Picked up a trek 950, with original 3×7 deore parts. Planning to swap the handlebars and take it bikepacking, anticipating 90% road, 10% trail.
I’ve drooled over my fair share of xbike restomods. They’re gorgeous. But are they actually better?
A friend has a 1×11 sram group set they’d give me for cheap. Keep it original, or succumb to the xbike aesthetic? Let me know your thoughts!
by Status-Classic-105
16 Comments
I know many will say to keep the old 3×7 deore stuff.. but man it is nice having newer groupsets. I have a few restomods in the collection and I do appreciate the crisper shifting
Personally, I just end up using whatever is in the parts bin. Recently it was a tiagra crank with a 36t narrow wide, grx 400rd. My xbikes are generally built with whatever is cheap or on hand and honestly aren’t “resto” anything so my opinion doesn’t matter much maybe.
I think both look nice though. A classy looking ride with silver hardware is glorious, but I also kinda love a thrown together mad max looking bike.
I think triples are awesome. I’ll fight you and anyone else. Doubles w big cassettes? Also awesome.
1×11 makes no sense. Singlespeed conversion for the cassette & 3 speed up front, that’s what you need.
3×7 all the way, very forgiving drivetrain. Stays in tune and chains are dirt cheap. At least give it a shot if you don’t know why you’d change to the modern stuff.
I wouldn’t do it to my main or only bike but that’s just my opinion. I like the versatility of my 21 speed. I wouldn’t miss the granny gear because it’s fairly flat where I ride
Idk. I like how sleek a single speed looks but I think I would miss having at least the rear derailleur. The maintenance aspect is a non issue for me because I like working on my bike and I’m good at it.
I’ll probably never do a single speed but I can’t deny how clean they look.
If you’re going to take it bike packing and ride it loaded uphills then 2x or 3x is the way to go.
Who cares about the drivetrain, can’t we all just appreciate a sexy bike when we see one?
When we were in 7th grade it was “the more speeds the better the bike”. 40 years later I see no reason to change 😂
Bah. Single speed everything!
Ignoring the argument a 7sp hub wont fit an 11 speed cassette. If you find an 8 speed casette it could fit up to 10 i believe.
1x is easier for my simple brain to get along with
They’re all good.
I have 1x, 2x, and 3x bikes and I appreciate the pro’s and con’s of all of them.
Having a bike well suited for it’s intended purpose is the way to go.
But for the 950 with 90% roadpacking I would opt for a 3 x 8 probably. 2 x 8 would be ideal
Doesn’t matter. It’s your bike and you should do whatever you want to it as long as it makes you happy.
What hype?
the only reason to switch from 3x is because lack of parts lol