My Mongoose Upgrade

[Stephen Harding]

Lost a 6 speed rear wheel this winter on my 5 year old Mongoose Threshold. I have access to a couple
7 speed wheels and am thinking of upgrading this $230 original purchase price bike.

From what I can tell from Sheldon's cassette/hub/freewheel pages, I *think* the 6 and 7 speed wheels
both run 126mm dropout distance, so that shouldn't be a problem, and the frame is steel anyways, so
even if I need 130 I should be able to handle it.

How about the hub? Can I stick a 7 speed cluster on the current 6 speed, or is the freewheel hub
actually wider for the 7 speed?

Otherwise, I'll get another old 7 speed wheel (I really like having two wheelsets for this bike).
Then I'll go with SRAM 7 speed grip shift ($25), a new 7 speed compatible rear deraileur ($20). That
should do it!

I may at some point opt for a V-brake upgrade, levers and brake set for $55, but we'll see.

On top of that, it's time to replace the large chainring, probably another $35, so we get up near
$100-150 range for the entire upgrade. All for a $230 bike???

I really have no need for four bikes, but from an economic view, just buying another $230-250 entry
level MTB might be the best choice.

Anything I'm obviously missing here?

SMH

 

[Bernie]

Stephen Harding wrote:

> Lost a 6 speed rear wheel this winter on my 5 year old Mongoose Threshold. I have access to a
> couple 7 speed wheels and am thinking of upgrading this $230 original purchase price bike.
>
> From what I can tell from Sheldon's cassette/hub/freewheel pages, I *think* the 6 and 7 speed
> wheels both run 126mm dropout distance, so that shouldn't be a problem, and the frame is steel
> anyways, so even if I need 130 I should be able to handle it.
>
> How about the hub? Can I stick a 7 speed cluster on the current 6 speed, or is the freewheel hub
> actually wider for the 7 speed?
>
> Otherwise, I'll get another old 7 speed wheel (I really like having two wheelsets for this bike).
> Then I'll go with SRAM 7 speed grip shift ($25), a new 7 speed compatible rear deraileur ($20).
> That should do it!
>
> I may at some point opt for a V-brake upgrade, levers and brake set for $55, but we'll see.
>
> On top of that, it's time to replace the large chainring, probably another $35, so we get up near
> $100-150 range for the entire upgrade. All for a $230 bike???
>
> I really have no need for four bikes, but from an economic view, just buying another $230-250
> entry level MTB might be the best choice.
>
> Anything I'm obviously missing here?
>
> SMH

I'm thinking one reason one keeps riding an old bike is because he/she likes it. If you are willing
to put a few $$ into it now and then it will last longer than you do. A fellow I met one time was
riding an old Bridgestone. We were talking bike maintainance and which parts we had replaced, when
he said "The wife says the only original part on my bike is the nut that holds the handlebars." Best
regards, Bernie

 

[Stephen Harding]

Bernie wrote:

> I'm thinking one reason one keeps riding an old bike is because he/she likes it. If you are
> willing to put a few $$ into it now and then it will last longer than you do. A fellow I met one
> time was riding an old Bridgestone. We were talking bike maintainance and which parts we had
> replaced, when he said "The wife says the only original part on my bike is the nut that holds the
> handlebars."

Yep, I definitely really like this bike. It's grown on me over the 5 years or so that I've owned it.

It's now sort of a MTB-road bike-commuter bike-tourer hybrid. About as versatile as a bike can get,
so putting $150 dollars into upgrading a $230 bike isn't really the economic madness it may seem!

SMH

 

[Jon Isaacs]

>Anything I'm obviously missing here?

A lot of options here. All because you lost a rear wheel.

Question: Would this bike be really much better after spending the $150?

What I do with such bikes is keep em running, buy the parts I need to repair them and for upgrades,
I buy parts when I find them used or on sale.

With three other bikes, you ought not to be in a hurry, just let it happen. Someday you will come
across some wheels, some shifters.

Jon Isaacs

.

 

[Stephen Harding]

Jon Isaacs wrote:

> >Anything I'm obviously missing here?
>
> A lot of options here. All because you lost a rear wheel.

Not just a rear wheel. A *six* speed rear wheel!!!

> Question: Would this bike be really much better after spending the $150?

Won't be any better, but a new one won't really be any better either as far as I can think. Gear
*ranges* are important to me, not numbers of gears, and weight is not relevant. I'm almost proud of
running a 30 pound bike!

> What I do with such bikes is keep em running, buy the parts I need to repair them and for
> upgrades, I buy parts when I find them used or on sale.
>
> With three other bikes, you ought not to be in a hurry, just let it happen. Someday you will come
> across some wheels, some shifters.

Indeed. I have access to a supply of abandoned bikes. My brother works for the Amherst College PD,
and the kiddies are always dumping their bikes at the end of the semester or year. Some really good
stuff can be had.

But 6 speed??!!! No self respecting Amherst College student would be seen with such ancient,
un-cool hardware.

Now if I only needed some Ti frames or XT/XTR components!

SMH

 

[Bernie]

Stephen Harding wrote:

> Bernie wrote:
>
> > I'm thinking one reason one keeps riding an old bike is because he/she likes it. If you are
> > willing to put a few $$ into it now and then it will last longer than you do. A fellow I met one
> > time was riding an old Bridgestone. We were talking bike maintainance and which parts we had
> > replaced, when he said "The wife says the only original part on my bike is the nut that holds
> > the handlebars."
>
> Yep, I definitely really like this bike. It's grown on me over the 5 years or so that I've
> owned it.
>
> It's now sort of a MTB-road bike-commuter bike-tourer hybrid. About as versatile as a bike can
> get, so putting $150 dollars into upgrading a $230 bike isn't really the economic madness it
> may seem!
>
> SMH

I agree. It's not economic madness, just regular madness. So no problem. Bernie

 

[Stephen Harding]

Jon Isaacs wrote:

> >Not just a rear wheel. A *six* speed rear wheel!!!
>
> A 6 speed cassette or a 6 speed freewheel will fit on a 7 speed wheel.

Yes my brother brought me a nice 7 speed Mavic wheel. I'm going to see how the six speed cluster
sits on it tomorrow.

Two ways to go. Either run the 6 speed cluster on the 7 speed hub. But then I lose the largest cog,
since I need a spacer to pad out the missing gear (I think).

Or, I can run the 7 speed cluster. Not certain I can run 6 and 7 speed wheels though. Either both 6
or both 7. If I go 7, I either keep the 6 speed shifters and use only the largest 6 cogs, or upgrade
the shifters to 7 speed ($25 for SRAM rmx + $7 for cables). I can probably get away with original
brake levers.

I primarily do NOT want to have to adjust RD stops every time I change a wheelset, and I prefer to
keep the lowest of the gears. Original wheel was 11-24 which is OK for the road wheels, but I like
the 13-30 off-road gearing in the other wheel set, and don't want to give it up.

Although my original Altus (pre/sub-Alivio???) RD accomodates only 24T max cog, I've found I can run
to 30T if I stay off the large ring while using it which is the way it should be anyways.

> what happened to the old wheel?

Salt slush from the last big storm locked up the pawls inside the hub, so I can spin forward or
backward in place!

Took the hub apart but the bearings were pretty much junk, and one of the two pawls won't really
engage any more.

Last winter was practically a non-event, but this winter we've had lots of cold and snow and salt.
I've learned that I need to liberally oil the hubs and skewers during the season or risk having them
rust up in place when I need whatever wheel has been sitting idle. During winter, one wheel is road
tire, one studded knobby; during summer, the studded knobby becomes a regular knobby.

Winter is hard on wheels and drive trains!

SMH