Originally Posted by rlmalisz

I have been riding this poor bike forever, and am fond of it. The drivetrain is 3x7...and the small chainwheel is a true grannie gear, which helps get my 235 pounds up the 12+% grades around here...my home is near the top of one of them. I'm used to riding with a small Topeak rackmount bag. Am riding 700x28c tires, slightly custom back wheel (tandem rim). I hope to get lighter, but am fairly certain I can avoid getting heavier.

Here's what started me (finally) down the slippery slope: I got a Wahoo KICKR Core. The Shimano freehub on it can manage 8/9/10/11 cog cassettes with the right spacer. My bar-end shifters are indexed for 7 cogs. I live in the PNW, and am mostly a fairweather cyclist, so being able to train/ride offseason is highly appealing to me.

I can take the bike into a shop and see if they can modernize the drivetrain. It'd mean having the rear wheel rebuilt with a 10/11-capable freehub, and presumably replacing the rest of the drivetrain...freewheel, chain, derailleurs, crankset. I'm guessing we'd be talking about $400+, minimum. I'm not even sure anyone makes a wide triple crankset anymore.

Looking at new bikes, I am not seeing anything that floats my boat. I believe I am still too heavy for carbon, and once you get into decent components, it seems like everything is carbon. Anything that looks a bit sturdier seems to be aimed at gravel/off-road use...and I have a beater mountain bike for that.

Does anyone make a relaxed geometry road/touring bike akin to the 1420 with modern components? Is it silly to have this old AL frame refitted with modern hardware? Is it even doable? We have some custom framebuilders here in the Portland area, and I may wind up just going in to a couple and telling them what I want and asking for a quote.

Suggestions (aside from selling off the KICKR without ever having used it)?

Thanks in advance.

--Richard