Originally Posted by robbster
Thanks for the replies. I tried to post up last night, but couldn't make the connection.
As far as I can tell, the bike is set up stock as it came from Schwinn.
I have the following info:
Rear cogs: 24 and 13 teeth
Chainrings: Shimano "BIOSPACE" 42/52 Teeth
Rear: 7-speed,
Derailleurs: Shimano "SPORT LX"
Bottom bracket: Unsure, but I believe it's also a Shimano "SPORT LX"
I ride on both flat(distance) and steep terrain, so I would like to keep(poss. increase) my high gearing. Since I'm on a shoe-string budget, I need to replace as little as possible to make it feasable.
Thanks again
robbster
That's good information. Your rear wheel uses a type of cassette that isn't produced any more (no lockring, the 13T cog threads on). Additionally, your frame has a 126mm rear-axle spacing that's not used anymore. So if you want a long-term solution, you're going to need to account for what you do when those cogs wear out.
What I'm thinking is that it may be equally effective to replace your rear cassette with a wide-range 9-speed one (11-34 teeth), the "cassette body" that it's mounted on, the rear derailleur and the shifters, with several benefits:
1) you'd fix the looming problem I described above, where you eventually wear out your cassette and OH NO, they don't make replacements!
Sooner or later, you ARE going to face this.
2) you'd get a much higher high gear (an 11-tooth rear is a big boost over your 13-tooth)
3) you'd get a
lower low gear than just converting to a road-triple crank, and you'd still have the option to go to a triple crank in the future, if you wanted
Oh noes,
mechBgon is making it complicated!
But keep sight of the fact that you have those legacy issues back at the rear end, and it might be worth spending your dollars to kill two or three birds with one stone back there, instead of getting a triple crank and then ending up against the wall having to address that stuff anyway when you wear out your cogs.
It would probably be a task for your local bike shop unless you have significant bicycle-repair skills and some bicycle-specific tools like chain whips, a cassette-lockring tool, an axle vise and cone wrenches, and a spoke wrench.
Bigger picture: you might be able to score a more modern (used) road bike for what it would cost you to do that stuff. Among my gripes with the 564 are the unique cam-locking seatpost and the lack of a replaceable rear-derailleur hanger. Plus they ride as stiff as a rock. On my old 684 I faced all of those issues and was much happier in the end with something else.