So since I got back into biking, I've been commuting on my
road bike. It's a fast machine, pretty comfortable, but doesn't have provisions for rack and fenders and I didn't want to ruin the aesthetics by mounting any. Also, I'd be heartbroken if it got stolen, so I don't like leaving it locked out. Consequently I was looking for a bike that was almost as fast, could deal with rain, loads, and wouldn't be subject to theft.
A while ago, I got a cheapie rigid fork MTB to commute to school on. It's a 1997 Diamondback Sorrento with a 4130 frame & steel fork, 7-speed drive train. With some slicks it was a decent commuter. After I graduated I more or less parked it outside and used it on the rare trips to the local beer & pizza place. Finally, I dusted it off, and converted it to a touring/commuting machine.
Changes I made:
- New bars and stem - I had an 80mm quill stem and old road bars lying around.
- Shimano R600 brake levers - also lying around
- Shimano Tourney 7-speed thumb shifters - bar-cons were my preference but they are $$$! These were $17 shipped, and perform fine.
- New saddle - the old saddle had gotten really soft and wasn't comfortable anymore.
- 1.25" slicks for speed
- Nashbar Soho pedals with platforms on one side and SPDs on the other
- The rear rim was dented nicely. I rebuilt the rear wheel with an Alex DM18 rim, brass nipples, and 14/15 spokes. The wheelbuilder though it was a bit of an odd request given the vintage of the hubs but they're plenty serviceable and I figured a hand built wheel would outlast a cheap machine-built one anyway.
Before:
After:
(see attached)
My impressions: quite fast. My 7 mile commute is barely faster on my road bike than on this thing. The gearing leaves some to be desired, it's pretty "sparse" and unlike on the road bike with a 13-25 cluster, finding a good gear on this thing isn't possible sometimes. The large chainring is 44; a 48 would probably make more sense. The granny gear hardly gets touched anyway, but maybe for dirt paths with a significant load my tune will change. All in all, I'm very happy, and looking forward to some foul weather commuting!