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Old 03-22-15, 07:17 PM
  #313  
kurtp13
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Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Southern Maryland
Posts: 133

Bikes: Trek 820, Cannondale F500 with Trekking bars and road tires, Bianchi Alfana, Panasonic PCI "Les Maillots", Cannondale M1000 Tandem, Schwinn Johnny, Trek Lime, 1964 Armstrong, 1962 Raleigh Gazelle, 1964 AMF Hercules, Brooklyn Cruiser Driggs

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Genesis Progress


OK confession time. I returned the first Genesis bike I got. But I did this recently and ordered a new one before I returned the first. The RH rear dropout was bent outward at the bottom. When I first took this apart to try it in a bag, I thought I was having some difficulty putting it back together since I was laying on the living room floor. I was trying to work as if I was in a hotel room. I should have taken it apart in the garage first. So I thought the resistance in reinstalling the rear axle was me not aligning the parts properly in my awkward position.


When I finally figured it out I ordered another right away before taking back the first one. The first one wasn’t unridable but didn’t fit together well and had a bent rear axle also. Due to a lot of schedule issues last month I didn’t have time to mess around with the whole process. So just this week after comparing the bikes, I returned the first one.


I still think it’s a good value. I don’t know if anyone would notice the flaw if they didn’t take it apart. The frame seems well constructed despite what appeared to be weld distortion in the first bike.


Both bikes had forks slightly out of square. I don’t know if everyone would notice but I tend to see stuff like this. I switched forks and the old fork was a little better. So I switched it back.


The first bike had a quiet freewheel (brand: Three Arrows). The second bike had a noisy freewheel (brand: Great Wall as I remember). I kept the quiet one even though I planned to replace it. It’s possible this might go back to the original condition at some point so I wanted something that worked properly.


On to the mods. Taking parts from an older mountain bike didn’t work as well as I had hoped. The one part I did use successfully was an Acera rear derailleur. The used freewheel seemed to be worn on the small first two cogs. It was skipping right from the get go. I don’t remember this on the original bike, but maybe everything was worn in together. So I got a Shimano MF-HG37 Tourney Freewheel (13-28T 7 Speed) and put that on yesterday.




Chainring: 53T
Crankset: SHIMANO 2300 FC-2350 170mm (110 BCD)
Freewheel: Used 7 sp Shimano Megarange 14-34T. Then changed to Shimano MF-HG37 Tourney Freewheel (13-28T 7 Speed)
Shifter: Shimano SL-RS45 Tourney Revo Shifter (7 Speed)
Chain: KMC Z33 NP
Tires: Kenda K-193 Kwest Commuter Wire Bead SRC/PRC Bike Tire, Black, 20-Inch x 1.5mm
Rim Tape: Velox
Grips: Andoer Ergon Style w/ Bar Ends
Bottle cage: Bell Clinch 600
Saddle: Selle Royal Lookin' Basic Moderate Men's Saddle
T handle for bag mount on seat post: Minoura SGS-400 OS Handlebar Accessory Mount: 27.2-35mm
Bell: MIRRYCLE INCREDIBELL Big Brass Bike Bell








I love this bike so far. Today I took a longer ride 16 miles on my usual hilly route. The mods really help the practical use of the bike. The chainring had to be mounted on the inside of the spider in order to clean up the chainline. I was hoping to leave on a crawler chainring gear to drop the chain on by hand if I was in a hilly area. But I may have to update the crankset or the bottom bracket axle offset sometime in the future in order to get that. I think there is room even if a front derailleur can’t be fitted.

I had a trigger shifter on my mountain bike that could have been used but I liked the compactness of the twist shifter. So I bought a new 7 speed shifter.



I was going to rave about the Bell water bottle holder but dropping down the couple of inch ledge from my driveway to street caused me to lose the bottle twice. I could be a little tighter. Being mounted on my steering post and not leaning forward probably doesn’t help the situation.

The small light is from REI and not much good for seeing, just for being seen. It's small so a good light to just keep attached.



The rear light is tie strapped to an open area on the back of the seat. The Selle Royal seat offers a clip attachment for their own light but the reviews for the light are terrible. I had a light already and attaching here positions it just above the bag on the seat post.





The grips were cut back to fit with the twist shifter and a little on the LH side. Too short really. I thought they were going to be similar in length to the ones that came off, but somehow I cut them a little short. Not a big deal. Not an expensive item and I can replace them if I can't live with the shorter grip. I didn't live to the Measure Twice, Cut Once axiom.



The blue tooth speaker is something I move from bike to bike. Nothing new here. I can set up a LED flashlight for a headlight with the same velcro/rubber block attachment.



Future Mods


DNP Freewheel 11-32T
Chainguard
SATORI Adjustable Stem extender
Some kind of quick on and off phone holder. I would like there to be the ability to hold a backup battery on the holder also.
Quick release axles




I want a wider range so I’m getting the DNP freewheel. It expands the top and bottom range. I’ve seen mixed review messages about the durability of these DNP freewheels but I like in a hilly area and would also like more top end. I'll chance it.


The chainguard just seems like a good idea. I will be riding when on trips and might be a variety of clothing.


The stem extender should open up the reach a little which I’m interested in trying out.
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