Hi. What do you guys think about replacing the drivetrain with something more modern? I have a deore 12s shifter and cassette, I would just need to replace the chain and derailleur. I would also need to buy wheels, and of course replace the brakes with hydraulic ones. The bike is meant to be used as a typical commuter so it doesn't need top of the range brakes. Apart from welding the frame I can do everything myself, so the cost of used parts shouldn't knock me off my feet.
by r_________g
4 Comments
short answer: no, waste of money and the parts won’t fit.
the cost of doing what you want to do, which won’t even work because your frame doesn’t support it, will be more than the cost of just buying a whole new bike.
Absolutely a waste of money and time. This is a sub 700, when new hybrid. The rear spacing will not work, it’s aluminum so you can’t spread the seat stays. There’s no brake tabs for disc brakes.
Just no all around. Unless you are like me who does bike repair for a side hustle and have parts, time, and experience doing these kind of money puts.
My beer bike is an old touring nashbar 27″ Japan steel road frame I put full carbon fiber parts, post, bars and FSA cranks, Ultegra 11 speed components. Dura ace down tube shifting makes these conversions practical. Not a hybrid.
It’s a nice bike and maybe a drop bar conversion might make it a nice commuter?! Keep the brakes and drive train though.
There’s nothing that special about extra gears. It’s literally just extra steps between your lowest and highest gear. For a hybrid like this if someone wanted a refresher I’d just stay in the same gear range. If the wheels are good why swap them out?
Usually when one of these bikes stop performing well it’s simple stuff liek cables, housings, new shifters, new BB, and it’s like new again.
If you’re interested in learning more and having fun while you swap parts out then go nuts, but it doesn’t really make sense to go slapping 12 speed stuff onto a cheaper frame. You could probably get 9/10 speed wheels that would drop right into the frame. If it’s just a commuter then keep the V-Brakes, they offer great stopping and that’s a lot of work to add hydro disc brakes.
I love me some DIY but at a certain point man you just have to realize you are taking everything off the frame and putting it into a parts bin, then taking the frame and modifying it to be something else and then putting all new parts on it. Why not just go buy a complete frame on aliexpress that fills your requirements and build up from there?