Re building a commuter.. what bits?

WildfireS3

I am going to be rebuilding my old '98 Univega Alpina 508 (which I do love) as a commuter bike. Now it has the following spec:

99 Manitou X Verts
Azonic DH Bar
98 LX front and rear Mech
98 LX Shifters (broken)
98 STX RC BB
FSA Sidewinder cranks
Sugino rings
2000 XT hubs on Mavic 519 rims (sub 100 miles on them)
2000 XT 8 Speed cassette
Magura Race Line D HS33 brakes
Specialised Team Master and Control tyres

Most of this is a bit overkill for the a commuter so I was thinking of buying the 2010 Deore V Brake Groupset from Merlin for £175.

Woudl this be a good buy and relatively easy to set up. i'm pretty mechanical,. But what things would I need to check?

I believe I can fit a 9 speed cassette to the rims without a rebuild?

Forkwise I'd like to fit some short travel, light forks eventually.

Any advice woudl be gratefully appreciated

Chunkers1980

WildfireS3 wrote:

I am going to be rebuilding my old '98 Univega Alpina 508 (which I do love) as a commuter bike. Now it has the following spec:

99 Manitou X Verts
Azonic DH Bar
98 LX front and rear Mech
98 LX Shifters (broken)
98 STX RC BB
FSA Sidewinder cranks
Sugino rings
2000 XT hubs on Mavic 519 rims (sub 100 miles on them)
2000 XT 8 Speed cassette
Magura Race Line D HS33 brakes
Specialised Team Master and Control tyres

Most of this is a bit overkill for the a commuter so I was thinking of buying the 2010 Deore V Brake Groupset from Merlin for £175.

Will make it nice and that's real good value.

Woudl this be a good buy and relatively easy to set up. i'm pretty mechanical,. But what things would I need to check?

Facing for the cranks would be number one, as they will be HT2.

I believe I can fit a 9 speed cassette to the rims without a rebuild?

Not to the rims! Not too sure on this as it was 8spd then. It's all in the width of the freehub body, the splines have not changed since then so if a 9spd casstte fits then it should be fine.

Forkwise I'd like to fit some short travel, light forks eventually.

Why it's a commuter!

Any advice woudl be gratefully appreciated

WildfireS3

Thanks for that.

Will the BB be the same fittment?

If I'm changing the BB, then shouldn't the cranks fit?

Reason I want to switch the forks are:

1).The X Verts are shot
2). I'd like to use it off road once in a while, for a bit of XC training.

Thanks again!

supersonic

The V brake set is a great buy - the disc groupset with wheels even better!

9 speed cassettes fit on 8 speed freehub (hence why they are called 8/9).

But... I'd stick with the stuff you have to be honest and just get some new shifters.

Chunkers1980

Yep - perhaps do as SS says... if it aint broke then don't....

The BB will be a totally different fittment. 2010 Deore is HT2 - external bearings with the cranks having the axel built into them. You need to check the alignment on you frame's BB shell, it needs to be perfectly parallel each side, go to your LBS to check this as with your current type that was not a consideration when the frame was made as it did not matter (really)

nicklouse

and then look at a ridged fork.