I ride an old bike – a 1983(?) Concord RS1400. Over the years I’ve replaced many parts on it to the point where I believe the only original parts on it were the rear wheel and the frame.<\/p>\n
On May 16th, I felt my sedentary lifestyle needed a change, pulled the bike off the hooks, gave it a quick cleaning and started riding again. As I noticed issues like the wheels not really spinning as well as they could, I pulled them apart, cleaned them, lubricated them and put them back together.<\/p>\n
However, technology has advanced considerably and my bike’s age shows through. My average ride has me hovering around 17mph for a little more than an hour. So, I started looking around on ebay and craigslist for a shortlist of bicycles. As I’m relatively tall, finding a bike that fits has been a difficult process, so, I started looking at upgrading my current bike.<\/p>\n
I spent a lot of time analyzing my rides and came to a few conclusions. One, I would probably do well adding a 14 and a 16 to my current cogset and fixing my bad habits early would pay off.<\/p>\n
I found a set of wheels and tires on craigslist for $100 that could accept a Shimano\/SRAM cassette and started the search for the perfect cassette. Since I live in Florida, hills are non-existant, so, I can get a tight grouping and have the perfect range. I ended up finding an SRAM PG-970 9 speed with an 11-12-13-14-15-16-17-19-21. After putting that on the bike, it was an amazing difference. I could easily move back and forth with minor adjustments and keep my cadence in the right range. All told, not including tools, it cost me $166 to replace my old 13-30t and move to 700c x 25 tires and wheels and a new 11-21t. The difference in ride has been phenomenal.<\/p>\n
On to the other bad habits, I’m not using as much of the pedal stroke to deliver power. I’ve been working on that. My line is good, but, my cadence is a bit off. Once I get over 80rpm, my brain wants to take me back to 75rpm which is where I used to ride when racing. It feels unnatural to be spinning at 85rpm in the 14 or 15 rather than 75rpm in the 11, but, I’m working on that.<\/p>\n
And, with all of the adjustments, I now have replaced a bunch of the tools I once had with a bunch of Park Tools. Pin wrench, lockring wrench, cone wrenches, crank puller, etc.<\/p>\n
By the time I’m done, I’ll have almost as many tools as a bicycle shop.<\/p>\n
I ride an old bike – a 1983(?) Concord RS1400. Over the years I’ve replaced many parts on it to the point where I believe the only original parts on it were the rear wheel and the frame. On May 16th, I felt my sedentary lifestyle needed a change, pulled the bike off the hooks, […]<\/p>\n