I took my Voodoo Limba out for its first test over the Long Mynd last night, really enjoyed it - but need to make some tweaks to get it the way i want it, i want to upgrade the following;
Parts i want to add and need some advice on what exactly to get which would work:
Clutch Mech
Single cog upfront
Bigger cassette at the back
Bigger Tyres
Better Flare bars
Current Spec for Comparison:
Cassette/Freewheel Shimano 8 speed, 11-34t
Forks Alloy blades with chromoly steerer
Tyre Size 700x40c
Tyres Vee Rubber Speedster, wire bead, reflective strip
Bottom Bracket FSA BB-7420, 68x122.5mm
Chain KMC 8 speed
Chainset Prowheel, 48/32t
Frame Alloy adventure road
Front Hub Alloy, loose bearing
Front Brake Tektro Mira, 160mm rotor
Front Mech Shimano Claris R2000 Double
Grips Black tape
Handlebars Voodoo alloy, 131mm drop, 75mm reach
Pedals Wellgo Alloy body, steel cage and toe straps
Pedals Included Yes
Quick Release Front Wheel Yes
Rear Hub Alloy, loose bearing
Rims 700c double wall black, 32H
Headset 1-1/8" semi-integrated, 44mm upper and lower
Honestly..... sell it and buy something more suitable. Gravel/adventure bikes are a wide spectrum even at the budget end so its probably cheaper and definitely easier to just buy the bike you need instead of trying to change the one you have into the one need.
Attach scythes to the hubs and you will get a proper weapon. Possibly a spike on the front as well.
Still going to do it - other than a few tweaks bike felt amazing
You can get a set of Sensah SRX 1X drop-bar shifters/levers and a clutch mech from Aliexpress for about £100, I'd do that I guess.
I got a voucher for tredz so ideally want to use that
Full GRX810 groupset then.
You'll run into standards, bigger cassette needing a different mech, meaning different shifters which include your brake levers and nobody has parts in stock
Selling the bike and buying another with the gearing you want is probbly the cheaper way to go, however daft and excessive it may seem
Clutch Mech
Single cog upfront
Bigger cassette at the back
could be done by changing the drivetrain & brakes to GRX 600 or 800. You would need to change the calipers from the direct mount ones that are part of GRX to something that suits the frame, post mount/IS eg BR-RS785.
Other thing to check is can an 11 speed cassette fit on the existing freehub? 8 speed is narrower but they may have used a 11 spd width with a spacer. If not your probably looking at another rear wheel.
Bigger Tyres
Better Flare bars
Tyres whatever will fit in the frame / fork. How much clearance is there with the existing 40mm
Bars - lots of options.
Its getting a bit 'Triggers Broom', depends how much you like the frame.
Possible just to change chainrings?
I reckon, unless you drop chains a lot, that a 2x setup could be faster and lighter than a 1x with a massive cassette. I think Shimano hadit right withtheir X-Sync MTB chainsets, something like a 44/28 ratio. That way you're pretty much always in the big ring except for climbs.
Also change tyres, sounds like almost anything decent would be lighter and faster. If not going tubeless maybe even try latex tubes.
That fork sounds hefty, could you find an alloy steerer carbon job to replace it? Might be £175 upwards right enough...
Still going to do it – other than a few tweaks bike felt amazing
To get the drivetrain you want you're going to want to go GRX or Rival 1 maybe? Which will in turn mean new levers (105 if you want to keep the cable discs?), probably a new rear hub for the cassette? By which point you've spent hundreds already.
Can the frame/fork clear bigger tyres? Are the rims tubeless ready? If not can you got to 650b to increase volume? Again you're into new wheels and yet more spending... Eventually you'll exceed the cost of the next model or two up the range that already came with all the stuff you wanted on pretty much the same frame...
Honestly 'trailwagger' is probably right, those "tweaks" are going to be disproportionately expensive...
Kinda sounds like you are making an xc hardtail...
I’m with trailwagger on this, part shortages and the high prices of stuff that is actually available (neither of those issues are going away any time soon) will make a few upgrades cost the same as selling the whole bike and buying the one you want.
Having said that, there are shortages of complete bikes too.
It’s a dilemma.
I only paid £150 for the bike so what I think il do following everyone’s feedback is initially upgrade the tyres to 700 x 45 Iv check the clearance and also some bars with more flare.
Iv confirms it can take an 11speed cassette but I may hold off on this for now
Attach scythes to the hubs and you will get a proper weapon. Possibly a spike on the front as well.
There was that chap on Twitter yesterday saying that the only way to absolutely stop close passes was to carry a 10kg gas cylinder on the back of your bike.
Spa cycles will do any chainset ratios you like mine is 26 38.
I think you can run a 9 speed mtb mech' all the 7 8 and 9 speed stuff is the same pull ratio. Can anyone confirm this?
I'd look for some trp spyre brakes i like mine. A bigger 8 speed casette might be hard to find. Maybe look for some used sora 9 speed shifters (If you go 10 or 11 speed its anew mech and there are 2 differnt 10 speed pull ratios). But with the correct chainset the block will matter less