When they're dry, my brakes stop me quite nicely - beautifully in an emergency stop. But when wet, it can take full application of both brakes much longer to stop, and emergency stops? Pfffft - forget it.

These are Shimano C101 V-brakes, and Aztek pads. Just bought some new pads today, too, and gotta put them on.

Try the Kool Stop Salmons. They work great.

Thanks; I'll just go to disc brakes on the new ride.

I think I've changed my mind... I've been looking at the specs for a couple of different frames (the Surly LHT and the Nashbar Touring) and comparing them to the specs for my current ride (soon to have that on my website). Frankly, my frame compares favorably to these two touring frames!

What I'm thinking of doing now is:

1. Strip the bike down to parts.
2. Have the frame (it's steel) stripped down to bare metal.
3. Have braze-ons put on the rear for disc brakes.
4. Replace the fork with a carbon one with braze-ons for disc brakes.
5. Paint the frame and fork (BLUE! :D)
6. Get new wheelsets with 9 or 10 speed freewheel (or cassette; not decided yet)
7. Replace the BB and put on a 175mm crankset
8. Replace the SRAM shifters for a matching set that can do 9-10 speed

How does one find a good place for stripping/painting a bicycle frame?

I used Jasco paint stripper on my trek. :) Still need to send it to powder coat. The big thing with the touring frames is that they're heavier tubing for strength, and the chainstays are usually 2-3cm longer than normal for heal clearance with panniers. My LHT will be on the road this week, I'll take some pics when it's done.

Mark

Thanks for that tip - I'll look into the Jasco. I'd like to see those pictures of your Trucker!

From post #6 in this thread:

. . . . . . . . . . . . .. Touring - Road - Hybrid
Framesize . . . . . . 56 . . . .. 56 . . . .56
top tube length . .. 56.0 . . . 56.5 . . 56.0
wheelbase . . . . . . 104.5 . . n/a . .. 107
head tupe length .. 13.5 . .. 16.0 . . 21.0
chainstay length . . 45.5 . .. 41.0 . . 46.0
weight . . . . . . . . . 4lbs . . . 4.2lbs . >10lbs

The one labelled "Hybrid" is my current ride. As you can see, my chainstay length is longer even than the Surly LHT! The weight for my bike is kinda iffy; I don't know what the frame itself weighs. The whole bike weighs between 20-25 lbs. I think.

That's part of why I post here; it helps me to learn. Maybe my ideas are not feasible... never know until I ask/try, you know? Plus, as I learn, I may change my mind again. Stay tuned.

This is the fork I have in mind:

http://64.78.59.47/merchant.mvc?Scre...ategory_Code=C

Just looked at it again - my bad, it's not carbon: it's cromoly.

Raiyn was trying to say you're barking up the wrong tree.
If you want to save money, that's great. Slap on some new tires, maybe a new saddle and rack,
and call it a day.

I've just got the new tires and they're great. Replaced the saddle a long time ago with a gel-type one that is great. Had a rack from the get-go, and just replaced that.

Now I want to fiddle and upgrade a bit. :D

There's no reason you can't use a disc in front and canti or linear in the rear. Since most of your braking force is generated from the front wheel, you probably don't need the additional stopping power in the rear.

Painting costs are all over the map. You can do it yourself pretty cheaply and end up with an OK paint job (check Ken Kifer's website for tips). If you want a long lasting paint/powdercoat job that is really nice try Joe Bell (paint) or Spectrum Powder Works. You can also search the forums for lots of additional info.

http://www.kenkifer.com/
http://www.campyonly.com/joebell.html
http://spectrumpowderworks.com/

Cool - I'll take a look around Charlotte for powdercoating folks. I think I could probably do a decent job of it, but powdercoat is a more durable finish (I think - am I mistaken?).

As for the brakes, you musta missed the part where people have been telling me I'm crazy for using my rear brake as my primary brake. :D So I definitely want a disc brake in the rear. As for having one up front, it's more for the symmetry of the whole look and for emergency stopping.

Yes, I've gone and read up on the subject. However, since I've been riding this way for four years (lately; way back in my teens hardly counts) and know how things behave, I'm just going to keep using my rear brake.

Whoa. Don't be deceived here. Your current setup weighs 20-25lbs cuz you have accessories like maybe a rack, fenders, kickstand and of course ultra-cool lights :D. Your new setup may end up the same weight or heavier. It might be good to factor in the weight of current accessories also.

Accessories at lb each add up! My bike weighs 18lbs assembled w/wheels but stripped. But with lights/batteries, seat-post rack and fenders, it's up to 25lbs!

One of these days I'm going to take it over to my vet's office. They have a scale there for weighing large pets, and I can put the bike on there to weigh it. :) I won't be a *bit* surprised to find it weighs 30 lbs!

If it's a hybrid I'd venture that's a pretty close guess. Just borrow a bathroom scale and weigh yourself. Then pick up the bike and step back on the scale. Subtract the differance and that's your bike.

It's a cool project...go for it. You'll learn more than you'll ever imagine. I find project like these help my problem solving skills at work also. Great distraction from the corporate Dillberts too! :lol:

Heh - I just found a package weigh scale with a 125 lb capacity! I found a board that would work to hold the bike, and weighed it. My bike, with rack, lights, and battery, weigh in at 40 lbs!

I used to be a programmer in a previous life :D One thing I find that helps me with my problem-solving process as well as relieve stress is to play Freecell or Spider Solitaire. Especially the two-suit version of Spider Solitaire.

Hmm...if this is going to be a commuter, why not just get a nice touring frame (or use your current since the measurements seem right), and consider throwing a carbon fork on it if you don't plan on using front panniers. That would cut down weight by a decent margin.

Only reason I even mention weight, is my DB mountain bike turned commuter with rack and all weighed about 35-40lbs, and even I found that bike to be a tad unwieldy whenever I had to carry it anywhere.

Well, I had actually thought about a carbon fork: http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...eid=&pagename=

Then I found the Kona, which is less expensive, and has disc braze-ons: http://64.78.59.47/merchant.mvc?Scre...ct_Code=KPT7DF

The Kona runs $70, and the Nashbar $180. I can't find how much the Kona weighs, but being steel is gonna be more than the Nashbar.

Yeah, my bike can be unweildy at 40 lbs. Sometimes I'll have things on the rack (gallon of milk - 8 lbs) and it gets even heavier. Recently I had a flat while towing my B.O.B. trailer loaded with groceries - 1/2 mile! *That* was fun, walking it home. Not.

Okay... I've been reading around the various forums, and someone made me think. (Oh, NO! Run and hide! RUN AND HIDE!) *ahem* :lol: Anyway... I read things like Shimano is the Microsoft of bicycling. I see where someone is thinking about Campy (Campagnolo) parts. So, opening this can of worms:

Who all makes hubs/cassettes/freewheels/derailluers/etc? Which is your personal favorite manufacturer? Why?

Here's my take on it. STI works great, but.... The levers are expensive to replace, and you can't get internal parts for them when they break. They also seem to have a history of failing. I had a right side Dura Ace STI fail about a month ago. This lever looks new, but doesn't shift anymore. I switched to Campy Ergo. For shifters I'll go ergo, now that I have them, I wonder why I didn't do that to begin with. The cost of the rest of campy drivetrain sobers me up. :) My LHT will be running with Ultegra or XT derailleurs depending on the cogset in the rear. XT Rear D for the mountain bike cogs, and Ultegra for the road bike. Shimano cassettes and compatible wheels are more plentiful, and they have a wider range of gearing. You can mix and match Campy (rebuildable) with shimano by using a shiftmate
http://www.jtekengineering.com/shiftmate.htm . I run shimano XT hubs, which are bomb proof and cheap, I also have Mavic MR601's and Shimano Ultegra and DA wheelsets. All work just fine. Basically I get the best of both worlds now. Shifters that can be repaired if they break, and cheaper but good drivetrain components. However Shimano offers a better bang for the buck on the rest of the drivetrain. Ultegra rear der is $54 while the comparable campy centaur is $100. Same way with fronts. So all my rides are Ergo+shiftmate+shimano derailleurs, shimano cassettes on shimano compatible wheels. My searches only turn up the STI brifters breaking, the rest of the stuff just works.

Thanks, markw! :)

OK cool...so you have a starting point. I'm not a weight weenie but I do consider the weight of each replacement component. Hubs, wheels, and other stuff usually weigh more than a few grams!

check the close-outs at spicer!!! rigid steel fork w/ disc mounts for for 10 bucks!

so far I have shimano 105 and some oldschool suntour 4050 Edge. Actually I am mixed ont he two...the shimano STI levers are hella nice, but my old suntour setup shifts better....all you hear is the click from the downtube shifter, and like silk, it's on the next gear.

The shimano is a bit slower to shift over, but it's not too bad of a shift....I just feel slightly disappointed spending the cash I did to get lower shifting performance than a 15 year old low-range suntour drivetrain.

Don't get me wrong, shimano isnt bad really...they do the same thing campy did...their standard or nothing. It's just how they design their stuff. From my understanding:

shimano:
STI lever hoods are thicker, and uncomfortable to some.
their use of ramped cogs give good shifting early on, but it degrades as they wear out (good to know when to swap them out I guess).

campagnolo:
Ergoshift levers have thinner hoods, so are more comfortable to some.
lack of ramping on gears, so you dont get the shifting advantages of shimano...however the cogs are all of uniform tooth design and thickness as a result (maybe this is why my suntour seems to shift better than my 105 group).

Schweet! *scampers to Spicer's site*

I think I finally asked a really good question, because I'm getting some great answers! Thanks, catatonic!

I was over in the Road Cycling forum, and someone was mentioning 180mm cranks being better than even 175's for tall people. I'm rather tall at 6', so I thought I'd stick this link http://www.xoutfitters.com/bmx/crankarm/ here as a good place to keep up with stuff for my bike.

Question: I did some measuring. Can 5mm (~3/16") or even 10mm (~3/8") on one crankarm really make that much difference in pedaling??