himespau 

So I ride a "roadified" old rigid mountain bike that I've put drop bars and 26x1.25 slicks among other things on (racks front and rear, folding walds on the rear, new brakes, levers, stem, shifter, seatpost, saddle, pedals, pretty much everything but the frame, drivetrain and wheels has been replaced) and use as my all in one commuter/grocery getter/recreational bike. I'm looking for the cheapest way to upgrade my drivetrain.

I have the fit where I like it and I love the bombproof nature of the frame, but what I don't like is the gearing.

I have a higher geared (48-36-24) biopace mountain triple with a 6 speed 14-28T freewheel on the back. I use 6 speed indexed shifters but right now they're in friction mode because I think my rear derailleur might be bent (at least I can't get it adjusted for the life of me such that it indexes well).

I typically spend at least 75% of the time in 48x16, probably 10% each in 48x14 and 48x18 and 5% or less time in all the other gears. The problem is that going down any sort of hill at all, I quickly run out of gear with the 48x14 and am just spinning out. Now, I don't mind coasting sometimes, but I'd like to that the option of a taller gear so I can get more speed when possible.

So given that I don't have a problem friction shifting so number of gears isn't an issue and that I might be replacing my rear derailleur anyway, what's the cheapest way for me to get more gearing?

Should I shop on ebay or something for a road crank (I'm assuming I'd be looking for a triple with a square taper so I can use my current bb)?

Or would it be better to go with a new set of wheels (such as those vuelta zerolights that nashbar always seems to have on sale for about $70-80) and a new cassette with wider gearing?

My rear is spaced 130 mm so if I got a new rear wheel, I'd have to spread the frame 5 mm. Would that be a problem?

I'd like to keep some moderately low gearing because I occasionally load the bike up with 50-60 pounds of groceries and I'm not a featherweight at 230 or so myself. The hills between my home and the grocery store aren't awful, but it's not necessarily something where I'd want to be trapped in a road double with 42x21 as my easiest gear or something.

Yes, I know the right answer is that I should just buy a new bike that better fits my needs (I can hear you already lht and cc owners), but my finances don't allow a single large purchase like that currently (and my wife wouldn't understand needing to spend $1000 on a bike when hers cost $100 at target even if we had a lot of excess money sitting around). 50 bucks here and 100 bucks there is more doable. Of course, any new project will most likely require purchase of new tools as, while I have a fair bit of the general household repair tools, the only bicycle-specific tools I have are my cable/housing cutter, 4th hand, and pedal wrench.

Edit: whoops didn't really mean to put this here in road cycling, wasn't paying attention. my bad. feel free to answer if you'd like anyway, or just call me a fred and go about your business.

Seattle Forrest

Well, Fred ... just kidding.

If you're 230 and plan to have 60 lbs of stuff, is an $80 wheel set going to hold up? Cassettes are cheap if you aren't trying to eliminate every gram, but a cassette plus wheels is going to cost at least as much as a crank set. I had to replace the entire drive train on my CX/commuter, and it wound up being cheaper to buy a new crank set than two chain rings. ( Ironically, I just took the chain rings off the new one and put them on what I already had. ) Also, if you need to 'widen' the frame, I'd personally want to avoid that, especially since the bombproofness of the frame is one thing you like.

merlinextraligh

You could put on a 12-28 freewheel. If you can't find a 6 speed, a 7 speed will work in friction mode.

Spoonrobot 

My ride is older as well, early 90s Fuji touring model. I had the same issue. Was running a early 90s cross 48-38-28/14-28 and was spinning out on even the most moderate down hills.

Ended up picking up a Sugino 52-46-36 from the classifieds section, modified it to 52-36 and have been super pleased with the set-up. My front derailleur is a cheap Shimano Tourney that came with the cross triple. And so far doesn't have any problem with the 16 tooth difference. It was a super cheap upgrade too, cost me only $25 for a great crankset.

So my advice? Find a cheap road crankset on the classifieds (there are a few listed right now, in both the regular and C&V sections) and modify it to something that works for you. Total cost should be under $75 and should be closer to $50 if you end up changing out a ring or two.

himespau 

Yeah, I'm with you about the $80 wheelset not being the greatest of quality. Lots of people gave it high reviews, but, as a clyde, I hear you that it's probably not for me.

Hmm, looks like going from 48x14 to 52x14 would only take me from 84 to 91 gear inches or give me an extra 2-3 mph. Apparently, there's a mythical 11-28 7 speed freewheel out there somewhere that if I used that with my current crankset would get me up to 106 gear inches on the top end and might not involve respacing my frame to fit a wider axle. Maybe I should be looking for that, though some people claim it's poorly made.

Or maybe I should be just riding my bike and working to get rid of my fat ass with what I have now and not worry about such things. Was just looking for a winter project.

himespau 

merlin, do you know where I could find a freewheel like that? I've heard of them, but have only seen one that someone else recently bought (I think it was actually an 11-14) but claimed it was poorly stamped on one of the gears and the chain couldn't grab. Like you mentioned I don't mind 7 speed in frction.

Spoonrobot 

Hmm. Looks like Shimano made one.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/mega7/

Homebrew01

Ebay has lots of freewheels.

FactVord

Your RD hangar might be bent. Check for it.

himespau 

If only they still did.

himespau 

The hanger seems more or less flat (aligns with one of my allen wrenches), but I can check again with my metal rule to make sure.

himespau 

I wonder if this would work for me (but then I never did get a handle on the difference between uniglide and hyperglide)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Shimano-Dura...#ht_500wt_1202

Homebrew01

If you're sticking with friction mode, you have a lot of choices, including that ... as long as the 19 is low enough for you.

RT

I have owned two pair of those Vuelta Zerolites and can attest that they are bombproof. They are light, sleek and aero. That wheel is severely undervalued.

I kid you not.

I regret selling this build I did about a year ago. Wheels made it look and ride better.

himespau 

Yeah, I go back and forth on those Zerolites. With my bike weighing in at 40 lbs (rough estimate) and 230 of me, that's 270 pounds they'd have to take of abuse every day on roads that aren't so good. I don't offroad, but sometimes the potholes that I can't miss seem that way and 24 spokes makes me a little nervous rather than the 36 I have now (though my current wheels are crazy heavy and cheap so maybe anything would be an improvement). I'm not super fond of the decals on the Zerolites either, but I'd heard you can get them off with some alcohol.

Sixty Fiver

If you could find one... 12 tooth cogs on freewheels are as rare as hen's teeth.

I run a 13-30 on my mtb conversion with a 28/38/48 triple... gives 95 gear inches up top and with a decent spin of 90 rpm that gives me a speed of 25mph... my 26 inch wheeled touring bike has a 48/14 as it's top gear and it has no issues with speed at all.

A bigger gear may not help you go faster as the effort needed to turn that gear is considerably higher and less efficient.

Sixty Fiver

Uniglide uses a now obsolete cassette interface and sourcing cassettes or replacement cogs can be a challenge... my mtb commuter has a 6 speed UG cassette and I am fortunate to have a huge selection of replacement cogs for it.

Wheels are old XT hubs laced to Araya Rm20 rims which are bombproof.

RT

I rode these when I was 205 or so and felt they could have gone much higher in weight. Don't let the low spoke count fool you, they are heavy bladed spokes. My bike only weighed 24 lbs though...

Sixty Fiver

Shimano did make a 12-28 freewheel in 6 and 7 speeds but these are out of production (damn you Shimano)... Suntour offered 11 and 12 tooth cogs for their freewheels but again, these are no longer made and to get one of these you need to know someone who is willing to part with it or the parts to build up a custom freewheel.

himespau 

yeah, that 19 as the low end did worry me a bit, but that was one of the few I'd seen with fewer than 13 Teeth. Actually, that one might have 13 as well if I counted right. The picture wasn't the greatest.

Was also looking at this though two members have had very different experiences with it. One thought it was good and the other poorly machined. Either one got lucky and they're crap or the other just got a lemon out of a normally good run. Again, I go back and forth. This or the zerolites and a real cassette. Or this now and maybe the other option later.

Or maybe I've seen a 2303 square taper crankset with 52-42-30 that seems like it'd work for less than $70 new.

Either way, I'll probably have to get a new chain and chainbreaker, so that'll add an extra $20-30.

Hmmm, many decisions, thanks all for your inputs.

Sixty Fiver

Sweet build... would have trouble parting with that and the zerolites are nice rims.

My Moulden XC bike is a 26 inch wheeled, drop bar, poseur killing machine.

Gearing is not an issue with an 8 speed cassette and an 11-30 road / touring block mated to a 24/34/44 triple which gives me 100 gear inches up top.

Wheels are 32 spoke LX laced to Mavic hoops which balance weight and strength quite nicely as this bike does not spend all it's time on the road and is more like a monster cross that curbs out in the low 20's.

himespau 

Huh, when I put my 48x14 into Sheldon's calculator I only got 83 gear inches and a 22 mph speed at 90 rpm. I must have done something wrong. I'm not suddenly expecting to turn into a roadie who can cruise at 30 mph or anything, just hoping to move my cruising more into the middle of my gearing (or at least more that direction) rather than right at the top end of it. Maybe a better investment would be a set of rollers to use through the winter and taking some time to work on increasing my spinning rate.

Again thanks for the help.

himespau 

RTDub, that definitely was a sweet looking ride.

Would it be a lot of trouble increasing the spacing from 130-135 mm? Would I just pry it apart a little bit when I had to change the tire or would it require a cold set at a shop?

himespau 

Oh, bladed spokes. Wider profile=stronger?

RT

Psimet would the source to confirm that, but in my mind it seemed like a stronger wheel because of this. My Forte Titans are also bladed and are only 16/20 and claim to have no weight limit.

I would do a search in the Mechanics forum for 135 hubs on a 130 frame. They can tell you what the ups and downs are.