3800Chris

Hello, I want to say thanks first because when I started I had LOTS of questions, but after perusing these forums for a while I have learned quite a bit. I am mechanically inclined and do a lot of work to my car, but this is my first venture into bicycles.

My bike is from around 1995 and says it is a Specialized Hardrock. It seems to have gripshift gear selectors, and the cassette is a 7 speed 11-28 if I counted right. I have linked pictures of the bike and the cassette at the bottom of this post.

I have tried some offroad riding on this bike in the time I have owned it, and I enjoy doing that from time to time. Lately I have been riding more, and I would like to tune my bike up and use it for riding paved trails in Philadelphia, though sometimes I will still want to go offroad.

Now for my questions:
Can I use different shifters without issue, including switching from index to friction shifting? i.e. gripshift to shimano revo
Any recommendation on which to use? (I think I like the feel of index)

I also have to replace a shifter on another bike. It looks like the same gripshift I have. Do I just find a gripshift index shifter and swap it out, or are there different types?

I may want to buy some better looking pedals, what size threads do I need(I found multiple options when searching)?

I need to overhaul my wheel bearings. What size wheel bearings on my front and rear wheels? 3/16" and 1/4"?

What tools will I need to swap bearings? What size cone wrenches, cassette lockring remover, wrenches, chain whip, etc.

Should I bother to true my wheels myself, or should I have a shop do it? I would use the "on-bike brake pad method"

Should I replace my cassette and chain? It looks a little worn to me, but not bad, though a shop told me it needed replacement. If the parts aren't too expensive I want to just do it. And do I just look up the same cassette I have on there? Is it a shimano? Any specific chain I should be looking at?

Should I replace the crank gears? If so, which should I buy?

Can/should I replace the bearings in my bottom bracket(where the crank is)?

I think I may also want to buy new wheels. What kind of new wheels should I use? I could keep my old worn our wheels(tread in middle is worn low) and buy some smooth road wheels(since I am riding paved trails a lot). Or just buy a new set of offroad wheels, and just run them on the street too?
If I buy a set of smooth wheels, I will switch back to my used wheels for use offroad, which is why I am thinking of just buying offroad wheels, but if road wheels will feel much better then I may want them instead.

And which wheels would you recommend?

I am not sure if my rear derailleur is bent. I didn't think much of laying my bike down when I was young, and there are some minor shifting and alignment issues. However I feel these may just be from how filthy and un-tuned my bike is, so should I try to clean and tune(thanks to the video tutorials) both derailleurs first, or is there some way to check my derailleurs for obvious damage?

Thanks for all the help!

HillRider

I'll answer some of these questions. My comments are in bold under the particular topic.

dabac

Kinda-sorta. You need to match number of speeds (unless friction), there are different actuation ratios available, and "road" parts take another bar diameter than "MTB" parts.

You've got a bit of confusion going on there. Gripshift and revoshift are both indexed shifters, they switch between defined positions (well, there's a really low-end gripshift unit which is more of a ratchet unit)
Friction shifters act like a door with badly rusted hinges, they'll stay at whatever angle you put them, with no preference of their own.
AFAIK friction shifters are only available in a lever design.
I can't see the point of replacing one with the other, unless what you have is broken. Grip/Revo to trigger shifters OTOH, there's a change.

Maybe Grip has a slightly smaller diameter "barrel" than Revo.

I really like Grip on my winter commuter, they're compatible with mittens. I'd probably be quite content with Revo as well. But as long as I can ride bare-handed or with thinner gloves I prefer trigger shifters. Can't see myself going back to friction for the kind of riding I do now. But for someone with a more predictable ride friction can certainly work well too.

Yes, there are different types. Numbers of speed can certainly change, some are meant for internally geared hubs, and I don't really know what SRAM is up to with regards to actuation ratios.

Wheel trueing is one of those things that are really binary, done well or done fast? And there's really no set value for where "good" begins and "bad" ends. If you're reasonably patient, try it yourself.

Chains and cassettes wear together. When you're starting from scratch you can usually get several chains worth out of one cassette - assuming you swap out the chain in time. If you don't know the history, the new chain might not play nice with the old cassette, so you may as well ride 'em into the ground and replace both when the chain begin to skip.

Judging cassette wear is difficult. There are all kinds of contours, shifting ramps and such that messes with the visual impression. It's a bit more trustworthy to wrap a chain around and see if there's a gap.

Well, are you happy with what you have now or not? You may be able to replace it with one with tighter spacing or a wider range if you wish.

I like KMC. As far as I can judge, they're inexpensive, and I can't notice any difference in performance.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

If you're doing it for the sheer fun of it, get whatever that tickles your fancy. You may have to replace the BB as well. Don't expect to notice much of a difference though.

You probably have a cartridge BB. These are usually not serviced, but replaced in one piece when required. Unless yours is obviously damaged/worn (play, uneven action) there's very little improvement to be had from a replacement.

Are you talking about wheels here, or are you actually talking about getting a new set of tires?

Having two sets of wheels with different tires on them can be quite handy if you ride seriously different surfaces. Otherwise there's really not much call for those very knobbly off-road tires. You need a lot of soft mud before they become useful. A tire with fairly low knobs will do OK on both roads and firm trails. Continental Speed King comes to mind.
Road slicks are nice on roads, and not horrible on firm trails either. They're hopeless on sand/mud, and as they're usually narrower more prone for snakebite flats. 1.25 is certainly narrow enough for me.

Don't think I've ever seen any dedicated "road" wheels in 26". There's no stopping you from getting a pair with a lower spoke count (and narower rim)to use as road wheels though.

Get bike into a gear that has the derailer pointing straight down. Stand bike upright. Try to get frame as vertical as possible. Hunker down behind bike, eyeball derailer alignment. If it looks vertical it's probably OK.

Front derailer is so well tucked in that it rarely sees any handling damage.

Clean and tune, put some new cables in. The skill will come in useful eventually anyhow.

3800Chris

Thank you both so much. You answered all my questions and more. And sorry, I did mean tires not wheels, I always confuse the two. But I like the extra info about wheels, it gives me a bit to think about.

These forums are great! So much better than the car-model specific forums I am used to browsing(my big hobby is car modding).