Campus Dakota
Group Memberships => UND Cycling => Topic started by: Meest on August 17, 2009, 11:42:43 AM
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Now I'm not one to take a piece of junk in some place and expect them to fix it up to hella cheap. so bear with me.
The girlfriend found an old sears brand cruiser, with basket and wheel fenders and an internal 3 speed shifter for the rear wheel.
She really likes it, and wants to be able to ride it... but the shifter needs some work, and it needs some new brake lines ran along with new tubes and tread.
If I brought it into ski and bike would i get a questionable look? I could do some of the work myself, but I just don't have the time, and frankly I'm not that great at it.
I'm willing to pay for whatever needs to get done. Does this happen fairly often? Maybe i'm having a fear of being bike rejected? :P
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I don't think it would be awkward. They might ask where you got this old school bike from, but i think they will still do it. You just have to talk to right person at SB.
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It wouldn't be awkward at all. Bike shops appreciate stuff like that.
2 suggestions though.
1. Most Sears bikes aren't worth the money people think they are and are/were their equivalent of Wal-Mart bikes. SOmething to ride... sure, but you can poach something that would prolly work as opposed to spending the $50+ that its gonna cost to re-cable. Not to mention its 3-speed internal which can have gremlins.
2. Mario has a 3-speed that I'm pretty sure they were planning on just getting rid of. In fact, I know which bike rack its at... Bike works nearly perfectly and may just need a few bolts tightened.
3. (I lied) One think shoppies hate is dirty bikes. Clean it up before you bring it in.
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2. ... I know which bike rack its at...
Hmmm...What's that suppose to mean, Dave :mob:
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Meest has another question here about getting a saddle that will fit him: http://talk.campusdakota.com/index.php?topic=4489.msg15918#msg15918
I don't know the answer.
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Yea, by looking at bike option's on Trek.com it looks like I might just need to look into a completely new bike, as I have the completely wrong style, and the wrong tool for the job no matter how you modify it will still be the wrong tool. I have a Trek 820. and I'm looking for something for in town commuting along with casual bike rides... I might look into getting a Trek 7000 series or a 7.1 as they seem to be more geared toward what I want to use it for... Maybe I'll have to hit up the end of the season sales to see if there's any good deals to be had on something like that.
I really used to love biking. I had a little harro Dave Mirra 540 air (I still have one, but a different one) that i would ride all over everywhere. Broke so many pedals on that thing. I want to get back into it again, But if I have to buy a new bike it may take a while to build up some $$ to make the correct purchase.
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Trek 820 would make a perfect commuter? Just put some slicks on it.
If it makes you feel any better my buddy ty still uses his trek 820 for racing. Granted... we did lots of work to it. But its running the original wheelset and deraillers etc.
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This may be inspiration for you to keep that MTB
http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/mountain-biker-wins-road-race-on-his-hardtail-22736
P.S. My only MTB that I ride/race/crash into stuff is an old trek 800 that I converted to single speed
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I raced MTB on my 850 hardnose last year.
In any case, yeah, you may not need a "commuter" bike unless you want an upright posture and fenders you don't have to install yourself.
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Well thats comforting.... I think I may look into getting a different saddle and get some more apropriate tread on the tires for in town. I would love to convert it to a hardnose also. I miss the feedback from the road that i was used to as a kid.
I had originally bought an 820 from the police auction up here for 50 bucks. the Frame was way to huge for me, ended up trading it into scheel's for 75 bucks (I made 25 bucks!) and got the correct size frame for me. I think I'll look at getting the saddle changed, and I might look at getting some handle bars that are slightly raised.
Thats a sweet article Toaster!! Nice name too, You may see me around town in the Scion xB with the license plate of "Toast"
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I've seen that toastmobile.
If you're trek has a threaded stem, You may be able to raise it another cm or so just with loosening one bolt.
Go here: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/handsup.html#threaded
to learn specifically about stems (threaded) and see if thats what you have. And sheldon brown (RIP) has everything about bikes EVER on his site. Except retro-direct stuff. ;-)
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You need to bring the retro-direct to the involvement expo.
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So, I found a better saddle that fits me great! Not feeling numb down there at all anymore. Its comfortable to ride on also.
But now sitting on the bike I feel as if I should have the handlebars up and inch or so.... I checked and I have a threadless Stem. So it looks like I might be getting an adjustable one. (I'd rather get adjustable than fixed so I have the option to change it if my fitting changes.
I went and talked to toaster and he gave me an idea of what I can do for that... Now its just getting it into SBS to see what will work out for me.
Thanks guys!
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Meest. Post a pic of your cockpit. You can probably just flip your stem. Also what seat did you go with and why did it change your saddle height that much?
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Well the handle bars have always felt to low for me. I just went with a wider Bell seat for my fat rear end so I get out on it more. Went for a 2 mile tonight and it was great. Arms are just numb now after a bit...
Its a trek 820 from 2006. orange and grey. like this one
(http://www.bikepedia.com/Images/image.aspx?w=400&h=400&filename=2006-Trek-820.jpg)
What do you want me to take a picture of? just the Top of the stem? Should i take the top bolt that has the cover off? and take a pic?
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No... u see in that photo how the stem is oriented? Its angled up right? Stems are reversible so realistically on this bike you could remove the stem topcap and loosen the two bolts on the stem along the steerer tube and flip it to make it a more aggressive position. (I realize thats not what you want but now you know what Im talking about)
Since the bike is more cruise than bruise (as I say) (more lax than race) the stem is probably already like it is in this picture and thus u have no option besides buying new stuffs.
Frankly, if the stem is that high up you're very near the limit of what most adjustable stems will allow in a positive angle, tho there are some extreme stems out there. You may want to consider swapping your bars out for risers like these:
(http://www.nashbar.com/images/nashbar/products/large/SN-V3BAR-NCL-FRONT.jpg)
They're available to a varying degree of riserness.
Yost knows his stuff though and he won't steer you wrong (no pun intended).
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yea i was thinking if the riser wasn't a possibility it would go to the handlebars... but you know how anoying it is to move everything to new bars :D I was trying to go lazy.
Thanks for the info!
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So, i'm going to be revisiting this now that its getting nice out. Who's still at SBS that I can see about this? Toaster was that you I talked to back in september and then I didn't follow through? :P
I need to get the handle bars raised and I think I was going to go with a variable one so that if I wanted to lower it again I could fairly simply... If i remember right it just cost more correct?? I probably should just shut up and bring it in right?? :D
Here's to getting back into cycling!
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Yeah... toasters ur man.