No one snickered at my old mixte

[Leonardo]

I'm sure they were snickering at the fat old guy riding it.

Anyway, I decided to try riding again after 20 years. New road bike
sticker shock scared me into looking for something cheap to ride for
for awhile and gauge my interest and ability before taking the plunge. I
found a very clean Bridgestone grand Kabuki mixte at a garage sale. 4130
tubes, Suntour VX front and rear, SR Apex-A 170 mm cranks, Bridgestone
side pulls, all the rest Suntour. If I remember correctly, this would
have been a middle range bike in its day.

The 53-39 chainwheel is killin' me. Can't pull any grades (I'm well over
200 pounds). A little research tells me that the bolt pattern may be
obsolete. I'd like to ride this bike for the rest of the season. What
would be my best(as in lowest cost) option to get into a setup that will
allow me to do some spinning.

Thanks!


L.

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>,
Leonardo <[email protected]> wrote:

> I'm sure they were snickering at the fat old guy riding it.
>
> Anyway, I decided to try riding again after 20 years. New road bike
> sticker shock scared me into looking for something cheap to ride for
> for awhile and gauge my interest and ability before taking the plunge. I
> found a very clean Bridgestone grand Kabuki mixte at a garage sale. 4130
> tubes, Suntour VX front and rear, SR Apex-A 170 mm cranks, Bridgestone
> side pulls, all the rest Suntour. If I remember correctly, this would
> have been a middle range bike in its day.

Lovely bike! Any Bridgestone is an especially desireable bike. Mid-range
or no, it's a name to conjure with.

> The 53-39 chainwheel is killin' me. Can't pull any grades (I'm well over
> 200 pounds). A little research tells me that the bolt pattern may be
> obsolete. I'd like to ride this bike for the rest of the season. What
> would be my best(as in lowest cost) option to get into a setup that will
> allow me to do some spinning.

No way the bolt pattern is obsolete, is it? Surely either 110 mm BCD or
130, which are about the two most common BCDs on the planet. The former
has been undergoing a renaissance as the basis for compact drivetrains.

Regardless, the easiest way to get some lower gearing is to thread on a
nice 6- or 7-speed Shimano freewheel, possibly a "Megarange" unit. You
can get pretty low with those bail-out mega-cogs on the back.

There's a small chance you might have to replace the rear derailer with
a longer-cage version, but I bet that if you stay out of the big-big
cross-chain, you'll be fine.

As a bonus, the shifting (even with friction shifters) will become much
smoother. Hyperglide works.

Available at virtually every bike shop on the planet, cost about $20.

--
Ryan Cousineau [email protected] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

 

[Leonardo]

Ryan Cousineau wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,
> Leonardo <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> I'm sure they were snickering at the fat old guy riding it.
>>
>> Anyway, I decided to try riding again after 20 years. New road bike
>> sticker shock scared me into looking for something cheap to ride for
>> for awhile and gauge my interest and ability before taking the plunge. I
>> found a very clean Bridgestone grand Kabuki mixte at a garage sale. 4130
>> tubes, Suntour VX front and rear, SR Apex-A 170 mm cranks, Bridgestone
>> side pulls, all the rest Suntour. If I remember correctly, this would
>> have been a middle range bike in its day.
>
> Lovely bike! Any Bridgestone is an especially desireable bike. Mid-range
> or no, it's a name to conjure with.
>
>> The 53-39 chainwheel is killin' me. Can't pull any grades (I'm well over
>> 200 pounds). A little research tells me that the bolt pattern may be
>> obsolete. I'd like to ride this bike for the rest of the season. What
>> would be my best(as in lowest cost) option to get into a setup that will
>> allow me to do some spinning.
>
> No way the bolt pattern is obsolete, is it? Surely either 110 mm BCD or
> 130, which are about the two most common BCDs on the planet. The former
> has been undergoing a renaissance as the basis for compact drivetrains.
>
> Regardless, the easiest way to get some lower gearing is to thread on a
> nice 6- or 7-speed Shimano freewheel, possibly a "Megarange" unit. You
> can get pretty low with those bail-out mega-cogs on the back.
>
> There's a small chance you might have to replace the rear derailer with
> a longer-cage version, but I bet that if you stay out of the big-big
> cross-chain, you'll be fine.
>
> As a bonus, the shifting (even with friction shifters) will become much
> smoother. Hyperglide works.
>
> Available at virtually every bike shop on the planet, cost about $20.
>

Appreciate the response. The limited info I was able to google up says
that the bolt pattern is 118mm BCD.

I will check with the local bike shop about changing out the freewheel.

Thanks again

L.

 

[landotter]

On Jul 16, 12:10 pm, Ryan Cousineau <[email protected]> wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,
>
> Leonardo <[email protected]> wrote:
> > I'm sure they were snickering at the fat old guy riding it.
>
> > Anyway, I decided to try riding again after 20 years. New road bike
> > sticker shock scared me into looking for something cheap to ride for
> > for awhile and gauge my interest and ability before taking the plunge. I
> > found a very clean Bridgestone grand Kabuki mixte at a garage sale. 4130
> > tubes, Suntour VX front and rear, SR Apex-A 170 mm cranks, Bridgestone
> > side pulls, all the rest Suntour. If I remember correctly, this would
> > have been a middle range bike in its day.
>
> Lovely bike! Any Bridgestone is an especially desireable bike. Mid-range
> or no, it's a name to conjure with.
>
> > The 53-39 chainwheel is killin' me. Can't pull any grades (I'm well over
> > 200 pounds). A little research tells me that the bolt pattern may be
> > obsolete. I'd like to ride this bike for the rest of the season. What
> > would be my best(as in lowest cost) option to get into a setup that will
> > allow me to do some spinning.
>
> No way the bolt pattern is obsolete, is it? Surely either 110 mm BCD or
> 130, which are about the two most common BCDs on the planet. The former
> has been undergoing a renaissance as the basis for compact drivetrains.

SR made some cranks in 118mm BCD, which is obsolete. Replacing the
entire crankset would be less hassle, if one was to go that route,
than sourcing NOS 118BCD rings.

Hopefully, that's not the case.

>
> Regardless, the easiest way to get some lower gearing is to thread on a
> nice 6- or 7-speed Shimano freewheel, possibly a "Megarange" unit. You
> can get pretty low with those bail-out mega-cogs on the back.
>
> There's a small chance you might have to replace the rear derailer with
> a longer-cage version, but I bet that if you stay out of the big-big
> cross-chain, you'll be fine.
>
> As a bonus, the shifting (even with friction shifters) will become much
> smoother. Hyperglide works.

Needs a 7/8 speed Hyperglide style chain to work perfectly. $10 at
your bike shop or Wally World. 7 speed HG freewheel shifted via
friction is great non-fussy stuff.

 

[Michael Press]

In article
<[email protected]>,
Leonardo <[email protected]> wrote:

> I'm sure they were snickering at the fat old guy riding it.
>
> Anyway, I decided to try riding again after 20 years. New road bike
> sticker shock scared me into looking for something cheap to ride for
> for awhile and gauge my interest and ability before taking the plunge. I
> found a very clean Bridgestone grand Kabuki mixte at a garage sale. 4130
> tubes, Suntour VX front and rear, SR Apex-A 170 mm cranks, Bridgestone
> side pulls, all the rest Suntour. If I remember correctly, this would
> have been a middle range bike in its day.
>
> The 53-39 chainwheel is killin' me. Can't pull any grades (I'm well over
> 200 pounds). A little research tells me that the bolt pattern may be
> obsolete. I'd like to ride this bike for the rest of the season. What
> would be my best(as in lowest cost) option to get into a setup that will
> allow me to do some spinning.

Fixing up a bicycle always costs much more than you estimate.
Stay off the hills, or ride them only as far as is very easy.
Spare your knees.
You said nothing about the rear hub. Freewheel?
Wide range freewheels are readily available with 34 cog large gear.
That should get you going.

Keep at the garage sales looking for a fixxerupper that is
worth putting in money.

Happy trails.

--
Michael Press

 

[A Muzi]

>> Leonardo <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> I'm sure they were snickering at the fat old guy riding it.
>>>
>>> Anyway, I decided to try riding again after 20 years. New road bike
>>> sticker shock scared me into looking for something cheap to ride for
>>> for awhile and gauge my interest and ability before taking the
>>> plunge. I found a very clean Bridgestone grand Kabuki mixte at a
>>> garage sale. 4130 tubes, Suntour VX front and rear, SR Apex-A 170 mm
>>> cranks, Bridgestone side pulls, all the rest Suntour. If I remember
>>> correctly, this would have been a middle range bike in its day.
>>
>> Lovely bike! Any Bridgestone is an especially desireable bike.
>> Mid-range or no, it's a name to conjure with.
>>
>>> The 53-39 chainwheel is killin' me. Can't pull any grades (I'm well
>>> over 200 pounds). A little research tells me that the bolt pattern
>>> may be obsolete. I'd like to ride this bike for the rest of the
>>> season. What would be my best(as in lowest cost) option to get into a
>>> setup that will allow me to do some spinning.

> Ryan Cousineau wrote:
>> No way the bolt pattern is obsolete, is it? Surely either 110 mm BCD
>> or 130, which are about the two most common BCDs on the planet. The
>> former has been undergoing a renaissance as the basis for compact
>> drivetrains.
>> Regardless, the easiest way to get some lower gearing is to thread on
>> a nice 6- or 7-speed Shimano freewheel, possibly a "Megarange" unit.
>> You can get pretty low with those bail-out mega-cogs on the back.
>> There's a small chance you might have to replace the rear derailer
>> with a longer-cage version, but I bet that if you stay out of the
>> big-big cross-chain, you'll be fine.
>> As a bonus, the shifting (even with friction shifters) will become
>> much smoother. Hyperglide works.
>> Available at virtually every bike shop on the planet, cost about $20.

Leonardo wrote:
> Appreciate the response. The limited info I was able to google up says
> that the bolt pattern is 118mm BCD.
>
> I will check with the local bike shop about changing out the freewheel.

Limited support now for 118mm, 40tt and up.
If you generally like this bike, a wide freewheel ($25~$30) with a long
derailleur ($15 to $99) may be a better path. Or a new crankset.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

 

[Steve Gravrock]

On 2007-07-16, Leonardo <[email protected]> wrote:

> Appreciate the response. The limited info I was able to google up says
> that the bolt pattern is 118mm BCD.

You can find the BCD yourself by measuring from the center of one bolt
to the center of the next and multiplying by 1.7. If it is indeed 118mm,
replacement rings may be very hard to find especially in smaller sizes.
I'd put on a wide-range freewheel as suggested. If that's not low
enough, you're probably better off replacing the entire crankset than
trying to find suitable 118mm chainrings.

 

[zencycle]

On Jul 16, 12:45 pm, Leonardo <[email protected]> wrote:
> I'm sure they were snickering at the fat old guy riding it.
>
> Anyway, I decided to try riding again after 20 years. New road bike
> sticker shock scared me into looking for something cheap to ride for
> for awhile and gauge my interest and ability before taking the plunge. I
> found a very clean Bridgestone grand Kabuki mixte at a garage sale. 4130
> tubes, Suntour VX front and rear, SR Apex-A 170 mm cranks, Bridgestone
> side pulls, all the rest Suntour. If I remember correctly, this would
> have been a middle range bike in its day.
>
> The 53-39 chainwheel is killin' me. Can't pull any grades (I'm well over
> 200 pounds). A little research tells me that the bolt pattern may be
> obsolete. I'd like to ride this bike for the rest of the season. What
> would be my best(as in lowest cost) option to get into a setup that will
> allow me to do some spinning.
>
> Thanks!
>
> L.

Probably the biggest bang for the buck would be to find a cheap triple
chainring square-taper crankset. Try Bikeparts.com or Ebay. The only
caveat is that the derailleur cage may not be long enough to take up
the extra slack when in the granny ring. The luxury with this bike, is
that you don't need to worry about indexing, so _any_ cheap med-long
cage derailleur will work. one other limiting factor may be bottom
bracket spindle length. With a new triple crankset, the granny ring
may want to scrape the right chainstay. TRy bikeparts.com for
everything, including the square taper crankset. You may run into a
problem if you need to replace the freewheel. Nashbar still carries 6
and 7 speed versions I think. Some one already said - fixing up a bike
is always more expensive than you think.

 

[Leonardo]

Steve Gravrock wrote:
> On 2007-07-16, Leonardo <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Appreciate the response. The limited info I was able to google up says
>> that the bolt pattern is 118mm BCD.
>
> You can find the BCD yourself by measuring from the center of one bolt
> to the center of the next and multiplying by 1.7. If it is indeed 118mm,
> replacement rings may be very hard to find especially in smaller sizes.
> I'd put on a wide-range freewheel as suggested. If that's not low
> enough, you're probably better off replacing the entire crankset than
> trying to find suitable 118mm chainrings.

I'm going to do the measurement. First things first.

Thanks all, for the suggestions.


L.

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>,
landotter <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Jul 16, 12:10 pm, Ryan Cousineau <[email protected]> wrote:
> > In article <[email protected]>,
> >
> > Leonardo <[email protected]> wrote:
> > > I'm sure they were snickering at the fat old guy riding it.
> >
> > > Anyway, I decided to try riding again after 20 years. New road bike
> > > sticker shock scared me into looking for something cheap to ride for
> > > for awhile and gauge my interest and ability before taking the plunge. I
> > > found a very clean Bridgestone grand Kabuki mixte at a garage sale. 4130
> > > tubes, Suntour VX front and rear, SR Apex-A 170 mm cranks, Bridgestone
> > > side pulls, all the rest Suntour. If I remember correctly, this would
> > > have been a middle range bike in its day.
> >
> > Lovely bike! Any Bridgestone is an especially desireable bike. Mid-range
> > or no, it's a name to conjure with.
> >
> > > The 53-39 chainwheel is killin' me. Can't pull any grades (I'm well over
> > > 200 pounds). A little research tells me that the bolt pattern may be
> > > obsolete. I'd like to ride this bike for the rest of the season. What
> > > would be my best(as in lowest cost) option to get into a setup that will
> > > allow me to do some spinning.
> >
> > No way the bolt pattern is obsolete, is it? Surely either 110 mm BCD or
> > 130, which are about the two most common BCDs on the planet. The former
> > has been undergoing a renaissance as the basis for compact drivetrains.
>
> SR made some cranks in 118mm BCD, which is obsolete. Replacing the
> entire crankset would be less hassle, if one was to go that route,
> than sourcing NOS 118BCD rings.
>
> Hopefully, that's not the case.

118? Learn something new every day!

> > Regardless, the easiest way to get some lower gearing is to thread on a
> > nice 6- or 7-speed Shimano freewheel, possibly a "Megarange" unit. You
> > can get pretty low with those bail-out mega-cogs on the back.
> >
> > There's a small chance you might have to replace the rear derailer with
> > a longer-cage version, but I bet that if you stay out of the big-big
> > cross-chain, you'll be fine.
> >
> > As a bonus, the shifting (even with friction shifters) will become much
> > smoother. Hyperglide works.
>
> Needs a 7/8 speed Hyperglide style chain to work perfectly. $10 at
> your bike shop or Wally World. 7 speed HG freewheel shifted via
> friction is great non-fussy stuff.

Yes to the chain, of course. I should have mentioned that.

--
Ryan Cousineau [email protected] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos