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Am trying to breathe a new lease of life into the wife's hybrid. The items ordered are going to be more than the value of the bike, but it was a present (from me) and she has always liked riding it. It will help make it nice and light. It is a basic Specialised Crossroads from around 2006 - the bikes on Specialized's homepage don't seem to match what she has though.
Ordered new wheels, tyres, bars, stem, grips - not all necessary. Wheels were buckled and therefore toasted.
Need to still sort the following:
8 speed chain and cassette (cheap and easy to find)
new BB (loads of play)
new chain rings (very worn) or new chainset (might be cheaper), 48t
replace bearings in headset
add quill stem adaptor - to accommodate new bars and stem (doh)
Does anyone know the best place to get a chains for a hybrid? CRC does not have a great range. Flea Bay?
Also, am I ok to simply swop out the old chain set for a shimano new type - I have a spare Shimano BB cup set that could be used - currently has a square taper thing. Will it matter if I go for chainrings that are 9 speed rather than 8 - does this mean they are just slightly thinner...
I stripped and upgraded my gals Marin Kentfield for her last birthday with a load of s/h stuff. Literally kept only the frame and saddle as she finds it comfy.
Any reason it needs to stay 8 speed? Shifters cost very little... Only spendy bits were Exotic 29er rim brake fork to replace the >2kg "trekking" forks, some as new fulcrum 7's from fleabay and a pair of Conti 4 seasons so we split those.
Bar, stem, headset, chainring and some wellgo pedals from my parts box, then s/h 9spd xt mech and shifter, Avid SD 7's, gravity light crank & bb, thomson post and some lockon grips from classifieds, 9spd xt cassete/chain from crc all under £150 iirc.
The frame was a nice 1.6kg jobby so the whole thing is now ~9kg, utterly transformed. I was quite jealous tbh!
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If you want to use the new BB you will need a compatible chainset so look for 2h deore or 105 on the classifieds. i think the front chainring is the same or at least compatible for 8 or 9 speed though i may be wrong... For chains check the KMC ones on ebay if CRC dont have a deal on the one you need. Depending on parts and labor costs can actually end up cheaper fitting a new M-part or cc headset unless you have a nice one you want to keep.
Tom, thanks for the comments and advice. That bike seems sweet.
8 speed seems increasingly old school, so I have decided to ditch the 8 speed altogether and will ditch the horrendous shifters currently on the bike.
9 speed mech, cassette, chain and cranks ordered. Probably not the cheapest way to do it, but will hopefully make it work a bit better and allow her to get some miles under her belt. Just need to sort the headset.
All in all it will be a completely different bike. Although it makes no financial sense, it will giver her something better than another bike from a shop at the price she originally paid.
I took the same decision when upgrading her hardball mtg - although I was given a nice set of DT Swiss wheels, so that helped with costs.