sherbornpeddler

Just resolved my odometer question which leaves only a few more questions about the functional value of Upgrading my 1999 Goldrush Expediation; miles to go before I sleep: rear wheel, idler, lights, front fork, 8 speed shifters and cluster.

Do I upgrade the idler to a tube I see on Easyracers or fancy new idler or just replace the spring and pulleys on the idler (and derailleur?

Is a rear Open Pro Wheel rally tough enough for a GR? Mine came with a Mavic Aurora tandem rim with 700x28 tire. I've trued it many times after major jolts and have a fairly minor radial dent I can't trim away with spoke adjustment. It is time for a new wheel.

While I'm at it, upgrade cluster and shifters to 9 or 10 speed? I've never been a fan of the Sram twist shift although they work fine. There are times I'd like more resolution on gear ratios. I'm inclined to keep as is but I do have an old set of friction, non-indexed barcons. Not sure if they'd work on bar ends with shroud.

What's the deal on the fork? Mine is a little rusty but no signs of cracks. It is a 1999 model and elegible for Easyracer warranty replacement: keep, replace upgrade to carbon?

Idler: pulleys are shot. replace, replace with tube or new idler unit. Is the tube lower friction? I see other bents with long guide tubes.

For that matter, maybe replace the XT freewheels. They have sealed bearings but pretty stiff (very stiff in 30F garage this afternoon)

Jeff Wills

Fork: replace with steel. I've seen a couple crack/break in the local group (including mine). Putting on a new one is cheap insurance.

You can replace the idler pulleys, but IMO the better arrangement is the Terracycle idler. Top quality and should last forever. I wouldn't change to a chain tube for any reason- I can't understand why ER would even think of doing that.

The XT derailleur pulleys are pretty tough. As long as the teeth aren't worn, I'd clean them up, oil the bushing (a drop of 10w oil is fine in cold weather) and go ride.

tim24k

+1 ER chain tube is just cheap crap. I took off the ones that came with the wife's bike and mine and threw in the garbage! As much as ER cost these days they should have a Terracycle idler on them to start with.

O^o

steveknight

if you want to replace the idlers go with a terracycle one https://tinyurl.com/64s5q2
how the wheel is built is more important then the rim. I like velocity rims myself. they cost around 50.00 but getting the wheel built by master will make a big difference over a machine built wheel. 9 or 10 speed may not do much for you and will give you shorter life spans on the parts. I got 9000 miles out of a 8 speed cassette and less then 5000 out of a 9

sch

That has been my experience also, 8spd are slightly longer lived in cassette/chain than
9spd. If you use wide range cassette (13-34) then 9spd will give you closer steps in the
range where a lot of riders ride: 14-22mph and 9spd twist/thumb shifters are available.
No 10spd twist/thumbies as yet (though I saw a brief writeup on one a bit over a year
ago, but it never showed up. With all the comfort bikes out with flat bars and the 10spd
all over the place, it should turn up sometime soon). Won't help though as there are very
few wide range 10spd cassettes. Santana makes one (11-34, not really recumbent friendly;
and SRAM has an 11-28 and ?12-28, depends on your legs but 11t is really tandem country
as if you have the legs to use it, you don't need a 34 or even a 32t cassette.)

sherbornpeddler

You guys are great! Thank you very much.
I understand what you're saying about wheels. Once my wheel got bent and I inexpertly trued it back I've been true it ever since. I do have uneven spoke tension. Again I maybe dating myself but I have dislike for rims requiring heavy duty rim tape, sharp edges and convolutions for the tube to mold to. My current Mavic Aurora has large, sharp spoke holes, a presta adapter that I keep in place with a bit of tin foil (was drilled for schraeder). The cloth rim tape works for a while then sags into the spoke holes. My fancy Mavik Kysrium Elite wheels on my Serotta are much better. I see Easyracer offers Open Pro which I also have on another bike and think of them as much lighter wheels. I weigh 185# and don't load up the bike with 50# of groceries or camping gear. Do I need a tandem wheel?

JanMM

Have you considered using Veloplugs instead of rim tape?
https://veloplug.com/
https://www.benscycle.net/index.php?m...roducts_id=610
I got some at hostelshoppe (they are on Alex DA16 406 rims) but I don't see them listed there now.

(I have no experience with Ben's Cycles)

sherbornpeddler

Gosh, $16 I'll consider pine needles if it works. Then there is the color decision.
If I stand back and look at myself, why is it my initial reaction to veloplugs is they are pricey but without flinching I ponder a carbon fork? In terms of objective value veloplugs look like they'd eliminate most of my concern about internally induced flats, on my current rim that is 50% or more of my wheel angst; more so on my daughter's bike where I solved the problem with 2 rim tapes.

JanMM

Within reason, it makes pretty good economic sense to put money into an old bike versus buying a new bike. Carbon fork? Sure, why not?

Jeff Wills

Going off on a tangent...

Paul's Thumbies mounts will accept Shimano 10-speed bar-end shifters, so it's easy to do mechanically. I'm not sure I'd be happy with the ultra-narrow 10-speed chain, though. (OTOH, I said the same thing about 7, 8, and 9-speed chains.) A more complex setup would be the trigger shifters from Shimano or Campy.

Wide range 10-speed cassettes are available from IRD: https://www.interlocracing.com/cassettes_steel.html .

I don't think you need a tandem wheel. At 185 pounds you're about average. I'm 6-foot-4, 220 pounds (now that I've put on some winter insulation) and I use a wheel I built with a Velocity "Aero" rim, 36 double-butted spokes, and a Deore XT hub. I've ridden this with a touring load, so a similar wheel should be fine for you.

sherbornpeddler

Okay getting ready for the new wheel.
I'm gonna stick with heavier chain, fewer sprockets. My DF eats 10 spd chain every 1-2K miles.

sherbornpeddler

My LBS is building up a 32 spoke Mavic Open Pro using the Deore hub (rebuilt) from my old wheel. I'll give it a try and see how it takes a fresh set of 2009 New England potholes.