden single-speeds for most of my adult cycling life and I really don't know if I even understand the advantage of brifters vs. downtube shifters - especially when the price difference is so great! Aside from convenience, is there a huge difference? What about bar-end shifters?
- Get a threadless adapter so I can keep using the fork I have.
I know, I know -- I probably should have held out for a mixte, but the only decent mixte I came across was an old Peugeot, and I got scared off when my bike pals told me these old French frames are difficult to work on (So here I am with an old Austrian bike, haha). I'm not terribly concerned about frame flex. My commute is a lot of stop-and-go and uphill climbs, and on a day-to-day basis I rarely get going fast enough to have to worry about "turning at speed." When I take it out for longer rides I guess I'll just have to be careful.
Here's a picture of the old girl, pre-stripping:
Didn't realize you are a petite woman. Those wheels you mention are serious overkill at this stage of the game unless you can get them really cheap. you also sound like you could be the type to get addicted and want other better bikes in the future so don't try to make this bike be everything all at once.
I would start with downtube shifters so you can keep your existing derailers, heck, you can go with stem shifters as well. You don't need to be as worried about destroying wheels since you don't weigh much. get a cheap wheelset like
these and then save your money to get nicer racing wheels with lower spoke counts down the road. the wheel in the link is a freewheel, not a freehub so then you would need a
freewheel. putting these wheels on will save you a full 4 lbs vs your steel wheels. I know because I just did it last week! downtube shifters don't weigh much at all either. For brake handles nashbar has aero
brake levers on sale for $5 bucks right now. find a used aluminum or titanium stem and keep the existing fork
Go with a compact double to keep weight down. They are about 200 grams less from what I've seen.
FWIW, my steel frame was stripped to everything except the crank and it weighed in at 9lbs. I was told that hi tension steel frames are usually around 6lbs so it could be that I have a very heavy crank and bottom bracket on my bike. you should weigh all your parts out so you truly know instead of going by feel. also, if you do want to modernize the drivetrain, have you thought about a regular flat bar setup? mountain bike shifters are way cheaper than brifters and then you could go modern derailer and have indexed shifting and 8/9 gears on the back instead of 6 or 7 that a freewheel offers.
dont get a threadless adaptor, that is only going to add weight, instead get a titanium or aluminum stem and then go with either stem shifters or downtube shifters. if you go threadless, go all out and put a new carbon fork in there, allow stem and bars and maximize weight savings.
Some numbers from my build
Existing
Steel barss 646 grams
steel fork 749 grams
quill stem 431 grams
total 1826 grams
New
Aluminum bars 303 grams
Carbon fork 550 grams
Stem 185 grams
total 1038
Weighing stuff out on a spreadsheet is good so you can see cheap ways to save weight. For me, the old seat on my project bike weighs 535 grams! new cheapo $15 seat weighs 300. The pedals weigh 250 grams each, new ones weigh half of that and also cost me $20. removing reflectors is free and saved me another 125 grams. those items right there saved me 610 grams and only cost me 35 bucks.
When all is said and done i'll have spent $340 on my bike and taken it from a 32lb 10 speed to a 25 lbs 14 speed. In the future I may look to replace the crank if the price is right and weight savings is there.
Sorry for being all over the place, I'm excited for you!