vivithemage

I got a stock 29er, I like it .. rides nice (put 300 miles on last summer), a lil sluggish, but nice around the city. I can do 15-20 miles no problem, stock.

I got in a slight accident, where I need to replace my front rim and rotor ... should I just replace both rims and rotors, and tires even? I have a feeling doing so might reduce my sluggishness?

Any ideas on that?

fietsbob

Bike shop can see what you have , I cannot.

vivithemage

I don't mind purchasing online or at a bike shop...

Is it possible to pick up factory rotors, or are there better ones out there?

vivithemage

I just purchased some Avid BB7's, looking over one of Andy's reviews, he said it was the best upgrade he did. Any other ideas?

Andy_K 

The BB7's were definitely an awesome upgrade, though I was never 100% sure that the upgraded brake levers weren't important to that experience too. If you aren't blown away by the BB7's immediately, consider a pair of Avid Speed Dial levers to go with them.

Changing the stock tires will help with the sluggish feeling somewhat, but you may find yourself fighting against the heart of the bike. Light tires will make it zippier, but that bike is really made for wide tires. The best compromise I found was Marathon Supremes, though I think at 28/29x2.0 I went a bit too wide.

vivithemage

Thanks Andy!

I have some of those 7levers ready, if I don't like the feel. Were you able to just drop them in? I plan on replacing the rotors, and just re using the cabling?

I have been contemplating new rims after my front end accident...but it doesn't seem all THAT bad, I might just keep them for a few hundred more miles.

How was that Specialized Avatar saddle you got? I don't mind the stock one, but my butt starts to feel really sore after a bit...especially consecutive days of riding.

any advice on some 'slicks' for the stock rims? Do you still have your stock rims? I'll buy em off you if you don't want em! I think they are alex td-20's.

Another thing I have contemplated is a drop down bar ... any recommendations there? I'd love to have the brakes on the drop down, as well as the flat bar, is that possible?

Andy_K 

I'm pretty liberal about replacing cables, so when I swapped in the BB7 calipers I also used fresh cables. If your old cables aren't too old you can probably reuse the outer cables. I'd probably go with new inner cables just to avoid problems with fraying.

I sold my Muirwoods about a year ago and the stock rims went with it. I built myself a set of new wheels for my Muriwoods when I was riding it, but I didn't actually have any problems with the stock wheels. A friend of mine had some problems with spokes breaking, but I suspect that was a build quality issue. He said the spoke tension was uneven on his wheel. That's definitely something you should check if you've crashed the wheel. Plucking the spokes and listening for a common pitch is probably a good enough test. If you've got an Android or iPhone and really want to geek out, you can get an app to measure the pitch.

I liked my Avatar for a while, but eventually I soured on the "potato chip" curve of it. That made it hard to figure out how to level it when I moved it to a new bike. I've got Specialized Toupe and Phenom saddles now that I like much better. I'm also happy with a cheap Forte Classic on my commuter for 10 mile trips, but I don't like it as well for longer rides.

As for slicks on your Muirwoods, I'd suggest trying 700x35 Schwalbe Marathon Supremes, or maybe 700x40 if you want to stay with wide tires. If you don't want to spend that much, a 700x37 Panaracer Pasela TG might be a good alternative. Those TD-20's are pretty wide. I had some 700x28 Panaracer Ribmos on mine, but I think that was pushing things a bit.

The geometry of the Muirwoods makes a drop bar conversion pretty tricky. I had to use a very stubby stem with short reach bars on mine to make it work. I still ended up with my bars very high. I did like the Muirwoods like that, but it's an expensive conversion, as you need new shifters/brake levers, new brakes, a new stem and the handlebars. If you aren't using bar end shifters, you'd also probably want a new front derailleur. You're probably better off starting over with a bike that's meant to be used with drop bars. unless you just like to tinker and have a box of useful parts. I think you can use cyclocross-type interrupter levers with mechanical disc brakes, but I've never tried it.

vivithemage

I will take a look at those seat's and some 700x35 Schwalbe Marathon Supremes!

I might stay with the flatbar, if I want to upgrade to drop down, i'll get a new bike all together.

Did it feel any easier to pedal with the Supremes?

Andy_K 

It's always hard to describe the differences you get with new tires. I don't know if "easier to pedal" is quite what I'd say, but I guess that isn't far off.

The stock tires on the Muirwoods are hard and heavy. Being an OEM tire, they don't show up on the Continental site, but I think they're pretty similar to the CityRide, which is listed at 770 grams for the size on the Muirwoods. By contrast, the folding 700x35 Marathon Supreme is listed at 440 grams. So that's about three-quarters of a pound per tire. People can show you calculations that indicate that makes almost no difference, but when you're riding in stop and go traffic you feel it. Your legs fatigue more quickly with the heavier tires. So that's part of the difference you'd see.

In my case, however, I went with 29x2.0 Marathon Supremes, which weigh 654 grams, so I didn't have so much weight difference. I still felt like the Supremes rolled much better than the stock tires. They're made from a higher quality rubber, which I would expect has less actual rolling resistence than the TownRides, but I think the difference in the way they feel is probably more than the theoretical difference in rolling resistence. Once again, I suspect that fatigue is the real factor. I would compare it to buying a pair of more comfortable shoes. You probably aren't going to walk any faster in a nice comfy tennis shoe than you do in a hard-soled work shoe, but after walking a mile or so you'll feel lighter on your feet.

You're probably aware of this, but I feel like I need to stress that the Marathon Supreme should in no way be confused with the Schwalbe Marathon Plus. The Marathon Plus is by all accounts a great tire for avoid punctures, but it is very heavy and very hard. It will definitely not help your bike to feel less sluggish.

vivithemage

Again, thanks Andy!

I can feel the resistance of roll compared to my old slick style the scott sub45 had...which were Continental Sport Contact, 700x37 , those were easy and nice compared to the townrides the 29er has. Maybe I should get those? Or are the ones you linked way better?

Are tubeless worth getting? I am pretty amateur when it comes to bikes still, so some of those are probably pretty elementary questions, but I can tinker around with putting a bike together pretty easily.

This is the brake kit I picked up : https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...E:L:OU:US:1123

price was great, and those rotors are a nice upgrade from the hayes, plus the nicer calipers.

Seattle Forrest

I would avoid tubeless for now, until you figure things out a bit. I've heard they're incredibly comfortable, though. Never been on a set, personally.

Andy_K 

I haven't tried Sport Contacts. I would expect that the Marathon Supremes have better puncture protection and better wet grip, but they also cost about three times as much. If you were happy with the Sport Contacts, you may as well go with them again. Things like puncture protection and grip are very important, but once you reach the level you need adding more doesn't get you anything but peace of mind.

I agree with Seattle Forrest about tubeless. I'm not at all tempted. It sounds messy. I also hear it can be very tricky to get setup right with wheels and tires that weren't made for it.

Sweet deal on the brakes. I had never seen those rotors before. They look nice!

vivithemage

Yeah, they are last years model...same calipers, different rotors, but those rotors looks nice...decent upgrade from the stock hayes actually.

I would love more puncture resistant .. I will consider those for sure. The conti's were nice, but they were stock, so who knows how good they really were, haha. Can I re use my tubes, or do I need to get new tubes?

Andy_K 

You can definitely reuse your tubes.

vivithemage

Great, thanks.