Mountain bike for road use.....

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sidevalve

Über Member
Well done on the weight loss ! However if your MTB was reasonable, by the time you've done all that work and bought all the bits wold it not be better to just sell it [or try a trade in at your LBS] and increase the cash pot for a better road bike ?
 
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Alsajosora

Alsajosora

Über Member
Maybe if I wasn't using it as my daily commute bike as well...:o)
 

stephec

Legendary Member
Location
Bolton
Hi,
Please, no "just get a roadbike" replies. I have limited funds and the wife would kill me if I suggested I might get another bike.....:becool:

Welcome to our world, that is a dilemma you're going to face many times if you keep up the cycling. ^_^

Can it not be justified as a saving on fares/fuel costs?
 
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Alsajosora

Alsajosora

Über Member
Right,
just a quick update for you guys.
I have swapped out the inner and middle rings (were 22/32 and now 26/36) . I have decided to stay with the 44t outer ring as per your advice here.
I am also awaiting the arrival of my new 12/25 cassette (am I right in assuming I can just substitute my current 11t for the 12t that comes with it?)
Also a slight issue, I still am thinking of swapping my deore rear mech for the 105 one I have, my only query is will it work? It is the older version, so will it work with 9spd shifters?
http://velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx?ID=1e0310b9-b103-461e-b523-45ebc7fe703f
 
My thoughts are that by going from a 11-32t to an 11-25t would give me a more efficient spread. Is this not the case?
Chain wrap, if the max that the rear can take is 28t and I am only going to 25t how is this a problem? (Sorry but as I said I am a bit new to this side of things!! :shy: )
Thanks! ^_^

Welcome Alsajosora; I'm probably "teaching my grandmother to suck eggs" as a saying goes; but, a little explanation the capacity of the rear mech - it's the tooth difference of the front chain rings added to the tooth difference of the rear cassette. So now you have a 25/12 rear cassette which is a difference of 13 teeth and 44/26 front which is a difference of 18 teeth making a total of 13 + 18 = 31 teeth. Looking at Peteaud's data, the spec for the 105 is 27 teeth. It's good that you took Peteaud's suggestion to heart and screwed the adjustment so you can't get the inner ring, as now you have 25/12 = 13 and 44/26 = 8 which is a 21 tooth difference within the rear mech capability.
 
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Alsajosora

Alsajosora

Über Member
Right, as the latest torrential downpour has put paid to my ride today I decided to bite the bullet and fit my Shimano 105 (RD-1055 ) rear mech to my bike.
My setup now is....
Rear cassette 12-25T (was 11-32T)
Front chainrings 26-36-44T (Was 22-32-44T)
Shimano RD-1055 rear mech (was Deore).

The good news is that everything works perfectly!!!! Once I removed a few links from the chain, the shifting across all 27 gears is accurate and the road based cassette gives me more "usable" gears on the road than the off road based cassette it replaced. So that answers the question of would an old 7spd mech work with todays rapidfire 9spd shifters!!!

As an aside, the concerns regarding the use of the innermost chainring appear to be unfounded. I can use it without any issues at all...... The increased size and the rear cassette mean I might actually use it...Maybe......;O)

So far I have swapped out the 80mm front stem for a 120mm one, also reversed the stem so it was a 6deg declination rather than a 6deg inclination...Added to this I dropped it down the steerer by 10mm to get a lower frontal position.
I also changed the gear cabling for Deore XTR cables instead of the OEM cabling that came with the bike.
Road tyres fitted instead of the off road based ones. (Schwalbe speed cruisers 26x1.75 @ 80psi)
Can any of you guys reccomend a narrower 26" tyre?

The next part of this project will involve swapping the heavy suspension forks for some rigid Cro-Mo or aluminium ones (cannot afford carbon fibre!!!) I realise that the aluminium path will lead to a lighter fork, but the trade off will be a less forgiving ride comfort wise, any thoughts/insights on this side of things will be much appreciated!!!!
At the moment I am looking at these two,

Cro-Mo
http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/FOOOCR26DV/on_one_cromo_26er_mtb_fork_v_brake__disc

Aluminium
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-MOSSO-Aluminum-Rigid-Straight-Bicycle-MTB-Fork-26-/260764590229?_trksid=p4340.m1850&_trkparms=aid=222001&algo=SIC.CURRENT&ao=1&asc=11&meid=464701898929900755&pid=100011&prg=1005&rk=5&#ht_5314wt_1163

Thanks in advance guys!!!

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youngoldbloke

The older I get, the faster I used to be ...
Sorry, being a bit thick here, but you have completely lost me.....:blush:
- me too. Try Triggers Broom, or Grandfathers Axe or Ship of Theseus
Google is your friend:rolleyes:.
 

postman

Legendary Member
Location
,Leeds
Google Fools and Horses,Triggers broom.Trig gets a medal for 20 years road sweeping services.He states he has had the same broom all that time.He also says sweepers have a saying Look after your broom-.
So he has, 17 heads and 11 handles.
It's just like your bike same bike only many new parts.
 
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Alsajosora

Alsajosora

Über Member
New wheels and Continental grand prix 26*1" tires...
 

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