Originally Posted by
Hangtownmatt
wrk101 - Yes, I did consider a compact. Maybe I'm looking in all the wrong places but it seems to me chain rings are expensive. At least half the cost of the XD-600 ... if not more. Where should I be look'in?
I've really branched out on my evening commute home since I started riding the "road" bike. The problem is 10 -12 miles is uphill; some of it fairly serious. Last week I took my converted rigid mtn. bike, expanded the route even a bit more, and found myself on the 2nd lowest gear of its triple at the tail end. I'm pretty sure I need a triple but will check out Sheldon's calculator.
I too am cheap. I'm also somewhat of a rookie bicycle mechanic and have experienced the frustration of compatibility issues. By cheap, I mean I order everything I need all at once to save on shipping. My excuse for ordering parts that I may or may not need is they can be transfered to the eventual touring frame I plan to build up. But I digress.
cappuccino911 - We think alike, but I must take into consideration this Nishiki has a lot of hi-tinsel steel. But is sure rides nice and makes me feel a bit unique out on the road. And yes, I'm planning to go 7-speed. My current 6-speed freewheel is starting to skip and needs to be replaced. I too like closer gear spacing and am planning to stick with a 13/14-28 freewheel if I go with a triple. But nothing's ruled out yet.
No, I didn't repack the old BB bearings. I replaced it with a Shimano UN54 68x122 cartridge BB.
Everyone - I'm still curious about that RD hanger. Is it reusable? In other words can it be used universally with other derailleurs?
Anyone else ?
Matt
my nishiki was Hi-Ten as well. it weighed 32lbs when i took it in off th estreet. it had steel wheels, steel bars, stem, just about steel everything! I put a threadless carbon fork on it with aluminum bars and stem, swapped out the old crank for a modern triple that used an isis cartridge bottom bracket and put on the aluminum wheels I mentioned above. When all was said and done, it was done to 24lbs which was fine for a 235lb guy like myself. You are on the right track, but you will probably need a new bottom bracke when you make this crank change.
Your RD hanger may or may not be reusablebut it's easy enough to get a replacemtn universal hanger. I'm not familiar with the RD that you mentioned but if money is an issue, you can get a shimano tourney RD for about $15 online. they aren't the prettiest but they work and they are an indexing deraileur in case you decide to upgrade to index shifting down the road.
Are you deadset on a vintage looking crank or would you put something more modern on there? Nashbar sells a compact crank that is about $60 but its black. There is an ebay seller wheelandsprocket that often has good deals on cranks as well. As someone who uses a triple, almost the only time I go to the granny gear is when i hit the biggest of hills and then I use the granny gear with only the two largest sprockets. I'm definately switching to a compact on one of my bikes thje triple is a bit overkill.
EDIT: just looked at the pic of the rear deraileur. It's definately reusable and probably preferable to reuse that one. Those cheap Tourney RD's i mentioned above come with and without a hanger