roughbike

Hello Everyone,
I am new to the forum and have found internet forums to be really helpful to life... Anyways enough friendly talk and on to the project.
I am stuck between going road bike or mountain bike. I have a buddy that's constantly trying to get to me do a 24 hr race. I got a used mountain bike (a and maybe the only honda) to exercise and was using it instead of driving. But when I tried it on a trail near my house I could barely make it up hills and sometimes didn't. I thought I just was in bad shape until a biking friend put my bike in his truck and complained about how heavy it was.
So I went on a hunt for a lighter bike. I found this purple GT that weighed nothing and I got it for $15. It is an old bike from nineties that is some sort of aggressive mountain bike. I road the bike as normal transportation and it took me half as long too get there as it did with the honda!
I decided that I wanted to learn about bike mechanics so that I didn't have to pay the bike shops high fees. I took the bike apart, cut all the cables (maybe a mistake), and sanded the frame. I decided to be creative and I sprayed the frame with black truck bed liner. I thought it would be cool and I like it.
Now I am stuck here. I want to buy some new components and make the bike as much as a hybrid as possible. I want to be able to still ride it as transportation and take it out on the trail once in a while (oh and maybe do triathlon). I am not expecting the perfect bike just a decent one.
Is this at all possible? What cables, components, etc do you recommended? I am okay with shopping around online and stuff I am in no hurry. I just want to make it a decent ride so that if I can get a feel for road riding and mountain biking and see if the addiction kicks in on either.
Thanks for having me in your forum and for any help.

Thor29

It's hard to make a bike that is good at both road and mountain biking. At the very least you should have 2 sets of tires - one pair of slicks, one pair of knobbies. Go test ride a fancy road bike and you will be amazed at how much more efficient it is on pavement. Of course, that same bike would disintegrate on a mountain bike trail.

My suggestion is this - get a good book on mountain bike maintenance (lots of people like "Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance"), put the GT back together, and just ride it. As a commuter bike it will be fine. It will also be a perfectly okay beginner mountain bike. If you really get into cycling, start saving your money for 2 new bikes - one for road, one for trails.

roughbike

Good advice... thanks for the help....
Are there any cables (brake and dec..) that you recommend? What about bike chains? Sorry I am really a newbie. What about a road tire and trail tire? Should I keep the orignal wheel for the trail or the road bike? How do I know what wheels will fit my bike? Thanks for the help....

FF 6800

i just bought that book
i've learned so much!
its actually a huge book the pictures are decieving.
good luck

roughbike

just bought the book on half.com $5 with shipping not a bad deal...

Paladin

Just get some cheap cables, you don't need anything fancy. Nashbar has some cheap ones that should be fine. I'm sure you know this but brakes and derailleurs take different cables, so make sure you a couple of each.

https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...eid=&pagename=

Chains, the same thing just make sure you get ones that are specific for what you need 7 speed, 8 speed, etc. Most people prefer Sram chain because of the powerlink (makes taking the chain off and on easy without any tools)

What wheels do you have? You should be able to get by either way. When ordering wheels you will want to make sure you get the right rear hub (they are specific for the number of speeds, but most 9 speeds will take a 7 or 8 speed cassette with spacers). A good cheap wheel is an XT hub with Rhyno lite rims.

https://www.pricepoint.com/detail/120...-Lite-Rims.htm

If you want to save a couple of bucks you could get an LX hub with it instead, the front wheel of course is non specific.

Having said all this, you probably don't want to spend too much money on your present bike, it would probably be better money spent towards a new bike, but I guess you will have to make that decision.

apclassic9

[QUOTE]

My boys really like wipperman's stainless steel chains - they use a conix link, which is real easy to use. Yeah, they run more money, but they don't rust, and they're really easy to clean. I just got the boys new ones for x-mas, but they're actually still running the ones I got them in late '04. So one of those chaines has been through a whole lot of riding plus about 20 xc races, and the other, a few xc races, lots of riding - both trail & road.

roughbike

Thanks for all the advice. I will definitely be looking into your recommendations... i am going to shop around and see what I can get on ebay (it's going to be raining in socal for the next few weeks. I not planning on spending more than a $100 bucks on getting the bike in shape. I just wanted to know what products to avoid and to go for.
Thanks again

bruiser2

I'm just wondering why you used bedliner if you wanted a light bike/ That must have added a bit of weight, though it would look really cool.

roughbike

Yeah I did it for the looks and the creativity of it. But the new bike is relatively light for me at least.