Right now I've got one of
these.
I then got a road bike and was quickly spoiled by having skinny, high-pressure tires, closer-spaced gearing and, of course, drop handlebars. I stopped riding the Muirwoods.
The road bike I've got, though, a bike with a carbon fork/105 gruppo/ritchey parts is one that I don't want to leave locked up for very long and/or out of sight. Further, I want something that will easily mount a rack- probably something with cantilever brakes- and with room for fenders as well.
The rack and fenders part of the consideration actually describes the Muirwoods.
So, I was thinking about adding the following to the Muirwoods:
26"
100psi+ slick tires- not sure which ones yet; this is a make-or-break consideration
44cm road handlebars
sora ST-3304 shifters for triple crankset/8-speed cassette
sora 13-26 8-speed casette
Again the biggest question is if or not I can find a high-pressure 26" tire, meaning at least 100psi. I've got 80psi tires on it now and there's more rolling resistance than I would like.
Some questions that remain are whether the Sora cassette will mate to my ATB rear wheel, as well as if it will work with my Alivio rear derailleur which itself is made for 7 or 8-speed ATB cassettes. If the Alivio rear derailleur won't work I could go to a Tiagra 8-speed derailleur.
I should note that I could get the shifters, cassette, rear derailleur and handlebars at a pretty good discount.
The whole reason I'm even considering doing the above is because I've already paid for the Muirwoods and it's still pretty much new. The condition and longevity of its parts aren't really in question. Further, I don't think it would be too attractive to thieves with the low-grade parts I have in mind.
A reason not to bother is because I could just buy an older touring bike that would couple the features of my road bike (skinny tires/close-ratio gearing/drop handlebars) with those of my Muirwoods (easy rack & fender compatibility).
Any thoughs are welcome.