I found this early 90s Univega Via Activa 300 on an internet marketplace for $100. I love these old hybrid bikes, because of their ubiquity, slack geometry and many of them can fit up to 45mm tires. This specific model was able to accommodate 50mm tires quite nicely. It’s an amazing all rounder. This bike reminds me a of cool Reddit comment recently regarding all rounders and hybrids in response to, “Not as fast as a road bike, and less capable as a mountain bike.” They rephrased it, commenting, “Faster than a mountain bike, and more capable than a road bike.” I agree.
After removing all the lower end plasticky components the bike cleaned up nicely and I love the weird green paint job . But I think the ridiculously wide range drive train range is really what makes this bike special. I coupled a Shimano 105 triple 48/40/30 crankset currently with Shimano 11 speed 11/51 rear cog for a gear range over 750%. Some people might say that a 750% gear range is overkill, but I disagree. For example a standard road bike has about a 300-350% gear range, a modern gravel bike 1×11 setup is about 400-420% and your typical old-school triple has just about 500%. Essentially this setup has gearing toward the low end of a road bike, the midrange gearing of a gravel / mountain 1x and a low-end for the steep stuff, or just being tired. Anyway it’s fun and useful and I have absolutely no shifting problems despite using an 11 speed cog with a triple in front.
Of course modern 1x and 2x setups are pretty great, but I think maybe we’ve lost something for the sake of “convenient shifting.” I don’t really find any hassle with having two shifters to think about, maybe that’s just because for me it’s just second nature. Simple shifting probably makes sense when racing or chasing marginal gains on Strava.
I tend to gravitate toward urban adventure riding, which in my part of the world often carries me over some very mixed terrain. I may head out to explore an abandoned area I spotted on Google Maps and decide to detour after discovering a new trail. I may be riding long flat stretches of pavement or climbing up the odd fire road for an extended time. The wide gear range covers it all.
The wheels were hand built using polished Sun Cr18 rims coupled with a shimano 105 hub in back and an old Gary Fisher hub in front. Everything is shiny silver.
I also like being able to use the super comfy 50mm Schwalbe G-One Speed tires. I have an adjustable stem on the bike as a place holder just so I can try different positions, but it’s so pretty, I’ll wait to switch it out until I get that dialed in.
Anyway, I’ve been riding this bike for about a year and am having a blast. And while it’s not quite the fashionable yet capable 1x Stump-Jumper builds with those 90’s color ways and 700mm bars, I think this build is pretty neat.
by velobikebici
5 Comments
Sweet, I recently found an Activa 200, with some type of red black camoflauge paint – I’m waiting on a coupla parts but it’s coming together great. I left most of parts stock, waiting on some bars and hip tape to add to it. Great bike, in stock form, it ride great so should be even better after a few upgrades.
Nicely done. This thing is awesome, care to spare any more details on the drivetrain?
The downside is you rip your derailleur apart when you accidentally crosschain big-big( or big almost big)!
But seriously you have low end MTB range(30-51) and top end road(48-11). That big chainring is overkill for almost everyone whose just riding around town. Few people are missing out on that vs 40-11
That’s a sweet setup. I’m scratching my head about how the front rack is mounted. What prevents the plates between the fork and the strut from rotating down?
Pretty😍