Newby building a hack bike

[dannybee]

Any advice welcome as questions at the bottom Hopefully this is in the right place.

Im a MTBer but been after a cheap bike for riding on the road something that is not steal-able and really cheap that i don't have to worry about something to use and throw back in the garage. I found this bike outside a charity shop for £18 and just wondering if you have any advice or if you see anything im doing wrong



So far i have fitted some drop bars i had lying around and removed panniers (rack to follow)



Im hoping the brakes will work o.k old weinman levers with canti's?

Not sure what to do about the gears, Intention was to singlespeed it but i changed my mind as it seems to work really well so,

Leave shifter on top of the bars ? anywhere else they could go? Or i have a 5 speed downtube shifter and matching hurret derailleur which i am toying with fitting i could lose the front shifter as i can't see me using middle or bottom front rings.

Mudguards stay or go?

All the writing is Stickers so these will be going to get a cleaner look too

The only thing i have found i need so far is some bar tape so bike would stand me at £25 and im looking forward to seeing what sort of average speed im setting on Endomondo compared to my SS Mtb

[MLJ]

Expect the brakes to be very weak as the road levers pull far less cable than the cantilevers require. You may have to add a traveller to increase pull, or else try shortening the stirrup cable to near- horizontal to increase pull. Unless your area is very flat you may find the middle chain ring of more use than the larger - going downhill is no problem, but hill climbing can be! Many older bikes were only a 5-speed, with single chain ring of 46T, sprockets 14-28T. Try the shifter out before deciding if it needs changing to down-lever. The less you spend, the better your bargain bike!

[dannybee]

Cheers will look into the brakes not sure what a travelator is ?

Its pretty hilly round here well the routes i choose anyway the mtb is 2:1 ratio and i can climb most hills around here although i will leave the gears till i find out what i will use

[LollyKat]

Those brake levers look to me like ones for flat bars, not drops - it will be interesting to see how they work with the cantis.

If you want a utility bike and expect to ride it in the rain keep the mudguard - those treaded tyres will pick up quite a bit of water and muck to throw up your back otherwise.

[dannybee]

Those brake levers look to me like ones for flat bars, not drops - it will be interesting to see how they work with the cantis.

The levers are the ones that came with the bars origionally i think its the angle there fitted that makes the look weird the bars / brakes are from a old raleigh racer i saved rebadged as a royal enfield:oops:

[gaz]

Leave shifter on top of the bars ? anywhere else they could go?

I've used thumbshifters a bit like bar-end shifters, mounted in-board at the end of each side of the bars. Depends a little on the relevant bar and clamp diameters but it worked well enough for me until I could afford the real thing.

[Si]

Expect the brakes to be very weak as the road levers pull far less cable than the cantilevers require.

I think that you are confusing your cantis and your Vs. Road levers should be fine with cantis - it's V brakes that they aren't designed for. As an aside, pulling less cable at the lever end would make the brakes more powerful as you'd have more MA but you would need to set up the pads a lot closer to the rims.

However, expect the brakes to not be great as those lo-pro cantis style never were.

[dannybee]

Cheers for all the help

Tried gaz's idea and the shifters will sit on the end of the bars so may relocate them there.

Supposed to be going out on the MTB tomorrow and leaving this alone until next week but i'm considering a trip to bike shop to get some bar tape, or is foam grips better? and finishing it off.

[gaz]

Don't fit bar tape until you're happy about where the shifters and brake levers are.

[CREPELLO]

As a mountain biker I'm quite surprised that you've changed the straight bars for drops. Unless you're familiar with drops and the bike's a good fit, I'd be concerned about how comfortable it'll be riding, particularly with those brake levers. Cycling in traffic on drop bars, I spend a lot of time on the hoods of the brake levers for quick braking. Those levers aren't designed for holding comfortably - no hoods for a start.

Apart from the ergonomic side of things, the efficiency of braking may (or not!) be of concern. Getting canti's to work well from drop bar brake levers can be a challenge with the best of levers. Ergonomically, flat bar levers are more likely to be more effective at stopping. In this instance your levers are straight bar levers (good), but in a less than optimal place for operating It may only be a hack, but you want it to be safe don't you?

In addition, the mechanical efficiency is also better than drop bar levers. However, I understand that the old style drop levers with the cables coming out the top were more efficient than the modern aero style with the cable under the bar tape.

Perhaps look for a cheap (or skipped) pair of classic brake levers? But if it was my bike and only a hack, I'd keep the straight bar set up, as much as I like drops.

[dannybee]

Cheers the levers are for drop bars there from a matching Weiman set there just mega old i could actually fit the calipers but more on brakes in a minute.

Been out today on it and covered 10.8 mile average speed was 14 mph which i did not think was bad considering the wind and it was quite busy on roads top speed was 34 mph. Brakes were o.k but as you guys have said there not great, fine until you have to do an emergency stop i imagine although the rear locks up fine there is not much before. I actually felt quite comfortable on the bars but taking your advice im thinking of trying either flat bars with bar ends or bull bars? they look more pleasing to the eye would be nice to be able to get down low when pushing on ( Drops start getting costly if i put better levers and shifters on).

MLJ was correct with the gearing i did shift down to middle rin on some of the bigger hills but as the gears seem to work better than my X7 setup did i will leave them alone for now. Only other thing to note is the back tyre is badly out of shape bucks about at speed so that needs changing ASAP

Great for budget though well impressed

Cheers

[gaz]

I see from your Wanted ad that you are concerned about that the rear wheel is "not round".

Could this be related to either the dodgy tyre (the dodgy tyre making it feel as if the wheel has flat spots when it doesn't) or a bent axle (cheese grade metals are often used at this price point)?

[dannybee]

I thought it was a tyre so i put a new one on but its the same, On closer inspection i can see were the tyre is sitting in the rim too far in two places to the point were it covers some of the writing on the tyre (opposite each other and the rim covers ). Both tyres do this and when i spin wheel it is noticeably out of shape but i never noticed as i only checked it for buckles

Annoyed me a bit today as i thought it was finished and was looking forward to tackling a 50 mile ride including holme moss on thirty quid bike now it needs a rear wheel its technically a insurance wright off!! On a plus note i have removed the guards and rack for now , de-stickered it and fitted flat bars it looks awesome in my opinion and saves cleaning the mtb of mud

[hamster]

Expect the brakes to be very weak as the road levers pull far less cable than the cantilevers require.

I think that you are confusing your cantis and your Vs. Road levers should be fine with cantis - it's V brakes that they aren't designed for. As an aside, pulling less cable at the lever end would make the brakes more powerful as you'd have more MA but you would need to set up the pads a lot closer to the rims.

However, expect the brakes to not be great as those lo-pro cantis style never were.

You are mistaken. Yes road levers work with cantis, but only the old wide profile ones. The ones pictured are the later low-profile ones. These definitely need a bit more pull. You can improve the leverage by setting the brake pad at the very outer end of its post and shortening the straddle cable, but it is still marginal. DiaCompe did a long pull lever to compensate, the 287 (not 287V, which is for v-brakes).