Parts upgrades questions

Jon1984

Hi all.

My wife bought me a Barracuda Team Replica as my first road bike since I had a 1970's Raleigh as a kid.

It currently has 21 gears using gripshift (which I have always tried to steer clear of but I didn't know I was getting the bike until I got home from work and it was sat i our kitchen waiting for me )

I want to change the gear shifters to the more used brake shifters (I don't have a clue on the technical term) which I know will be pretty straight forward but I also want to change the chain set as well so I have a bigger (again not sure if the correct term is bigger or lower?) gear to use coming down hill (my legs just cant seem to keep pace with the speed at the minute, I know this will come with time but i want a gear that I can still pedal downhill with).

Any help or advise on what to look out for will be greatly appreciated, I'm just looking into costings etc at the minute as I will need to save cash to do this.

many Thanks all, Ride safe.

Zerotails99

Youre looking for a sti shifter plus a 53 42 crankset.

But i think you need a new bike. and stop pedaling down hill

simon_masterson

Changing your shifters will almost certainly not be cost effective, and not straightforward at all. The only solution that I can see costing less than what the bike is worth is to find some old 7 speed STI levers - including a left hand lever that works with a triple. Even then, I'm not sure how well the cabling would work.

As for your gearing, train yourself to pedal faster. Unfortunately selection of 7 speed freewheels and cassettes is a bit limited these days. Swapping out your big chainring would probably be easier and cheaper than a new chainset.

Just enjoy the bike as is, I would.

diy

Was it mail order and have you ridden it?

If not the best option might be to return it and find a second hand bike at a similar price. Or just ride it for a while to get some use out of it and then ebay it for something else.

sloppyschleckonds

Zerotails99 wrote:

and stop pedaling down hill

Whut!?

Jon1984

I've had it 4 weeks now and done over 200 miles on it

I am very happy with the bike overall its just a couple of niggly things I want to sort out like the shifters mainly (I can't stand grip shift).

At the minute I pedal as much as I can down hill then simply let gravity do her thing for a little bit, I have noticed that I am pedaling a bit quicker downhill than I used to so in that respect my legs are learning but I may just try going for a bigger cog on the top end and see how that fairs.

My other option/plan was to look at getting just a frame and building one from scratch (which I know how to do) and that way I can fully customise it to me specifically. Has anyone else done this before and if so how did you find it?

Thanks for the replies guys.

simon_masterson

I appreciate not liking grip shift; I'm not a fan either. You could try friction bar end shifters if you wanted, I guess.

If you're serious about doing a new bike build, you could get yourself some new wheels now, but all this would do for you in the short term is allow you to run 8 speed gears, which would enable you to use indexed bar ends. (8 speed being much easier to get than 7 speed)

And I wasn't being particularly serious about changing your chainring (if nothing else they're quite expensive), but to be fair it's a very easy job. Find out the pcd of your crankset and get yourself a chainring bolt tool.

Jon1984

to be fair the more I think about it the more I'm leaning towards just gritting my teeth and bearing with it while I use the cash I would have used to make the changes to go towards my custom build. It is a very good first time bike for the minute while I get myself adjusted to road bikes and if anything I might just change the pedals and go for cleats so I can transfer them over when my custom bike is ready.

ElectronShepherd

The other advantage with keeping the current bike is that it probably helps avoid the expense of a divorce! Selling the wife's present after a few weeks might not go down too well.

I would suggest keeping the bike as is, and not just to preserve the marriage. Even changing the largest chainring to a bigger one will mean a new chain - a change to the overall tooth count on the biggest ring that you can notice will mean the current chain will be too short and you won't be able to run big to little, which is sort of the whole point of the change. You may also find problems shifting from the middle to outer chainring.

simon_masterson

ElectronShepherd wrote:

Even changing the largest chainring to a bigger one will mean a new chain

Shouldn't do if it's just a couple of teeth - and whilst this won't make a massive difference, no stock gearing will alleviate low cadence; if you are pedalling at 40 rpm (let alone less) and you want a hard gear for hills, you want more like 90x11.

I don't know what the OP's bike has, but the chainset on the bike Google brings up doesn't look like a standard triple to me, and the smallest cog could be 14t. Supposing that the big ring is a 48t, you have a top gear that isn't too bad at 100rpm+, but I find it hard to begrudge anyone wanting a bit more for proper descents.

Jon1984

I don't want to loose the easy gears as they are helping me up the hills, although the more practice I put in the less I will need those gears I suspect.

I know there will always be pros and cons to every change on a bike, I have just found the correct seat height/position which helped an awful lot (I didn't realise that I had the position wrong as I wasn't finding it difficult/painful but have now found extra speed and power on the climbs).

At the minute I am just watching videos posted online by pros and people in the know and I am slowly finding my feet, so to speak, with the change from mountain bikes and mainly off road to road. It is interesting to hear everyones different opinions and I guess that the correct way would be whatever feels comfortable/right for the person on the bike.

dj58

Jon,

If this is your first road bike after riding MTB's, I would persevere with it as it is and use the money saved on your custom build.

Use the bike as a learning tool, you can then do some research and decide if the frame size/geometry/set up is what you like and what components and gearing to spec for your custom build. When you have built up your custom bike you could sell the Barracuda or keep it as a winter machine.

crescent

Definitely agree with most of the above. Not being disrespectful at all but if it is an entry level bike then it's not really worth upgrading as it would soon overshoot the original cost of the bike. Much better to get out and ride as it is and feel smug that you have a wife who is supportive of your hobby. If you are going to build a custom bike then it is likely to become and obsession so best not to upset the good lady by selling her very nice present to you, you may need that goodwill and understanding later By all means upgrade the pedals as they will be transferrable at a later date and worth getting to grips with as early as possible in your cycling career. Enjoy.

diy

Building a bike out of parts even used parts normally works out more expensive than buying a whole bike. Its enjoyable though as you can make sure everything is assembled perfectly. The other aspect, though is unless you have a large collection of bike tools you'll also need to buy special tools.

The gritting teeth option is the cheapest, best idea for an upgrade. Plus when you get super fit, just think how envious all the guys with beer babies will be when you pass them on their £5k Dogma's on your £200 bike

Jon1984

diy wrote:

Plus when you get super fit, just think how envious all the guys with beer babies will be when you pass them on their £5k Dogma's on your £200 bike

I already had the experience yesterday of passing what seemed to be the Pinerello owners club and boy did it feel good

I'm going to go down the custom route I think and just upgrade the pedals on this one for the time being and get used to them.

As for the tools, I was already looking at stocking my shed with everything I could need for maintenance/repairs anyway so a few extra tools wouldn't go amiss