bike tech-- got a question.

I've got a nice Cannondale touring bike that I'm trying to tune up for this spring.

It's an older model, and I'm thinking of upgrading a number of things that are really outdated.

1: Can a threaded headset be upgraded to threadless?

2: the suicide shifters on the frame. I'd like to change to the ones on the handlebars next to the brakes that are "rapid fire" style. Anybody know of any good ones that can be routed through the bosses on the frame. Also, would I have to upgrade the front and rear derauler to be "rapid fire" compatable?

3: I figure that the shifters and brakes in that configuration usually come as a set, so would I need to upgrade those as well?

For #2 you can just use shift cables with housings and clamp them to the frame with small hose clamps instead of worrying about using the existing bosses. This is what I might do on my Raleigh although I've gotten somewhat used to the "suicide" shifters.

You don't necessarily have to purchase shifters and brakes as a set but if you have side pull brakes it's a good idea to replace them with center pulls. Side pulls suck.

I can't overemphasize enough that wheels are the most important thing on a bike. Make sure you true your rims and/or replace them if they can't be trued to within a few hundreds of an inch. You'll notice how much better the bike feels at high speeds, and also that it takes noticeably less energy to maintain a given speed if your wheels are balanced.

Another upgrade I'd recommend is an aerodynamic rear wheel cover. See my bike below:



This gets me a good 2 mph more for a given amount of pedaling effort. I tried one on the front wheel too but it was too unwieldy in crosswinds. A couple of times the wind nearly yanked the handlebars out of my hands. However, it did cut drag even more than the one in back does. I imagine a cover which only covers the outer third of the wheel would cut drag substantially while not interfering with steering control but I haven't been able to find one.

It's probably not worth the upgrade price. Consider that you'll pretty much need a complete component set; shifters, crankset, front and read derailleur, chain, brake set, cables and so on. Add to that the cost of installation and you'll probably pay more than it would cost to replace the whole bike. That's probably true regardless of the component grade.

Before you rush off, have the bike looked at and a complete estimate done by a good shop. Then compare that against a replacement. More than likely you'll decide to replace rather than upgrade.

I've been through three upgrades on my two bikes (road & mountain). If the Road frame hadn't been a high end carbon, I wouldn't have done it because it has about 45k miles but I see no degradation or cracks so I went for it. Same with the mountain, the frame is titanium and I hate to part with it. This year I upgraded the road bike to a Dura-Ace triple crankset, I retained my 9 speed cluster for the time being and still spent nearly $500 for the parts and labor. I could have installed it myself but the spacing is tricky and I didn't have the time to fiddle about with it.

At a guess, if you need a whole component group, it'll probably cost about $500-$600 for parts if you stick with 105 components and another $200-300 for labor, unless you're a good enough mechanic to do it yourself.

You can buy a new touring bike, well equipped for that and for not much more you can move up to a high end model.

I'll be investing in a tour bike this year and I'm looking at the Bruce Gordon Rock & Road, among others. Anyone else with tour bike experience have any recommendations? I'll be using it for month's long trips in the US and abroad. The first trip will be either a Cross America or Europe for 6 months (retiring soon), mostly self contained.

Al

Al--I think you're right about the upgrade stuff and the total cost, and that's what I was afraid of. The newer version of the Cannondale that I have is very expensive and I'm not quite ready to shell out that kind of cash.

I think I may keep on with the one I have now untill I have the money to drop on a new one.

The old Cannondale touring bikes (and the current ones) are excellent bikes. Depending on what changes you want, it might be relatively inexpensive.

Regarding the threaded headset.... there might be a question about your terminology. The headset is the bearing used to permit the fork to rotate, and is chosen based on whether the fork is threaded (the traditional style, which uses a quill stem), or threadless (which uses the "Aheadset" style of stem).
Either one works fine, but there's no real functional advantage of one over the other. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. What sort of improvement were you hoping for?

Regarding the "suicide shifters"... Is this a reference to downtube shifters, or to stem-mounted shifters?
... oh.. are we talking about drop bars, or straight bars, ala' MTB's?
If it's drop bars, which the bike came with, then there are a number of options:

1. bar-end shifters. These fit into the ends of the handlebars, and are considered easier to reach than downtube shifters. These are generally favored for touring bikes, since they tend to do a better job of shifting on triple cranks. The shifters cost around $50 or so(?), and usually come with cable stops that attach to the fittings that your downtube shifters mount on. These are sold in either 8 speed or 9 speed versions.

2. Integrated shift/brake levers (STI for Shimano, or Ergo for Campagnolo). These are standard for most road bikes nowdays, due to ..... well, I'm not sure why. I think people prefer to not take their hands off the handlebars. These are more expensive than bar-end shifters, weigh more, and are more fragile/delicate/failure-prone. If your Cannondale has cantilever brakes, then it's harder to make the integrated levers work with them (these new style levers don't pull as much cable as the old brake levers). If your Cannondale has V-brakes, then you'll need a gadget like the Travel-Agent to allow the levers to pull enough cable.
The STI levers don't shift the front derailleur as well on a triple crank, but Shimano does make cranks that are moderately well suited for touring. Campagnolo levers do shift well on a triple, but Campagnolo doesn't make a triple crank that's suitable for touring. Oh.. you have to use Shimano shifters with Shimano cranks, and Campagnolo levers with Campagnolo cranks (according to them).


In general, if you feel the urge to change things around, you might as well. It's always fun to try something new. However, be aware that Shimano and Campy really aren't addressing the touring market, and that the older equipment might actually perform better. A good guide is to see how manufacturers are spec'ing their touring bikes now. Especially check Bruce Gordon's offering... he does the best job of setting up a touring bike.

And in the interest of full disclosure, my three-year-old touring bike is equipped with a 20 year old crankset, 25 year old derailleurs, 15 year old pedals, and new Shimano XT hubs.
These are all the parts that I feel perform best for touring and bike commuting. And I use downtube shifters (very reliable, and no extra cables going up to the handlebars that make it difficult to pack in a S&S case).
The bike has about 15,000 miles on it so far, and is doing fine.

Steve K.

You can upgrade the shifters yourself but the big problem will probably be matching the shifters to your freewheel. I upgraded both of my bikes back when the changeover was occurring from 7-speed to 8-speed. I had 7-speed freewheels so I could get levers to match. I put on levers, rear derailleur, and brake calipers all at the same time. That particular bike is now all DuraAce. Later I upgraded my training bike, all to Ultegra. The levers come with the hardware that you need to replace downtube shifters. The wheelsets on both bikes are still in good shape. In the future when I have to replace wheels I might have to change to freehubs and maybe even have to change other components to match so I'm not looking forward to that.

bjn70 raises an issue.. what's the Cannondale like? What parts are on it? Is it a 7 speed freewheel & hub? What's the distance between the rear dropouts?

If you need to change from a 126mm OLD (over locknut distance) to 130 or 135mm, then you have a real problem. The conventional knowledge is that an aluminum frame shouldn't have the rear dropouts respaced. The modern standard for touring bikes is to use the 135mm rear hubs designed for MTB's. This provides a stronger rear wheel than the current crop of road hubs (130mm).

There's also the question of chainrings. Modern Shimano and Campagnolo integrated shift levers are intended to be used with chainrings with profiled teeth and lift pins... which are devices/features that make it easier for the chain to move quickly from a small ring to a large ring.

Without knowing the current status of the Cannondale, it's very difficult to guess if the bike can be upgraded, or what it would cost.

good luck,
Steve K.

I talked to the local bike mechanic today--he'll need a look at the bike in person, but from what I described, it may be possible to upgrade the shifters. I'm going to take it in over the weekend for him to look at and we'll see what we can do. General quote would be in the $200 range, so I'll have to think about it.

We looked in a catalog at some nice cyclocross bikes and also the cannondale badboy (head shock and disks).

I need to start working some overtime /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif