Upgrading my bike...help please

Jabba165

Hi Guys i'm new to this review thing;this is my 2nd posting, so please forgive any mistakes

I have a Subway 1 and i've done nearly 3000 miles on it in 2yrs. For the price i paid (£159 sale at my local halfords) i believe it has been money well spent. The bike handles well on the road and on the occasional tow path that i've been on. However having the bike for two years there are some things that i would like to change to make it more personal and i'm hoping you guys can help out, all suggestions welcomed.

Firstly i would like to add a bigger cog on the front. Can this be done? if yes what brand/model should i go for? ( Lardboy said on 19 May......." Add a few more teeth on the big cog and you've a decent commuter, as well as a fun off roader"....)
Secondly, i would like to change my pedals to the 'clip type ones'. again can you suggest a model or brand to go for. I've been talking to other riders and they have convinced me that changing my pedels will greartly increase my output. i see from Pezzeruk posting you can get pedals that are 'half & half, (......."I did not like the pedals though as my feet kept slipping off them and switched to some Shimano ones with cleats on one side and standard pedal on the other which made things much better".......)6th April.[/i]

So guys can anyone help?

Thanks a lot

cougie

What chainset do you have on there at the moment ? Should be easy enough to replace the chainring for another one - unless its all integrated. I'm not sure...

As to pedals - I prefer the double sided Time Atac pedals - they're great and easy to get in and out of.

JC.152

Jabba165 wrote:

from Pezzeruk posting you can get pedals that are 'half & half, (......."I did not like the pedals though as my feet kept slipping off them and switched to some Shimano ones with cleats on one side and standard pedal on the other which made things much better".......)6th April.[/i]

I know you would prefer half and half pedals but once you get used to the double sided pedals then it just becomes something you can do without thinking and can just stamp down with no thought of flicking them over, which is why I use SPDs on my road bikes.

Jabba165

Hi Cougie, thanks for your reply. i flipped my bike and the crankset that i have is "SR Suntour PFF". the two rings are 32 - 44T. As for the pedals i'm going to check them out on the web.

Jabba165

I 've just checked out the Time Atac pedals...they look good. would i need a particular brand of shoes to wear or could i use the ones that i got from Aldi/Lidl.

iga

I'd recommend Shimano M520 SPD pedals, easy to use, reliable and cheap, about £16. So long as your shoes have the two slot SPD fitting on the sole you'll be fine.

Swannie

I have double sided pedals on my hybrid. I was getting very very annoyed with the toe clips.

I like the fact that if I need to pop to the shops and do some walking around, etc. I can wear any shoes. I will not be walking very far in my SPD cleated shoes. Sure they are recessed... but you do hear them grinding on the ground. Not good for them.

Wellgo and Shimano both do pedal one side, SPD the other. Wellgo will be cheaper.

I would not want full spd's on my hybrid. When I got my road bike I was going to go for dual sided SPD's - absolutely, but the chap selling it to me threw in some Look road pedals and shoes. So I can now ride normal shoe/SPD on one bike, or road shoes on the other. Not perfect, but suits me fine.

Jabba165

Thanks a lot for the replies. ...please keep them coming. I read on other posts people talking about 'floats' & 'large platforms'. What are they talking about??? :?