How difficult would it be to replace the rear drivetrain from the 7 speed Shimano Tourney to 11 on this 27.5” Amazon no-name bike I got during Covid?
Is it mostly about replacing the freehub body and the cassette? (and the derailleur and chain of course). I just hope there’s enough space for the new cassette on this wheel.
by rainpl
10 Comments
Isn’t it cheaper to buy a used bike with a 1×11?
There doesn’t seem to be enough apace for 11 cogs.
Since you have 7 cogs I think that you have a freewheel. So you would need to replace the entire rear wheel and make more space inside the rear triangle for a rear wheel with a freehub that can accomodate 11cogs
Doesn’t look like a lot of room to get anything else in there.
Depends how comfortable you are with working on bikes? Do you have basic bike tools?
Traditionally a 7 speed freehub body is shorter than 8 speed to 11 speed hubs. Meaning 7 speed is the largest cassette that would fit.
Best case scenario your freehub is the larger size but with a spacer behind the cassette. If not, you’d be better off replacing the wheel with an 8 speed plus hub.
If you can remove the cassette and check, might in business.
Wide range 10 speed stuff is reasonably priced. Could be a good upgrade. Make sure you get a derailleur with a clutch and narrow wide front chainring, if you want to ride it off-road.
Seems you are stuck there.
As far as I can see that’s a wheel with a freewheel. As there are no free wheels with 11s you will need an entire new rear wheel with at least a Shimano HG Freehub that’s capable of accepting 11s Casettes. Alternatively opt for a rear wheel with microspline or XD freehub body.
Then you can hunt for a cassette that fits said wheel.
Next would be a read derailleur that can handle a wide range cassette + fitting 11s shifter. Of course additional new cables and a fitting 11s chain.
Ideally you should also replace the crank Chainring to a narrow-wide one that’s also 11s compatible.
So all in all pretty much as expensive as the bike might have been…
New wheel, cassette, chain, derailleur, shifter and chainset.
Doable but more economical to look for a 1×11 bike new or 2nd hand
Expensive. You’ll need a whole new wheel, cassette, chain, shifter, derailleur. Probably a front chainring and possibly a crank set depending on construction.
You’ll need a new hub for sure
Thank you, everyone! It could’ve been an interesting experiment if I was a pro but I’m probably going to find myself a 1×11 bike and focus on simpler upgrades instead.
I just watched a video on youtube where someone did just this. In fact, they took a $50 used bike from Walmart and ended up making it perform better than a $2K+ Specialized bike. They replaced everything but the frame, put about $1200 into it. Was a neat project. On the channel “Speeed”. They did order some components that were not compatible with the frame, so instead of ordering new parts they did some frame mods, so there’s that.
It was actually pretty easy going to a 1×11. A lot of parts, yes, but if you’ve ever built up a bike starting with just the frame it’d be a simple, fun project.
If it is a freewheel and not a cassette, it’s going to be a huge pain in the neck!
You would first need to find out if it is a 7 speed freehub body or if it is an 8, 9, 10 speed one. That dork disc looks THICK so maybe it’s working as a spacer? If the dork disc (The plastic thing beside the cassette) is being used as a spacer, then you might be ok to just put a new drivetrain on there without swapping the wheel. But it’s a risk.
*(You’d have to budget for a replacement wheel, order the parts, and then test to see if the new cassette would fit. If it does not, then you need the wheel.)*
If it is an 8, 9, 10 speed freehub body on that wheel, you can put anywhere from an 8s drivetrain to an 11s one on it.
To upgrade the drivetrain, you will need a chain, derailleur, cassette and shifter. That’s just for the back wheel. IF you heed a different freehub body, then you will need a new back wheel. The only time you can swap freehub bodies is if the hub manufacturer offers different drivers that are compatible with their hub. Most hubs like this cost probably more than you paid for that bike! (Koozer offers some cheap hub options and they’ve mostly worked out for me but that’s a whole other discussion TL;DR get the B10s (steel) HG freehub body for XM490 Pro hub, NOT the aluminum one)
The next thing is to check if you have a square taper bottom bracket. If so, you can find a good enough off brand 1x crankset off of amazon. Most cheap BBs are square taper so there is a chance…
Aside from this, you will need specialized tools. A crank arm remover really helps. A chainwhip and cassette tool are absolute necessities. It’s also nice to have a tool for cutting cable and cable housing. Regular pliers make a mess of everything! Also, a chain tool and possibly a quicklink remover.
I also LOVE my Shimano quicklink remover!
Personally, I am not sure what I think of the Deore 11s Drivetrain. The M5100 one. It shifts well enough but I found it tricky to get it to lock down tightly enough. It’s almost like those huge cogs are too big and torquey for the tiny splines on the HG Freehub Body and the cassette kept coming loose. It works well enough but it was always a bit janky on my bike. (My bike now has an SLX / XT drivetrain because I am an idiot)
I find upgrades can be like playing dominos with ones wallet. You can end up throwing a lot of money at a bike that will never retain any of that equity because of it’s pedigree. In the end, it’s best to sell the bike you have and buy one that has the parts you want already on it.