borobike

Noted, thanks. So you would recommend this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Sunrace-Freewh...-2147483553-20

Over this one for the closer ratios?

https://www.amazon.com/Freewheel-Spee...-2147483553-20

They both appear to have cutouts similar to Shimano hyperglide which I really enjoy on my other bike, although it is a cassette and not a freewheel. My current freewheel has no cutouts.

Went on a ride today to boost my metabolism in preparation for Thanksgiving dinner. Had no problems except for some odd clanking that occurred only when pedaling but not consistently or in rhythm with my pedaling. Searching seems to indicate that the chain is hitting something. Remembering recently that I bent my chainguard inward to even it out, I bent it back out while keeping it even. We'll see if that fixes it.
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borobike

Sure! Actually, give me a minute, and I'll edit a few into this post...

Here we go:







Seat's not crooked, but the cover is. I'm thinking about putting the stock Denali seat back on, actually. I have two of them...







1200 miles.

It's interesting, I put the bike away because I thought it was dirty and in bad need of a service which I wanted to wait to do until I had the cassette removal tool. Looking at it now, my new old bike has a much dirtier drivetrain than the Denali. Then again, all the parts on the Denali are chromed or silver colored whereas the Sovereign has a black chain and freewheel, so maybe it's deceiving. Still, both are at worst equally dirty.

I think I might take it out for a good ride soon...if not tonight then tomorrow while the weather is still nice...
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Axiom

Awesome, it's looking good! And the decal should now say "Properly Shimano equipped." Do you have any experience painting bikes? I want to paint a bike that I own but I am not sure how much a quality paint job would cost.

sathor

umm..... is that poison ivy?

borobike

Thanks!

I have none, unfortunately. I was thinking about painting the other bike but then decided against it for cost and quality concerns. Prep work is really important, and my best guess as to what it would cost to repaint a frame and fork professionally along with having it sand blasted would be a few hundred dollars, but I really don't know.

Coming out of the tree? No, that's a poplar tree and it sprouts leaves and branches everywhere. Or maybe you mean all that green stuff in the background? That's just regular ivy, it grows up the side of the house in a few places.

It honestly wouldn't surprise me if I had parked the bike right in the middle of some poison ivy though, lol. I'm one of those random weird people who is immune to it and I don't even notice it most of the time. Other people can't touch some of my outdoors stuff for that reason.
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sathor

Ok, wasn't sure. (Yeah, I meant out of the tree, I knew better for the background ivy)

I also am not allergic.

ThermionicScott 

What's the difference between those two, besides color? I generally value range over gear closeness. /shrug

P.S. brooks brooks brooks brooooookkksss

nfmisso

They have the same ratios - I would purchase from Niagara because I have had good luck with them.

If you need the 28T for where you ride, go for it. My rides are very flat, the toughest challenge being an overpass, so on my World Tourist I have a Sunrace 13-25T 7 speed freewheel: 13-15-17-19-21-23-25; and I plan to eventually get a IRD FW772 13-14-15-17-19-21-24 which has better ratio spacing. On my Sierra Sport; I have DNP EPOCH HYPERFLO 7 Spd Cassette 13,14,15,17,19,21,23T - which I like a great deal. My Miyata will be getting a Sunrace 13-25T 7 speed freewheel: 13-15-17-19-21-23-25; as I have a second new one.

If I had any hills to tackle, I would go for the wider ratios, but on the level having close ratios around your cruising speed is really nice.

borobike

Ah, okay. For some reason I was thinking there was a difference between the T and the G suffix on the two.

For where I am, I really do need the 28 though...maybe even more but I suspect that would require a change in the derailleur. Even on the Denali, which is much lighter, feels like it needs something lower than the 26 cog it has. We've got hills that aspire to be mountains in places around here.

Thermionic: I really want a Brooks! It'll depend on how much funds I have around Christmas.

I went around on the Denali for a little bit last night, which helped me gain a little perspective on the differences between the two bikes.

I feel like the Denali is laid out more aggressively. It's much twitchier, and I felt like I was pushed further forward on it. Mostly in the pedal area, I felt like the pedals were more underneath me than on the Sovereign. I've got the two bikes side by side right now and looking at them this way confirms this. The Denali's seat tube is closer to vertical than the Sovereign's.

Sovereign definitely takes rough pavement more smoothly. Combination of the aluminum frame, straight forks, and skinny tires on the Denali make it rattle a bit over rough pavement.

Denali rides and accelerates much more quickly. I feel like the positioning helps with this as well as the lighter weight. It's very noticeable.

I've found that I wear out faster on the Sovereign than on the Denali. I really need to work on pacing myself. The bike weighs more and isn't laid out as aggressively and I need to remember that when trying to ride longer distances if I want it to be my long distance bike. I rode 50 miles on it a couple of weeks ago, yesterday I rode it 10 miles but without others to help pace me and I wore myself out because I couldn't keep myself from riding full throttle.

There are a few other things of course but that's the big differences. Still thinking about putting a stock Denali seat back on the Denali for now.
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nfmisso

Several options:

* IRD https://www.interlocracing.com/freewheelbreakdown.html has 6 speed freewheels with 32 and 34 tooth big cogs. Yes, you will likely need a new RD.

* Like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Shimano-Tourne...2265037&sr=1-1
remember on the Sovereign; you need a derailleur with a hanger, or purchase a seperate hanger and higher end RD.

* Megarange: https://www.amazon.com/Shimano-MF-TZ3...2264866&sr=1-2 I do NOT like the jump from the biggest to 2nd largest cog - murder on ones knees. Basically, they just replaced the 28T with a 34T cog. IRD has fairly evenly spaced ratios.

* Compact double crankset - I suggested this to you earlier, gives you 50-34 in front instead of 52-40 (or similar); reduces wieght, lowers the gearing, and then a IRD 13-24 works well. The 50/13 combination is taller (faster) than the 52/14 combination, and the 34/24 is fractionally lower than 40/28; and your present derailleur works. You should probably shorten the chain a few links. And if you need lower gearing, the IRD 13-28...

JusticeZero

That's why I loved them so much in Alaska. Don't think of a 6 speed Megarange as a 6 speed with an uneven gap from first to second. Think of it as a 5 speed with relatively tight gear ratios that you can convert into a super hill climbing beast on the fly.

borobike

Thanks guys, you've given me a lot to think about.

I think for now I'm gonna stick with the same basic gears out back...at least the same for the large cog (28T). I really want to keep things as original as possible, so as long as it keeps on rolling, I'd like to keep the Falcon parallelogram RD on.

If I do decide to change gearing, it'll probably be out front as nfmisso suggested with a compact double. This would eliminate two problems, the gearing as well as the cottered cranks, although with the new pins they have been extremely solid. But it's something I will have to deal with again I'm sure.

Then again, another option is to HTFU and get stronger. The more I ride the Sovereign, the easier it gets. Then I get on the Denali, which isn't all that light but feels like a feather in comparison and I just fly.

Next weekend I'm taking another mini bike tour, and I'll be taking the Sovereign. It's very well set up for long distance comfort and hauling stuff, even if it is a bit heavy! I don't think this weekend's tour will be as long as the last one, which was 50 miles. I hope to get some sizeable distance though. I haven't ridden my bike(s) nearly as much as I'd like lately due to weather and other conflicts!

As soon as I get a cassette removal tool, the Denali will be getting a full service on all bearings, and I'll report back how well they've held up. Of interest to Denali owners will be the original pedals, front wheel, and headset.

The Sovereign I'm just going to keep riding as is for a while. It only has 180 miles on it since I picked it up. 50 of which were that fantastic mini-bike tour which I'd love to repeat sometime. I don't think it would have been as much fun on the Denali due to the increased road vibrations. My butt hurt enough already.
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borobike

Hello, all!

It's been a while but there hasn't been much happening with the bikes. 1219 miles on the Denali, 318 miles on the Sovereign.

Wow, I've only put 18 miles on the Denali since the last update...but then I was waiting to overhaul it, plus it's not the winter bike, so...

Speaking of which, I completed the overhaul today. That consisted of stripping the bike down, cleaning the derailleurs, crankset, chain, and cassette (off the bike soaked in degreaser), removing, cleaning, and regreasing both wheel bearings and the headset. I found everything as expected, no issues. On a side note this is the first time I have inspected the headset on the Denali since new. Also wiped down the frame to get it all clean again, and inspected all other components not serviced.

Please excuse the mess in the following pictures. Junk tends to go everywhere while I'm working on bikes. BTW, empty beer boxes make great portable trash cans for paper towels and stuff.



Here's what I was looking at to start with. Several hundred miles of dirt that was waiting for the right moment to be removed. That was today!



Fork and headset removed. These are original parts. Other than a slight bit of surface rust up there near the top, everything was fine. Factory grease was thick and still in place, bearings were 100%. Cleaned and repacked.

Both wheel bearings (front still original) were the same, no problems. Cleaned and repacked.



Drivetrain post cleaning. I love a clean drivetrain!

With the dirt and grime removed, both front and rear derailleurs are as new again. No evidence of wear. Same can be said for the front chainrings and rear cassette.



Another pic, this time with the chain on. Chain also appears to be in good condition.



Flipped upside down for lubrication and shift checks. Interestingly, despite being completely disassembled and reassembled, everything still lined up and shifted perfectly. The signs of a good system!

Frame is holding up fine too, although there are a few chips from flying rocks and chain abrasions. It happens.

The Sovereign will get a similar service this summer when it's retired for the season.

The Sovereign is also riding well, although the Huret downtube shifters seem to be having trouble holding friction. I have tried some threadlocker to see if it works, we'll see how that holds up. So far so good.
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a1penguin

That looks like new again! Nice job. Do you perform all your bike maintenance on a carpet without any tarp?

borobike

Thanks! And nah, well the bike did start and finish on the carpet, but the dirty work was performed on the tile over paper towels. Unfortunately as a college student I have limited space to work with!

Oh, and I forgot to add another point of interest:

In 1200 miles I haven't touched the stock front Denali wheel other than to regrease the hubs. It's also been running on skinny high pressure tires for a few months now. So how true is the wheel? You tell me. (click picture for video)



Pretty good, I'd say. Good strong wheels.
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borobike

One more tiny update, this weekend has been rainy so instead of riding I've been working on bikes. Well, just the Denali. The Sovereign needs a little attention too, the second water bottle cage I added is loose because the screws keep backing out. Easy fix, just need to find larger metal screws.

But anyway, today I did some further weight reduction and re-arranging of equipment.

The love affair with the stock Denali seat continues. I have one on my Sovereign, and I took the spare I had in storage (from a friend's Denali) and put it on the Denali today. I honestly cannot find anything to complain about the seat, now that my butt is broken in and used to a real bike seat, which it wasn't to begin with. It's significantly lighter than the Serfas seat that was previously on there.

I also removed the kickstand with the intention of putting it on the Sovereign, which, being heavy, needs it much more than the Denali. The bolt size is slightly different so I'll need to address that issue, but it fits perfectly in place.

Also, I had a spare mount for the taillight on the Sovereign, so I put it on the Denali to save time switching taillights. Just move the light from one bike to the other now, instead of having to swap the batteries to a new light.

That's pretty much it. I did a weigh-in of the Denali today just to measure it's progress. Stock is 29 pounds I believe, and today's weigh in put the bike right at about 24 pounds. Not bad. There are plenty of other good sources of potential weight loss. I don't think it would be hard at all to get this bike under 20 pounds. Whether or not I'll actually do that is another question entirely.

Looking forward to my next ride.
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roashru

borobike, i changed my denali kickstand after the first heavy loading of it snapped at the stop. the stock one always made the bicycle stand at too much of an angle. heres the one i changed to if you want to try it. you cut it a 1/4 inch a time till you get what standing angle your looking for.

https://www.greenfieldny.com/ KS2-305
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borobike

I might try that, or one that will fit my Sovereign!

Time for another update.

1336 miles on the Denali and having a few problems! BUT...none are related to the original bike components.

You may remember I bought a new rear wheel when I had difficulty removing the stock freewheel...only to find out later that I could have removed it with a different tool. Oh well. In any event, it's spokes went way out of tension and started making noises. I retensioned and trued the wheel, all is well. The stock front wheel still has perfect spoke tension and is still true. It hasn't been touched since new.

My replacement Sora front derailleur, which I bought because the stock Denali one wouldn't work with my Dura Ace crankset, has snapped. So at the moment my Denali is disabled. After some careful shopping, it looks like my component mix is about to get a little bit weirder.

I found a brand new Campagnolo Veloce silver double front derailleur for twenty bucks. That's more than the $9 I paid for the Sora but I think it's also better quality. I'm not familiar with Campy or their prices, but they seem to be more or less equivalent to Shimano 105 or perhaps better? How did I do on the price, for those of you in the know?

But yes, Campy on a Denali. That ought to send some purists into fits. But I don't mind, my bike has been good to me and none of the original stuff has had problems.

My only complaint is that the gears could use improvement. They're a little too high for the hills around here. That may be why my front derailleur snapped...I shift between the inner and outer chainrings a LOT to get in my lowest gear for hill climbing.

So yeah, my Denali will soon be a mixture of Suntour, Shimano, Campagnolo, and Tektro components. All that's missing is SRAM. Maybe I could get a replacement SRAM cassette to fix my gearing concerns?
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himespau 

Sounds like the build I'm going to do (if I ever get around to building the wheels). I have the parts sitting around to put on Campagnolo Centaur 10 spd shifter/brake levers, Campagnolo Comp Triple FD, Shimano RSX (similar to Sora level) crankset, Shimano (no level listed) cup and cone BB, KMC chain, Microshift RD, Performance 8 speed cassette. I've been told it'll all play together beautifully once I get it put on, but first I need to build up my 26"x130 mm wheels with mavic mtb rims and shimano 105 hubs. I get sort of a perverse pleasure from seeing what all I can mix and match together.

borobike

Haha, I'm right there with you! The more perverse this bike gets, the more fun it is to ride. I was only halfway joking about a SRAM cassette, I think it might actually be my next mod, provided the tools are the same for removal. I'd like lower gears without sacrificing top speed.

Here's the finished product, for now:



I made sure to get the Dura-Ace cranks in there too, my score from last year that I paid about $30 for I think. I'm sure that seeing Campagnolo and Dura-Ace on a Denali will send someone into fits.

Honestly, as perverse as this bike is, I'm really enjoying it. I could buy a more expensive bike but I don't see the need for it just yet. I'm not saying that my bike or I could win the Tour de France anytime soon, but I have no trouble keeping up with the fastest riders of our local group on my Denali. The Sovereign is a little harder because of it's weight, but it makes up for it in smoothness. Speaking of which, it's holding up fine too. I'd like to get it a new wheelset and some improved gearing to make it a good long distance bike.

I used to think I wanted brifters, but the more time I spend with my friction bikes, the more I think I'll just stick with friction. It makes it super easy to mix and match good components when I find them at a good price and the end result performs really well. There's a pretty diverse mix of 9 and 7 speed components from a variety of different brands on the Denali that otherwise wouldn't work together. I've also noticed that on our group rides, my bike is the only one that never has shifting problems because of it's infinite adjustability!
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monsterpile

I picked up a dirt cheap Denali a few weeks ago on CL to try out for a while just for the heck of it. It needs a bit of work and it hasn't been a priority to get that done, but I look forward to trying it out in a few weeks.

borobike

Hopefully you'll enjoy it, but as I've mentioned before a change to the shifters makes it much more enjoyable.

Well, I got to enjoy a test ride with the Campy Veloce front derailleur. I hadn't planned on reporting anything, except the difference was just so remarkable that I had to.

I really had no idea that a bump up in quality could make so much of a difference in performance...especially on a freaky mixed friction system like mine. The two derailleurs pretty much look and feel the same...but the Veloce performs so much better.

I mean, the Sora always did fine until it broke. It shifted quickly, reliably, and accurately. I never had any complaints. But somehow the Veloce shifts even faster...like blink of an eye fast in either direction...and much more quietly. The Sora would make some chain rub noises for half a second before shifting, the Veloce just clicks into place instantly. As a result, everything just seems smoother overall.

This has me wondering how shifting might improve in the rear if I were to bump up to something better over the Sora rear derailleur. Again, I have no complaints, but I didn't have any for the front either. But, "if it ain't broke..." so...

Not sure what's next other than continuing to ride it. The weekly fast group rides should be starting again tomorrow so we'll see if I still think I need lower gears.
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tjspiel

It's funny. Today was my first ride on the road bike since November. I've been riding a bike with an IGH (Shimano Nexus Redband) in between then and now which I always felt shifted pretty well.

The instant shifts on the road bike were a joy though. Even with no adjustments since last Fall, it seemed to shift perfectly.

Mid range Campy and above (and newer DA) is really nice stuff. Imagine how good your shifting would be if you had any components that matched.

Front shifting on most Campy setups is a ratcheted rather than a true index shifting and you get a lot of adjustability to eliminate rub. Rear shifting is indexed and has a different feel than Shimano (which some people like and others don't) but works really well.

It took me awhile to get used to the mushier feel of the roller and mechanical disc brakes on the winter bike. Now I'm used to them and don't like the feel of the brakes on my road bike. Oh well.

Axiom

Boro, do you know how much it would cost to switch out the grip shifters and swap them for lever shifters?

borobike

No more than $10-$15 if you shop around. I found my stem shifters for $10 with the cables included. If you have to buy cables separately it's just another couple of bucks.

If you want to replace the grip tape to cover the bare bar where the grip shifters used to be, then that's another couple of bucks as well.
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