Pimp my hack?

Dermot Illogical

I'm looking at commuting through the winter if I can keep myself motivated, but it will probably mean using my old Trek 7.1 hybrid whenever the weather turns bad. However, I find it's a bit slow and uncomfortable now that I'm used to my road bike. So I'd like to change a few things.
I'll be putting SPD pedals onto it and making use of my Lidl shoes I got during the week.
I intend to take the wheels off and replace them with something lighter, possibly running 25s or 28s instead of whatever huge things are on them at the moment.
I'll be tossing the big-ass saddle away and replacing with something more like the road bike. Maybe I'll replace the seat post at the same time..
Can anyone foresee any problems I might run into with changing wheels? And could I change cassette (Shimano 14-34, 7 speed) at the same time to give me bigger gears?
Are there any other things I could change (inexpensively) that might make it move along a bit more efficiently?

Or should I just stick mudguards on the road bike?

cdaly_

Mudguards on the roadbike. You'll end up riding it anyway...

Cassette isn't a cassette, it's a freewheel block and IIRC, it's really a 6 speed 14-24 with a bailout 7th 34t sprocket. I wouldn't worry too hard about getting bigger gears, it'll be the perfect opportunity to work on your cadence. Best you'll get in a freewheel is 13-something and you won't have the shifters to run an 8 speed cassette even if you got a freehub wheel.

tomasrojo

If you're carrying heavy loads, even the seven-speed screw-on freewheel is unsatisfactory. I snapped about three rear axles when I had a seven-speed freewheel. I think six-speed is where it should have ended.

happytramp

I did something like this and made my workman like hybrid much more fun to ride. I reckon whatever you do don't spend too much money on it. You could probably pick up a slightly more sporty crankset for a reasonable price on Ebay (no need for a triple now that you're use to a road bike, right?). Likewise with a seatpost (cut down to the minimum insertion point of course ) and Lose those 500mm bars, crop them down to something more akin to the width of your road bars (not too narrow though, you don't want to look like a ****** do you?) And it goes without saying that any form of rack apparatus has to go. Also how married to the mudguards are you?

Dermot Illogical

cdaly_ wrote: »

Mudguards on the roadbike. You'll end up riding it anyway...

Cassette isn't a cassette, it's a freewheel block and IIRC, it's really a 6 speed 14-24 with a bailout 7th 34t sprocket. I wouldn't worry too hard about getting bigger gears, it'll be the perfect opportunity to work on your cadence. Best you'll get in a freewheel is 13-something and you won't have the shifters to run an 8 speed cassette even if you got a freehub wheel.

Good point on the cadence. And yeah, I'll probably keep using the ridley. Will stick a mudguard on the seat post at the very least.
Is it possible to just stick a 7-speed cassette onto a freehub wheel and leave everything else as-is?

tomasrojo wrote: »

If you're carrying heavy loads, even the seven-speed screw-on freewheel is unsatisfactory. I snapped about three rear axles when I had a seven-speed freewheel. I think six-speed is where it should have ended.

This I'm going to have to google. I'd be lying if I pretended I understood at the moment. Update: Reading Sheldon. Learning...

happytramp wrote: »

I did something like this and made my workman like hybrid much more fun to ride. I reckon whatever you do don't spend too much money on it. You could probably pick up a slightly more sporty crankset for a reasonable price on Ebay (no need for a triple now that you're use to a road bike, right?). Likewise with a seatpost (cut down to the minimum insertion point of course ) and Lose those 500mm bars, crop them down to something more akin to the width of your road bars (not too narrow though, you don't want to look like a ****** do you?) And it goes without saying that any form of rack apparatus has to go. Also how married to the mudguards are you?

How did operation transformation work out on your one? Worth doing? I may well change the bars for something narrower, and lighter. The rack thingy is in the bin already and I'm only married to the mudguards when they stop my cold feet getting wet. In reality I could ditch the front one in favour of overshoes, and the rear for a plastic seatpost-mounted one.

Tonyandthewhale

Why are you changing the seat-post? And what are you changing it to? I've never really noticed a difference between one seat post and another. Maybe with carbon Vs alloy but a carbon seat post sounds very bling for a trek 7.1 (not that I'm anti-bling). When you say change out the wheels do you mean just change the tyres or swap the whole wheelset?

Dermot Illogical

Tonyandthewhale wrote: »

Why are you changing the seat-post? And what are you changing it to? I've never really noticed a difference between one seat post and another. Maybe with carbon Vs alloy but a carbon seat post sounds very bling for a trek 7.1 (not that I'm anti-bling). When you say change out the wheels do you mean just change the tyres or swap the whole wheelset?

I may or may not change the seatpost. It's a heavy bike, so would consider changing it if it saved weight and wasn't expensive. It's just an idea, and I may not bother if it turns out not to be worth doing.
As for the wheels, it's the whole wheelset..

Holyboy

It's all going to get very expensive but could be fun, new wheel set with freehub body, with this you can run a seven speed cassette, 11-28 or even 11-21, probably with a spacer as seven speed freehub body wheels are getting harder to get these days so you can use an eight speed with said spacer, you will really have to stick with using hybrid wheels as the rear axle spacing is 5mm wider, this could be changed on a road wheel but you may have issues with your V brakes and the narrow rims.
So this means (IMO) 28c tyres are the smallest you can go without (at worst) the tyre blowing off the rim, (at best) persistent pinch flats!
Seat post wise, I think it may have a suspension one (but may be wrong) if so chuck it and replace with what ever, if not I don't see any point replacing it!

Well that's what I have to offer any way:D

cdaly_

RT66 wrote: »

Is it possible to just stick a 7-speed cassette onto a freehub wheel and leave everything else as-is?

That might work but I suspect it would be hard enough to find a 7-sp cassette.

Tonyandthewhale wrote: »

Why are you changing the seat-post? And what are you changing it to? I've never really noticed a difference between one seat post and another. Maybe with carbon Vs alloy but a carbon seat post sounds very bling for a trek 7.1 (not that I'm anti-bling). When you say change out the wheels do you mean just change the tyres or swap the whole wheelset?

I think the seatpost is a suspension one though I suspect the weight saving would be negligible.

The wheels are pretty wide (they have 35mm tyres or similar) so they wouldn't cope properly with 25mm tyres.

Holyboy

cdaly_ wrote: »

That might work but I suspect it would be hard enough to find a 7-sp cassette.



I think the seatpost is a suspension one though I suspect the weight saving would be negligible.

The wheels are pretty wide (they have 35mm tyres or similar) so they wouldn't cope properly with 25mm tyres.

Seven speed cassettes are still widely available and will be for some time to come, even six speed cassettes can be got if you know where to look;)

tomasrojo

RT66 wrote: »

This I'm going to have to google. I'd be lying if I pretended I understood at the moment. Update: Reading Sheldon. Learning...

Good place to go! This covers the problem:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/freewheels.html

The comment about eight-speed freewheels applies (in my experience) to seven-speed too.

As it turned out, the increased length of un-supported axle sticking out from the right side of the hub was just too long for traditional 10 mm threaded axles. 8-speed freewheels were sold for several years, but a very large percentage of the riders who bought them wound up having problems with axle breakage/bendage.

But I probably was trying to carry too much. I finally got a tourer with a freehub, which is more appropriate for some of the weights I was carrying. If you're not carrying a week's shopping on the rear rack, then a seven-speed freewheel is fine, I guess.

I actually quite liked how modular freewheels were, and how few tools you needed. Mind you, the exertion to get them off wasn't much fun, but it was good exercise, I suppose.

EDIT:

You can see how the bearing balls are quite near the ends of the axle in a freehub.


Contrast with a freewheel, where the bearing balls are pretty much where the word "Threads" is pointing.

studiorat

Singlespeed. Then you can work on that cadence of yours:)

happytramp

RT66 wrote: »

I'm only married to the mudguards when they stop my cold feet getting wet. In reality I could ditch the front one in favour of overshoes, and the rear for a plastic seatpost-mounted one.

That's the spirit!

Tonyandthewhale wrote: »

Why are you changing the seat-post? And what are you changing it to? I've never really noticed a difference between one seat post and another.

Come on man! Get with the programme. PIMP HIS HACK!!