Suggestions please

Graydawg

Hi everyone - need some help!

My Girlfriend "doesn't like going up hills" and in my attempts to help her go up hills I am trying to get her a better bike or at the moment make her bike lighter due to strict budget.....



This is what I have to work with...... :shock:
Could I put my old MTB chainrings on there? It was a 9speed and this bike is a 5speed.... just wondering if the chain will go.... i could try it i suppose.....

Also I am thinking on putting my Kenda Small Block eights on there to reduce the rolling resistance, or as we're not going to be going off road is it worth while getting a set of slicks like the city jets? what width would you reccomend?

Any other suggestions or is this a lost cause? I think it currently weighs about 17kgs...

Thanks!

bails87

Thin, slick tyres will make a big difference.

Drew123

Love that you've posted the pic going up a 90 degree incline... Turn it through 180 and she'll be flying...

The Rookie

OK, that's toughie....

Road slick tyres, those steel seatposts are very heavy, cut off all bar about the first 3" inside the frame, loose the reflectors, if you fit a triple chainset you'll probably need a new (longer) chain as the existing one will probably sized for the middle ring (I think the rings may be too close together on a 9 to reliably run a 5 speed chain), bars are almost certainly heavy steel so get some lighter alloy ones on there and make sure the brakes aren't dragging.

The family pub bike is an old Townsend with most those changes on it (it was a triple anyway)....we knocked over 2lbs off the weight and the tyres roll MUCH faster.

Graydawg

Thanks for the tips above!! I will get the hacksaw out!

I just ordered a set of 26x1.25" Nutrak Tyres off ebay - £16 for the pair - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/270891743672?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2648

So hoping they will make a big difference right from the outset.

Graydawg

So I ordered a set of those tyres and they arrived the next day :shock: to the far reaches of Scotland!! Amazed!
Put them on with a new set of inner tubes and took off a few of the bits of the bike to make it a little bit lighter and certainly rolls a lot faster too... so this is what I have got her now..

Before:


After: