Was gifted a bike by a friend who had a sweet titanium bike sitting in his garage for the last twenty years. It has a 53/39 crankset and 11-23 cassette so for the type of riding I’m doing (70+ miles 4k+ feet of climbing) every weekend it’s a pretty tough ride. I went to a shop and they said to switch everything out and make it 52-36 in front and 11-32 in back it’d cost me about 450 dollars. Is that worth it? I think it might be so that it can be my forever bike but I’m really stressing about it. If anyone has any advice lmk feel free to message me too. Or an extra 450 bucks lying around. And will a shimano Sora crankset ruin the aesthetic you think? It’s also got 23 mm tires on it and I’m used to 28’s
by Ok-Lawfulness529
5 Comments
Does it fit you? If it is not your size then none of this matters.
Dean was an amazingly nice frame back in the day.
I have a similar Litespeed that I upgraded to 11speed Ultegra from it’s 9 speed 1997 group. It made the bike much better to ride. I got the parts for deals all over the internet and then put them on myself.
Aesthetics are whatever you want them to be. It’s all made up so that doesn’t matter.
For a Dean frame, hell yeah. That bike will outlive you and your children and probably your children’s children
I have a Dean Colonel from the 1990’s, love it! If this bike fits you, pull the trigger.
Why not do it yourself? With a threaded BSA BB, this is a relatively straightforward (i.e. routine maintenance level) task. You’ll need the tools to pull the current crankset and for the cassette lockring, as well as to replace the BB. You’ll also need the tools the install the new crankset (if different from current).
– $200 for new 105-level crankset (better than Sora)
– $20 for new bottom bracket
– $10 crank puller (it looks like the old BB is square taper or octalink, so would require this)
– $30 BB tool(s) (for old+new BB, often a different tool per BB manufacturer and/or style of BB — you need the lockring style tool for the old BB is my guess, and the appropriate tool for whatever new BB)
– $25 cassette tool + chain whip
– $50 new cassette (will use same tool as old one)
– $10 grease
– You might also need a new chain, so for a chain tool and chain let’s say $35
That comes to $350 while paying twice as much as a Sora crankset ($100 value). So you’d save $100, get a much nicer crankset, and have the tools to DIY maintenance like cassette swaps and chain replacements in the future. Or you could go cheaper on the crankset and get the price even lower.
You need to do some research on compatibility for the exact parts and interfaces, but once you do that, it’s just screwing stuff in and out.
I read your earlier comment about comfort level. Most cities have a bike coop that you could walk into and get help with this sort of thing for free (or a nominal donation) — both for picking parts and for using their tools/help without needing your own.
If you’re going to upgrade it, upgrade it. Don’t do that beautiful frame dirty with Sora. You may be able to find some period correct new old stock for it. A long cage derailleur and 12-28 would help a lot. Another option would be a triple but then you’re replacing shifters too. If you can’t swing that, save until you can afford at least 105. Dean made some gorgeous frames.
As for the tires, 700-25 might work but that will be tight.