Originally Posted by
William I am
I bought "one of those" GMC Denali Pro road bikes. It's got brifters and microshift deraillerus. It rides fine (mostly), but it's hilly around here, and I'm getting down into my lowest gear on the more moderate hills around here.
I want to upgrade to a triple crank. The bike is a 16-speed now, with an 8-speed freewheel (old style, not freehub). I mentioned it to a guy at a LBS, and he said I would have to switch to a 9-speed chain, then have to replace the front and rear derailleurs, the bottom bracket, and that it wouldn't be worth it.
The front derailleur is set up to work with either double or triple cranks, and has three detents that it cycles through. So, that sounds like I won't need anything but the new crank, and the new bottom bracket.
Long story short, the bike is cheap, but what I can afford as a student. The 700cx28 tires are pretty narrow for me, as I was running 27x1 3/8" tires before. I have some issues with it, so I am considering returning it and getting a hybrid.
Anyway, first post - cheers!
So what double is on it now? I am pretty sure you have 53/39.
The EASIEST swap is to a compact double (50/34):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Truvativ-Iso...item5890a81864
the title of the above auction is wrong, but the description is correct. I got a similar one for less than $40-; and it includes the bottom bracket. You may need to lower your FD a millimeter or two. The 34 gives you much better hill climbing ability than your present 39, and the 172.5mm gives you a small fraction increase in torque compared to the 170mm cranks your presently have. You may also want to take a link out of your chain, as you are going from 53 to 50 in the big ring.
The above is assuming that you decide to keep the bike. The compact double will also reduce weight.