Brand New to Riding

[Grim Jones]

Hey all! I'm brand new to riding and have managed to inherit an older Giant Innova hybrid (1999 or 2000 maybe). The bike's in great shape (almost never ridden). It probably needs new tires and tubes. No big deal, but there's some things that I would like to change. The reason? I really want to get into touring and hope to do a century by November. I know the hybrids are a bit heavy and slow, but I'm gonna work with what I've got. Here are the specs:

Frame & Fork
Frame Construction: TIG-welded
Frame Tubing Material: Giant ALUXX 6061 T-6 aluminum
Fork Brand & Model: RST 801, 1.6" travel
Fork Material: Aluminum/chromoly, triple-clamp crown
Rear Shock: Not applicable

Components
Component Group: Hybrid Mix
Brakeset: Aluminum linear-pull brakes, aluminum linear-pull levers
Shift Levers: SRAM Attack
Front Derailleur: Shimano Deore top-swing
Rear Derailleur: Shimano Deore SGS
Crankset: SR MD304, 22/32/44 teeth
Pedals: Steel cage, aluminum body w/clips & straps
Bottom Bracket: Cartridge
BB Shell Width: Unspecified
Rear Cogs: 9-speed, 11 - 32 teeth
Chain: 1/2 x 3/32"
Seatpost: Aluminum, suspension, 30.8mm diameter
Saddle: Giant Spring Comfort
Handlebar: Aluminum, rise
Handlebar Extensions: Not included
Handlebar Stem: Aluminum, adjustable
Headset: 1 1/8" steel

Wheels
Hubs: Alloy
Rims: Weinmann Zac 19, 36-hole
Tires: 700 x 40c Cross Comfort Anti-Puncture
Spoke Brand: Stainless steel, 2.0mm straight gauge
Spoke Nipples: Brass nipples


I'd like to know what kind of tires to put on the rims I have for the road and I'd like to know what I can do about that straight handle bar. I don't know if I can put drop bars on that or not with my SRAM Attack twist shifters. Could I put the end bar drop bars on there. I've got a set of aerobars as well that I'd like to put on. I'll worry about the panniers and stuff later. I just want to get on the road and get some miles under me first.

At some point I'll buy a nice new road bike but in the meantime this is the bike I'll be training for my Century ride on. I'll take any advice on equipment and ways to mod the bike to work for distance.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Grim Jones]

No one?

 

[Grim Jones]

Wow. Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[Grim Jones]

So, no thanks to anyone else, I've decided to just get the bike tuned up and ride it for a while without doing anyting to it really. I'll try the two other saddles to see which one is the most comfortable and I may put some bar ends on it just so I can have a change of position once in a while.

The next thing I think I'm going to do, instead of buying a road bike, I'm going to buy a Fuji Cyclo Comp. Most of my riding will be on the North Central Railroad trails which is all crush and run. I'll buy a second set of road tires w/rims to swap out if I'm going to be doing a whole lot of road riding.

Anyway, thanks for nothing. Way to support the sport by ignoring a newbie.

 

[Froze]

The tires, if original, are probably middle size for the rim, meaning you could probably go as small as a 700x35 if you want a slightly faster rolling tire, and really you don't need a larger tire then this but a 700x40 is ok. I don't know much about these size of tires, but a quick web search showed a Continental Cyclocross Speed tire (in a 700x35) which is a faster rolling tire then normally found in this size, I don't think this tire is suited for touring but should be good for training; but someone with more knowledge of tires in this range needs to respond. Unless your going to have a set of rims made for the road only and keep the current ones for touring then you could have just about any 700 rim made to fit any width of tire if you want to go say with a 700x25 or a 23. Personally if your training to tour you should get use to wider tires and run the Cyclocross tires then switch to touring tires when you go touring unless you just want faster tires and rims.

Yes, you can switch your handlebars to drop bars, which will give you more hand positions then flat bars even with bar ends. Once you have the drop bars in place you could also do what most tourers do and that is to have bar end shifters installed because when your touring with extra carry on weight the bike can become unstable trying to shift from the hoods, so moving the shifters to the bar ends provides a much more stable way to shift because you never have to take the hands off bar.

Twist shifters can cause problems on a loaded touring bike, because your loaded with weight you tend to grip the bars tighter to maintain control, this has caused people to inadvertently twist the shifter control and cause the bike to shift when they did not want to. But, again, I'm not familiar with those particular shifters and only know people who had the Shimano twist shifters that that happened to.

I responded in hopes someone else will see the post and respond with better ideas then my own for you.

 

[Akadat]

Hey GJ, you did thanks in advance but not advanced enough. Was Froze's reply helpful?

Regardless you have a good ridin bike that will do many centuries. Ride it and see. Make small adjustments one at a time and see. Keep it maintained.

In my opinion the best improvement will be a set of slick tyres of the puncture-resistant variety, same size as original they should be rated for a higher max pressure. They will be faster on the road due to the smooth tread and higher pressure and will do OK in a little dirt. Puncture resistance is a godsend to newbies and oldies, but not for weightweenies.