Duffer said:
Screw it!
I spent about an hour in the local bike shop with computer translated documents. It did not go well.
Okay, I believe my hang-up is the Phil Wood hubs and bottom bracket. I can salvage the front hub, but the 126mm freehub is obsolete and would need replacement. My Shimano 600 sealed bearing headset is also rather nice and might be saved, but they are relatively cheap.
Maybe I should start fresh, but I've examined the specs on the Cannodale T2000 and was underwhelmed.
A. Begin with what the bike should do. It will be for extended touring carrying front and rear panniers.
B. The bike will also be used for commuting in Canada, at least on the less snowy days.
I strongly prefer rigid frames and in 1980 aluminum was the way to go.
What frames do you recommend?
What cantilever brake systems do you recommend?
I have examined the specs on many rims, and sturdy takes precedence over lightweight. 36-spokes in front, and 40 or 48 in the back. Among the rims I’ve perused are the Velocity Dyad, Mavic T520, and Mavic A719.
What others should I consider?
I’ll save my Phil Wood front hub.
Besides Phil Wood, who else makes sealed rear hubs?
Is there a discount house selling Phil Wood’s for less than list price?
Shifting while climbing with a heavy load is the reality of touring.
What complete systems do you recommend and why?
I’ll save my Specialized triplecrank, but intend to go with new chainrings. What chainrings would you suggest?
I’m keeping my Phil Wood bottom bracket, but I see Truactiv/SRAM, Mavic, and TNT make sealed bottom brackets, for much less.
If my Phil Wood can't be saved, what should I consider?
The headset may be a wash. I found loaded touring ate headsets like Joe-Sixpack eats salted peanuts at the ballpark.
What headsets do you recommend?
Supposedly, the
IRD freewheels are compatible with 8-speed compatible indexing, too. They have nickel plated cogs ... I do NOT know if they have a better pawl mechanism than the SunRace freewheels. Figure the IRD costs 2-to-3 times as much as the SunRace freewheel ... I do NOT know what freewheel tool the IRD freewheel uses.
If you are really planning on touring, I still recommend a NORMAL PULL
SHIMANO XTR rear derailleur +
CAMPAGNOLO 10-speed ERGO shifters ... the combination will index to 8-speed cassettes (essentially, as 7-speed SIS spacing is the same as Campagnolo & Shimano's 8-speed spacing ... what I refer to as the
Feng-variation vs. the hubbub.com variation which allows you to use a 10-speed ERGO shifter with a 9-speed Campagnolo cassette).
You do NOT need to change your crank UNLESS you want to ... the spindle taper DOES matter ... if you have Campagnolo-compatible tapers (i.e., if you have an old Sugino/SunTour/European crank), BRASS FOIL "shims" wrapped around the taper will be necessary to use most non-Campagnolo cranks (recent -- as of ~2000 -- SunTour/SunRace cranks still used the old taper, AFAIK) ... otherwise, your current crank CAN be used with indexed shifting. Your current chainring (if the tooth count works for you) is fine with Campagnolo shifters.
Eschew Shimano & SRAM for loaded touring ...
Your initial shopping list:
10-speed Veloce shifters ($130US, with cables/housing)
IRD freewheel ($40US ... $20US for a SunRace) ... 13-28, recommended
9-speed SHIMANO chain ($20US)
9-speed SHIMANO XTR (or, XT) rear derailleur ($100US)
handlebar tape ($10US)
Intially, $270US should cover it ... EVERYTHING except the freewheel will work on a NEW bike if you eventually go that route. Of course, your prices will be in Euros AND may vary greatly. Try
Total Cycling in Ireland, first --
http://www.totalcycling.com/
If your current Phil Wood is Shimano compatible and you need lower gearing, then I recommend you simply track down a 44/32/22 MTB Shimano crankset ... and, a 13-28 should be the largest 7-speed freewheel you probably consider.
If you get a new bike, you will find that the majority of the options will have Shimano 10-speed STI shifters ... you want to avoid the Shimano Sora-or-less shifters.
CHANGE your rims/tires AFTER you are sure that 27" isn't what you want to use. There is NOTHING wrong with 27" wheels EXCEPT for the lack of the variety of available tires.
A 700x32 clincher "cyclocross" tire is essentially the same diameter as a 27 x 1 1/4 tire ... not surprising since the latter is 630x32.
The 700c rims will allow you to use 700x38 (aka "hybrid") tires or gargantuan 700x58 (?) 29er tires (which may NOT fit your frame/fork).
If you do opt for 700c rims/tires, then you should consider possibly consider a pair of OLD center pull brakes ... for touring, I would strongly recommend you get a
NEW steel fork which has cantilever bosses rather than an ultra-long reach dual-pivot brake caliper for use with 700c rims ... and, use cantilever brakes calipers on the front ... any brake caliper that fits on the rear will be okay (TEKTRO makes an ultra-long reach, double-pivot brake caliper, now) ... an old BMX caliper will probably work.
CHRIS KING headset (10 year warranty ... the Cane Creek S-2
appears to use "equivalent" bearings, but the Cane Creek is only available for threadless) ... $130US.
FWIW. If you do get a new frame, look at STEEL ... if I wanted a NEW, off-the-shelf frameset, I would try to get a TREK 520 steel frame ... if I had to get the whole bike, I would anticipate stripping almost all the components off of it and rebuilding it with the forementioned drivetrain (sans freewheel) components.
FWIW2. If you look at the bike in the attached picture, you will see my "old" aluminum hardtail configured with ROAD components & a road fork. An old "normal" (now, long) reach (49-59) Tektro brake caliper is on the front & rear ... I enlarged the fender-mount hole on the brake-bridge to accept the recessed nut. There is clearance for a 700x38 tire in the rear ... to use a larger than 700x25 in the front, a different fork would be necessary.
The bottom bracket drop is minimal with the road fork ... with a different fork, it could be closer to ZERO or have a negative drop (i.e., with a 29er fork)!
The hardtail's REAR spacing is 135mm ... I laced an old 36h NISI 700c rim onto a Shimano MTB hub. Almost
EVERYONE makes sealed hubs, now ... but, the "normal" sizes are 130 & 135mm ... I recommend
Hugi/DT if you want sealed bearings hubs.