When vintage road gears just too much for my obese built
#26
ambulatory senior
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Here is another approach. If you can't ride some hills with your current setup, how much time would you be spending pushing your bike? If it's just a small fraction, how about doing just that? That's what people used to do. We didn't insist on riding up every incline. And if you're interested in becoming more fit, you can watch your progress by seeing that fraction of your time decrease from month to month. I'm not saying you should lose weight, though of course you are free to. Some obese people are excellent cyclists.
#27
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I think Toms advice is refreshingly sound but I also think there's vast numbers of triple cranks available that will keep the bike vintage-looking FWIW. It will allow you the opportunity to tackle harder and greater inclines as your fitness increases. Worth the tweaking, especially at this time of year.
#28
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Fwiw I have a Nishiki international. I swapped in a 24-36-48 with a triple front derailleur and a 14-16-18-20-22-24 Suntour freewheel and Shimano friction thumb shifters on upright bars and it is a great combo. Just a nudge on the shifter brings on the next gear, it will climb a wall, and there are 3 distinct gear groupings with very little overlap. with this set up I don't really need anything bigger than the 24 tooth at the rear.
#29
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@Obeast,
Where are you located? (Most of us include that info under our avatars.) if it’s near a metropolitan US area, chances are that there’s a bike co-op there. Such co-ops typically have a pile of triple cranksets, as well as long-cage RD and triple FD, all for cheap. As stated previously, cartridge BB are readily available (less than $25) in all the lengths you might require. Plus, there’s usually expertise there as well as the necessary tools, and even more help here on this forum of very friendly folks to assist you in getting it together to run magnificently for many years and hills.
If you don’t have access to a co-op or similar, post in the ISO (“In Search Of”) sticky at the top of this forum, and I’ll bet you will have a wealth of options open up.
A warning: if you take your lovely Nishiki into most LBS, they will try to convince you that your bike is hopelessly obsolete and you should just buy something new from them. We are here to help you overcome such thoughts.
Where are you located? (Most of us include that info under our avatars.) if it’s near a metropolitan US area, chances are that there’s a bike co-op there. Such co-ops typically have a pile of triple cranksets, as well as long-cage RD and triple FD, all for cheap. As stated previously, cartridge BB are readily available (less than $25) in all the lengths you might require. Plus, there’s usually expertise there as well as the necessary tools, and even more help here on this forum of very friendly folks to assist you in getting it together to run magnificently for many years and hills.
If you don’t have access to a co-op or similar, post in the ISO (“In Search Of”) sticky at the top of this forum, and I’ll bet you will have a wealth of options open up.
A warning: if you take your lovely Nishiki into most LBS, they will try to convince you that your bike is hopelessly obsolete and you should just buy something new from them. We are here to help you overcome such thoughts.
Last edited by Dfrost; 01-20-18 at 03:19 PM.
#30
Me duelen las nalgas
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Go for it. I've seen much younger folks than I who appear to be in good shape riding cross type bikes with enormous rear cogs and tiny chainrings. I don't know how much they use those gears but they're available.
Even though I'm fairly thin (5'11", 160 lbs, pretty close to my peak condition weight 40 years ago), I've never been a strong climber. No matter how much I work at it I'm solidly middle of the pack in climbing, and usually get dropped on hills by the local roadie B-group, even by folks who aren't much younger than I and some of whom are overweight.
So I swapped out my road bike's 42T small chainring for a 39. Helps a bit. I also got a 13-25 freewheel but the gear jumps were awkward so I swapped back to the original 13-24. I may try a 38T small chainring and a 13-28 freewheel. Won't make me faster on climbs, but I'll be less exhausted. In contrast my hybrid with 30/40/50 chainrings and 13-28 cassette climbs easily, even though the bike is heavier. So it's not just weight but having agreeable gearing.
Even though I'm fairly thin (5'11", 160 lbs, pretty close to my peak condition weight 40 years ago), I've never been a strong climber. No matter how much I work at it I'm solidly middle of the pack in climbing, and usually get dropped on hills by the local roadie B-group, even by folks who aren't much younger than I and some of whom are overweight.
So I swapped out my road bike's 42T small chainring for a 39. Helps a bit. I also got a 13-25 freewheel but the gear jumps were awkward so I swapped back to the original 13-24. I may try a 38T small chainring and a 13-28 freewheel. Won't make me faster on climbs, but I'll be less exhausted. In contrast my hybrid with 30/40/50 chainrings and 13-28 cassette climbs easily, even though the bike is heavier. So it's not just weight but having agreeable gearing.
#31
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One of the nice things about the vintage bikes is that they often have clamp-on front derailleurs. This allows a fair amount of vertical adjustment, either up or down as needed.
The vintage front and rear derailleurs may or may not play nice with a triple, but they may do fine with a double MTB crankset with appropriate not so wide bottom bracket.
What do you need for top-end gearing?
Here is a Suntour Octalink 22/36 for not too much.
https://www.universalcycles.com/shop...s.php?id=72176
You could polish it to silver if you wished.
Of course, there are triple Front derailleurs and vintage long cage rear derailleurs if you wish to go with the triple.
The vintage front and rear derailleurs may or may not play nice with a triple, but they may do fine with a double MTB crankset with appropriate not so wide bottom bracket.
What do you need for top-end gearing?
Here is a Suntour Octalink 22/36 for not too much.
https://www.universalcycles.com/shop...s.php?id=72176
You could polish it to silver if you wished.
Of course, there are triple Front derailleurs and vintage long cage rear derailleurs if you wish to go with the triple.