Originally Posted by
M.Lou.B
Good point.
Old fork is CroMo steel plus an Ahead-Adapter. So I'm thinking I "might" save some weight, but I as long as I can't find a fork that checks all the boxes, I'll stick with this one.
It's a 3x8 shimano nexave, the one the bike originally came with, and it's still in pretty good condition for the time being. I might change to a more modern drivetrain once it's worn down.
Of course this is not an economical upgrade by any means, I totally agree with you.
For the brifter conversion we did use scavenged ebay parts, which made it a lot more affordable. While it did swallow a lot of money over time, this bike has taught be everything along the way. I went from being a complete newbie to being able to fix my friends' bikes. So it's a bit of a sentimental thing. I also couldn't afford a new bike right now, but little upgrades here and there or a new tool bring so much joy.
I agree with you that there are more modern bikes out there. It's not economical. I see your point. It's something else. I'm sorry if this doesn't make much sense
that's great that this project was a good learning exercise. With everything new in life, we have to start somewhere, so this sounds like it was a great project to become more comfortable doing mechanical stuff.
I started wanting to get to know how to do my own work well over 30 years ago, when I started bike touring, and am so glad I made the first step.
Basically we learn little bit by little bit, and slowly accumulate tools and the most important-hands on knowledge, as we go. Generally a friendly mechanic at a local bike shop will be happy to check over work you've done, thats how it was with me. I'd do stuff and then pay them a bit to go over it and make sure/give recommendations.
Have you learned how to disassemble wheel hubs to regrease teh bearings inside? This also is a really good skill to learn, its not hard but totally worth it.
And by extension, you'll learn how to clean, relube and properly adjust all the bikes bearing points, the headset also. The bottom bracket probably is a sealed square taper thing you never have to touch, but if it needs replacing, its good to learn how to do it yourself also.
In the end, with all the slowly accumulated knowledge we pick up, we save money in the long run and also feel a lot more confident in our bikes because we know intimately how they are and in good running shape.