Total refurb of 1995 MTB or new bike?

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
mattsccm
Posts: 5101
Joined: 28 Nov 2009, 9:44pm

Re: Total refurb of 1995 MTB or new bike?

Post by mattsccm »

I wouldn't be buying anything new apart from chain, cassettte and cables. If you want a potter round the gravel bike then fine but, and it breaks my heart to say so, a modern MTB does most thigs so much better. For 800 quid Plannet X, if you spot their random sales, will flog you their great Scandal. If, like me, you could rebuild the old bike from spare parts then do it if you like the bike and see no need for anything else.
rareposter
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Joined: 27 Aug 2014, 2:40pm

Re: Total refurb of 1995 MTB or new bike?

Post by rareposter »

cycle tramp wrote: 20 Mar 2023, 6:37pm ..the middle way between the two points is just do enough to keep the univega running and get another bike - that way, you'll not lose the univega. Go for the hand-built wheels, but given the trips you'll be undertaking perhaps consider a 1 x 9 transmission, and loose the front derailleur and multiple chainrings. As for the other stuff, change as and when you have the time and the parts.
Not disagreeing as such, the problem with that approach on a bike of this age where (from the sounds of things) it's more or less original parts throughout, is that changing a couple of things will usually result in the rest of it not working because everything has aged together.

Seen it many times where people have brought a battered well used old bike in and said something like "the rear wheel is a bit rough" or "the gears are skipping" and when you look at it the entire drivetrain is shot to bits and *everything* needs changing. This is especially true if you've got (say) a 7sp drivetrain and the only replacement stuff now is 8 or 9 so you need new shifters and the rims are wafer thin so they need replacing and before you know it you're chasing problems around the bike where fixing (say) the cranks means a new BB as well.

This goes back to that thread about sustainability within bikes because, especially on what was a cheap bike to begin with, you very quickly end up with parts and labour bill far in excess of the material value of the bike (noting of course that the bike can have eg sentimental value as well...)

I'm not saying don't do it, I'm more warning that there could be a very significant bill attached to it or a lot of time dredging parts bins, ebay etc for suitable bits.
Vorpal
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Re: Total refurb of 1995 MTB or new bike?

Post by Vorpal »

The answer, of course, is both. :wink:
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.”
― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
LittleGreyCat
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Joined: 7 Aug 2013, 8:31pm

Re: Total refurb of 1995 MTB or new bike?

Post by LittleGreyCat »

rareposter wrote: 21 Mar 2023, 10:14am
cycle tramp wrote: 20 Mar 2023, 6:37pm ..the middle way between the two points is just do enough to keep the univega running and get another bike - that way, you'll not lose the univega. Go for the hand-built wheels, but given the trips you'll be undertaking perhaps consider a 1 x 9 transmission, and loose the front derailleur and multiple chainrings. As for the other stuff, change as and when you have the time and the parts.
Not disagreeing as such, the problem with that approach on a bike of this age where (from the sounds of things) it's more or less original parts throughout, is that changing a couple of things will usually result in the rest of it not working because everything has aged together.

Seen it many times where people have brought a battered well used old bike in and said something like "the rear wheel is a bit rough" or "the gears are skipping" and when you look at it the entire drivetrain is shot to bits and *everything* needs changing. This is especially true if you've got (say) a 7sp drivetrain and the only replacement stuff now is 8 or 9 so you need new shifters and the rims are wafer thin so they need replacing and before you know it you're chasing problems around the bike where fixing (say) the cranks means a new BB as well.

This goes back to that thread about sustainability within bikes because, especially on what was a cheap bike to begin with, you very quickly end up with parts and labour bill far in excess of the material value of the bike (noting of course that the bike can have eg sentimental value as well...)

I'm not saying don't do it, I'm more warning that there could be a very significant bill attached to it or a lot of time dredging parts bins, ebay etc for suitable bits.
Yes.
Noting that I bought an old Dawes Galaxy on eBay many years ago.
Around 2008 I think.
Didn't get to ride it much.
Taking it out for a trial run after some time off the road the chain broke.
Looking at it, just putting a new chain on might not be the best idea because the chain rings were worn......

The rebuild is almost complete, very many years later, including new chain rings, new (cartridge) bottom bracket, service of the freewheel with Brucey's help (which shows how long I've been at it).
So beware when you start replacing things!

"do enough to keep the univega running and get another bike" might fit with N+1 but I already have 3 bikes (see above) and I don't need a 4th one.
My usage is either touring road bike (Wayfarer) or general on/off road hack (Univega).
I don't need another bike, just to decide if a replacement new bike (shiny) is sensible compare to a complete refurb of the Univega.
The Dawes Galaxy is my sentimental project and probably should go once it is running.
cycle tramp
Posts: 3532
Joined: 5 Aug 2009, 7:22pm

Re: Total refurb of 1995 MTB or new bike?

Post by cycle tramp »

LittleGreyCat wrote: 25 Mar 2023, 11:05am
My usage is either touring road bike (Wayfarer) or general on/off road hack (Univega).
I don't need another bike, just to decide if a replacement new bike (shiny) is sensible compare to a complete refurb of the Univega.
There's a infamous quote by the character Jack Sparrow, which goes something like 'if you are choosing the love between to girls, choose the second one -because if your love for the first was true, you wouldn't have even thought about the second girl'

And with this in mind, I would humbly suggest you refurbish the univega. The very fact that you enjoy riding it, even when you have a newer bike of higher specification to ride (wayfarer) is a testament of how much you enjoy riding it and the environment that you ride it in. Many people may have jettisoned the univega as soon as they purchased the wayfarer (after all was it not the late Dr Maz Harris, of the Hells Angel's fame which once wrote 'there's always something better to be seen without). To keep it for so long means that you may enjoy riding it more than you realise.

If you buy another bike and as a result let the univega go, you may regret doing so, especially if the new bike isn't as comfy or doesn't fit as well - certainly it's something I've done in the past.

However fit the univega with some hand built wheels, a new transmission and brakes and you might enjoy riding it even more than you do now :-D
Motorhead: god was never on your sidehttps://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&client=m ... +your+side
Jdsk
Posts: 24639
Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: Total refurb of 1995 MTB or new bike?

Post by Jdsk »

cycle tramp wrote: 26 Mar 2023, 9:20am There's a infamous quote by the character Jack Sparrow, which goes something like 'if you are choosing the love between to girls, choose the second one -because if your love for the first was true, you wouldn't have even thought about the second girl'
...
Thanks for that, never heard it before.

See also the Secretary Problem and the 1/e policy, and the take-the-best heuristic:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretary_problem
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take-the-best_heuristic

Jonathan

PS: Was it Jack Sparrow or Johnny Depp?
JohnMorgan
Posts: 111
Joined: 9 Jun 2022, 7:19pm

Re: Total refurb of 1995 MTB or new bike?

Post by JohnMorgan »

Jdsk wrote: 26 Mar 2023, 10:13am
cycle tramp wrote: 26 Mar 2023, 9:20am There's a infamous quote by the character Jack Sparrow, which goes something like 'if you are choosing the love between to girls, choose the second one -because if your love for the first was true, you wouldn't have even thought about the second girl'
...
Thanks for that, never heard it before.

Jonathan

PS: Was it Jack Sparrow or Johnny Depp?
Is there a difference?
cycle tramp
Posts: 3532
Joined: 5 Aug 2009, 7:22pm

Re: Total refurb of 1995 MTB or new bike?

Post by cycle tramp »

Of course the other reason for choosing to up grade the uni goes is as thus;

Money spent on upgrading the univega will not be wasted - the qualities of ride, comfort and suitability are already known. Once upgraded the univega then forms the basis for which any comparisons, for which the quality of subsequent bicycles may be made, before purchase..

..if however the univega is sold or ownership ceases, then the level of comparison is lost, any any new bicycle is then judged against a memory, or emotion which is less reliable and may cause a series of badly judged purchases ultimately costing time and money..

..as for the later, I believe that the host is known as Johnny Depp, through which a number of ethereal beings, (known as fictional characters*) which occupy dimensions 5 to 8 (assuming a 12 dimensional reality) are caused to exist or otherwise occupy our dimensions 1 to 4 (height, length, width & time) :-)
*technically fictional characters exist. We do not create them, they instead introduce themselves to us. Whilst we may take the credit for their creation, all we've actually done is allow ourselves to be the conduit between our dimensions and theirs :-)
Motorhead: god was never on your sidehttps://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&client=m ... +your+side
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