Sounds good. Thanks for the advice, makes sense as the back RIM for the Shimano is for 8, 9 and 10 cassette, but with a spacer it should work fine with a 7 cassette.

Hey TexasPedaler, glad to hear your Denali is still working for you! I had the same problem with removing the rear freewheel and the wheel ultimately had to be replaced. Glad to hear your tires are working out for you as well, so are mine. No pinch flats which I'm very glad of.

Wish I could help you with the fork measurements, but unfortunately that's beyond my knowledge. I'm not even sure what to measure, to be honest.

Small update, I've been commuting regularly on my new old bike. It's great! Rides so smooth and stable when loaded that I've started calling it the tank. Rides just as smooth and stable when unloaded too, but it's not nearly as heavy of course. Here's a loaded pic:

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...n/DSCF4167.jpg

Had an unfortunate incident last week that ended up causing me to crash into a curb at 20 mph. I'm fine, and so is the bike as I managed to bail before the bike hit the curb. The wheels required re-truing but it was no big deal. Otherwise, not even a scratch and it's still riding on. I think it's got about 40 miles on it now.
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kept forgetting to respond to this. the freewheel on my denali was also tough to remove the inside slots are not exactly the same as shimano they are slightly bigger the removal tool will spin inside if torqued. i grinded a 3/4 inch socket extension four sides to a slight tapered square once the size was close a gentile tap of a hammer to set then put a 3/4 inch socket long bar on it unscrewed very easily!
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^ Good work. The stock freewheel is indeed hard to remove, it requires a tool that most bike shops aren't likely to carry and my bike shop couldn't even find the tool necessary to remove it. But that 3/4 socket extension sounds like a great idea.

Not much to update on, I've been sick for the past week so I haven't been riding much. Denali is in a state of semi-retirement for the winter. I've stripped everything unnecessary off of it and put it on the other bike to reduce weight. I'm waiting until I get to feeling better and have more time, at which point I plan on cleaning everything up and re-greasing all major bearings. After that it will be stored until warmer weather and faster riding returns!

The Free Spirit is doing fine as well. I've been having problems with the cottered cranks, and I understand why people dislike them so much now. They kept coming loose and ended up wearing out the stock pins, fortunately my LBS carried replacements. I also got a new chain since I wasn't sure how kind my reduced length chain (I had to initially remove a siezed link) was to the rear derailleur.

Now, I've got those pins on good and tight. Hopefully they'll last.

Last night I tried to do an experiment. I found that the cartridge bottom bracket from the Denali fit perfectly into the Free Spirit, so a cotterless conversion would be easy. I tried to mount up the Denali's stock MTB crankset just to see if it would work, but the geometry was all wrong and it would require me to get a different FD and result in a completely screwed up chainline even with the narrowest of bottom brackets. Too bad, I wouldn't have minded the gearing. But the budget is stretched out so I'm not willing to buy a replacement square taper crankset at the moment. But I'll be scouring the roadsides for junk bikes with cranksets I can use.

Cottered cranks aside, I'm having no problems with it. I'm hoping to take it on a mini-tour this weekend! 50 miles through the fall foliage. 70 miles on the odometer currently.
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You may want to look for something like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Truvativ-Iso...item5890a24656

or a compact double; with BB.

Thanks! That's exactly the sort of gearing I'm looking for. I'll have to keep an eye on those and see how the bidding goes.
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Boro you replaced the denali handlebars and headset I think so what's your opinion on this? Do you think the fork could be replaced with the Nashbar Carbon Road Bike Fork? Would that require a new headset?

I didn't, actually...both are still stock. However in short order I plan on tearing down and servicing the Denali including the headset. All I know right now is that it is a standard 1" threaded headset, but I think the nashbar fork will work. I'd be happy to take pictures and measurements when I do the servicing if someone can tell me which measurements are important.
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Well decided to pass on my friends Shimano RS10 RIM set even though it was a huge huge deal for $50, and decided to call Kent International again and this time they were willing to help. They asked me to ship the RIM back and I went looking at it would have been $35 dollars to ship from Texas to NJ. So I spoke to tech and asked why it was so hard to remove the freewheel as it would better for me to get a new one under warranty from them sent to me and have LBS put on. Tech stated it is a "special" tool needed. To me it sounds like it was designed that way so you couldn't replace just freewheel. Either way, they told me I could purchase a matching RIM/Wheel with freewheel/RIM tape and bolts for $25, so I did and it's on the way. Overall, I am glad for warranty as they have sent me replacement revo shifters + cables as well for no charge as the right one was not going into 7th gear anymore. I think it does go in 7th gear, it just doesn't reflect on shifter.

Being that I own the Denali, the warranty allows for bare bottom cost if I opted to pay for a replacement rather then $60 to $70 dollars for the RIM with no warranty. Still looking to change front fork to carbon and will be following the thread as wphamilton mentioned Nashbar Carbon Bike fork as I have been as well looking at that one, but feel there has to more then one kind out there to use just need exact specs so when attaching either a aluminum neck or carbon it will work. We know so far that it is a 1" standard threaded headset, just need to know more. Thanks for the continued postings.

Regarding carbon fork - there are more out there; they generally start in price at about double Nashbar, and go up from there.

Rear wheel; you would have been better off with the Shimano RS10 RIM set; which allow the use of standard cassettes. If you ride a lot and hard like Borobike; you will be replacing the freewheel (or cassette in his case) every year. Chains, cassettes (freewheels in your case) and tires are all replacement items.

I agree that you probably should take up that RS10 set if you still have the chance. I paid $64 for just the rear wheel and I don't think it was as nice as those, and not a set. Thing with the freewheel is, it's gonna have to come off eventually...for wheel servicing or replacement as mentioned above. But, you could also try a modified 3/4" extension socket like mentioned above and see if it works for you, then just replace the freewheel with a standard Shimano Hyperglide freewheel and you should be good to go. Easy replacements and removals from then on.

Big personal milestone for me today, new longest ride! Today I joined up with the local group of cyclists and drove to Jacksonville, AL, where we rode to the Georgia state line on a rails to trails system which was about 26.5 miles, and back of course. 53 miles total distance for the day. As mentioned, a new personal record for me! Though I ride a lot, my previous longest distance in one ride is somewhere between 25-30 miles, over fairly hilly terrain.

Basically we went through the mountains and ended up in some pretty neat mountain passes. It was a fun ride, and pretty flat, which made the ride much better I'm sure.

I took the steel tank and had it loaded to the max with a bunch of extra gear that I ended up only using a little bit of. My bike was kind of overloaded compared to everyone else's, but I also never wanted for anything on the ride. Here's some pics:

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...man/IMG143.jpg

Loaded up, and parked at the first stop. We stopped every 13 miles or so (3 stops in total) for butt pain relief.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...man/IMG144.jpg

First group of bikes (mine in foreground)

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...man/IMG145.jpg

Second group of bikes, and some of the riders.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...man/IMG146.jpg

My steel tank again, except this time at the Georgia border.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...man/IMG147.jpg

Group of bikes and some riders.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...man/IMG148.jpg

State line! I made it a point to ride across that line before stopping. Now I can officially say I have ridden my bike out of the state.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...man/IMG149.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...man/IMG150.jpg

Now, for some pictures of the stuff in between stops, once I realized we weren't going to stop and take pictures along the way. There were a lot of mountain rivers and other scenic stuff that I missed, but these pictures were taken on the fly and most of them sucked. These were the only ones that turned out good...

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...man/IMG151.jpg

Heading back...

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...man/IMG152.jpg

This was one of the many bridges over the old railroad trestles crossing mountain rivers. I couldn't get a picture of any of them cause it was too dangerous to do so sideways while going two across on these narrow bridges.

Apparently I can only post 10 images per post, so the remainder of the ride and pics will be included in the next post...
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Continuing!

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...man/IMG153.jpg

For that matter, most of my side shots turned out like crap. Here's a weird one of some low mountains in the distance.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...man/IMG154.jpg

Another slightly better one with some fellow riders.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...man/IMG157.jpg

Parked again! Last butt rest before home base.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...man/IMG161.jpg

I ended up pulling away with the fast group. It was kind of interesting, they all matched as you can see. I was wearing all black so I sort of looked like them as well, but I had a bunch of extra crap on my bike. I probably looked like their support vehicle.

As it turns out, I ended up passing a couple of them and finished 3rd out of 18 for the ride. It wasn't a race, but they couldn't believe that I kept up with them with platform pedals. I couldn't believe that I kept up with them either, but not for that reason...but because my bike probably weighed 20 pounds+ more than theirs with everything on it, and it was my first 50 miler.

As it turned out, I didn't get tired at all. My butt hurt a fair amount, however. But that was the absolute only thing that hurt so I can tell I've got my fit right and the bike is as comfortable as I've been believing it is. I wasn't the only one to experience butt pain, those with Brooks shared similar words and I was advised there really isn't anything you can do other than buy the best saddle you can, take breaks, and deal with it. I'll say this though, once I'd been off the saddle a few minutes my butt was fine and I could ride again pain-free for a while. Maybe the Denali saddle isn't as bad as I initially thought, my butt just wasn't used to a firm saddle back then.

I'd still like a Brooks, but I may throw the stock Denali saddle back on the Denali. It proved itself today, if more experienced riders than I had exactly the same results from their saddles.

That's all for now, 139 miles on the Sovereign. No problems at all on the long ride today. The new cotter pins are holding and so is everything else.
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the 3/4 drive 24 inch long breaker bar was nothing expensive cheap flea market type repurposed from an old project now its with the other bicycle tools i have. found this: http://www.opentip.com/Tools-Auto-In...p-1455318.html cheap new extensions were not expensive either.

Well, spoke with me friend after the suggestions yesterday and the Shimano RS10 set is mine still and for $5 bucks less. He just needed to get them out of the closet. Also going to purchase the front XRIM with QR to match the current back wheel too from Amazon. So it looks like I have 3 sets and will be getting the Shimano set on after the winter and be ready for next season, but for now once I get the Vitesse RIM replacement, I will use that for the remainder of my rides this year. Still leaning towards Nashbar carbon fiber fork and will probably put that on during winter as well. Thanks for the posts and Borobike, thanks for the pics of the ride and suggestions. Keep em coming!

Sounds like a good deal, TexasPedaler! I'm thinking about a Nashbar carbon fork myself someday, I'd like to shed more weight since it's now my dedicated fast bike.

Speaking of the Denali, it's still in dry dock, so to speak. I was going to tear it down the other day when I remembered I needed to buy a tool to remove the Shimano cassette and I was feeling too cheap to buy anything else bike related that day. Might wait for around Christmas time when I have extra cash and can buy the stuff I don't really need right away.

Speaking of buying things, I had to get a new headlight for the other bike, as my Ultrafire flashlight was just being a total POS and wasn't reliable at all. I ended up with a Gemini Titan, a really nice improved Magicshine clone that is rated for 900 lumens. A full review and pictures thread is over in the Electronics forum, but here's a couple:

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...n/DSCF4183.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...n/DSCF4175.jpg

The beam pattern is really good, as is the brightness. It looks like a car or motorcycle's beam pattern, instead of a flashlight.

Other than that there is really nothing else to report. The Sovereign has 180 miles on it now, and still no problems.

Well, I take that back, there is one minor problem. When I cleaned off the freewheel with degreaser it seems I may have also removed whatever 30 year old grease was in the bearings of it that allows it to spin while coasting. This isn't really a major problem, but sometimes it stays locked to the wheel hub for a split second when I start coasting which takes up some chain and then pops free once it begins spinning. Doesn't harm anything or change gears on me. A new freewheel would fix the problem but it ain't really broke, so...
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I recently sold my Denali because the parts broke so easily on the bike. I took the money I got back from it ($193.00) and saved up a bit, and I am purchasing a 2012 Trek 7.2FX. I am not sure if it is any better, but I am quite sure it will be. The most important thing is that you enjoy your bike. Also, what are you doing to lose weight?

It is broke; and dangerously so - fix it now.

If it doesn't release fast enough, it can wrap the chain, destroying your derailleur, and possibly your rear wheel - throwing you off the bike into _______ .

Honestly, just riding. I know I don't eat as much as I used to because my stomach has shrunk along with the rest of me, but what I eat and drink hasn't really changed a lot. I did diet somewhat early when I was trying to lose weight but it seems the riding has bumped up my metabolism to the point where I can just go about life normally, within reason. I will say I still consciously keep myself in check if I start noticing myself making a choice that led me to getting big in the first place. Things like ordering that huge dessert or supersize meal just cause my friends are.

Good luck with your new bike!

Well poop, there goes my hope of saving some funds...lol.

It seems I was able to temporarily alleviate the problem by putting some machine oil down in there, perhaps partially reactivating the grease. I don't expect this to be a permanent solution, just enough to maybe hold me out for a month or so.
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borobike, approximately how many miles did you put on the freewheel? and what part number or type if you know? that freewheel shouldn't have failed that early.

I put about 180 miles on the bike so far. It's a Falcon freewheel, but I'm not sure which model it is other than it is a 6 speed. Remember though, this isn't on the Denali, this is on the 30-ish year old Sovereign and is likely the original freewheel!
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good luck removing the freewheel. if you want to put a 7 speed on it can be done i converted my raleigh sprite to a 21 speed. just get a 7 speed freewheel and replace the axle with a 175mm one that includes cones and spacers. the rear triangle will need to be widened and alignment checked.

On my World Tourist (originally 5 speed rear); I just had to add a couple of 1mm thick stainless steel washers (sourced from McMaster-Carr) to the right side for the 7 speed freewheel to clear.

Please note the some 7 speed freewheels are wider than others.

If I was doing it all over again, I would go with a close ratio IRD 7 speed instead of the Sunrace I currently have.
http://www.interlocracing.com/freewheelbreakdown.html
due to better spaced ratios on the IRD.

I'm not entirely sure what I'll go with as far as a replacement. I wouldn't mind staying with 6 speed though.

Looking at Amazon (I usually get an Amazon gift card for Christmas) I found a few nice options though:

Shimano MF-TZ20 for $11:
http://www.amazon.com/Shimano-MF-TZ2...2161370&sr=8-3

Falcon HG (possibly the same as what I have?) for $11:
http://www.amazon.com/Falcon-HG-Free...2161370&sr=8-4

Sunrace freewheel for $13:
http://www.amazon.com/Freewheel-Spee...2161370&sr=8-5

And a shiny Sunrace for $11:
http://www.amazon.com/Sunrace-Freewh...2161370&sr=8-7

As you can see, I'm sticking with 14-28T, as that's what's on there now. I'm leaning towards the Shimano for the known tooling and quality. What do you guys think?

Getting the old freewheel off won't be a problem though. I had it off when I picked the bike up a month or two ago to service the hubs and all. :)
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I have not had good experience with Shimano freewheels recently; but have been very happy with Sunrace.

Unless you use the 28T; I recommend closer ratios.

@borobike

Will you post pictures of the revamped Denali soon? I am sure we would love to see what it looks like now. ;D