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Advice needed from road cyclists

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Advice needed from road cyclists

Old 08-14-20, 11:32 PM
  #1  
d.bartley
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Advice needed from road cyclists

Hey everyone,

Quick background. I used to do quite a bit of cycling in my late teens in 1990. I owned a Concorde road bike with a Columbus Matrix frame and all Shimano 105 parts. Great bike for me although my neck killed after riding long distances. Anyway, I got rid of it but now I've got a son who, when he was 15 wanted a road bike. Still growing, I thought a beginner road bike would be best so I found a 50% off deal on a ....hum hum....................CCM road bike for $250. I rode it and surprisingly, despite the fact that it wasn't a real road bike, it was nice to ride.
Here's a photo.

My son plans on buying a much better bike in the next year as he's now 16 and has completed his first triathlon. I might use this bike but was wondering if I could upgrade anything in the meantime to get more out of this bike?
The freewheel is a Shimano mf-tz21. I tried to upload a photo but the forum didn't allow me as I am a new user here. If you are curious, please google "CCM 700c road bike" and click images. You'll find an orange and black road bike. That's mine.
This is a very old style freewheel with 7 speeds. Is it possible to get old lighter rims with a better quality freewheel?
How is it that a bike of this low quality compares pretty well to my old 1990 Columbus frame/ 105 bike? Do I have a poor memory or have bikes improved so much that even junk ones like this are better than decent 1990 road bikes?
I'd like to swap the wheels as they are really heavy. Will it be difficult to find replacement wheels for this bike from a light alloy material?

Any thoughts are appreciated!

thanks


CCM road bike
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Old 08-16-20, 02:50 PM
  #2  
Oso Polar
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Don't waste your money on upgrading this bike - it is a dead end.
If you'll need to ride this bike for quite some time (it is quite difficult to get decent new bikes right now) then I'd look into getting new tires (it is a safe bet that stock tires are pretty bad), also, potentially, saddle and pedals - if you don't like the current ones. All of these affect ride quality and comfort a lot and can be easily transferred to another road bike in the future (well, not to any bike, but to many of them). About poor memory and improved technology - probably both.
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Old 08-16-20, 02:57 PM
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Unless you have a very special frame upgrading components is generally a big waste of money. Replacing broken things or wear items is a different story but at some point that is a big waste of money too.
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Old 08-16-20, 06:15 PM
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ok so if you want to change the bike parts to say get more gear range , you could easily switch to a 9 or 10 speed , and that would allow you more options on different types of terrain , you could also up grade the wheels , and things like wheels are usually universal so those wheels should be able to be used on your sons new bike and any bike you buy , that saves time and money in case you need a wheel set , so i would start with wheels and tires , but if you are running a free wheel i would just get a 9 speed drive train at least , you could even get the parts dirt cheap from a recycle bike place in your local area

thats about all you really need to change drive train and wheels , if you get a nice set of brakes those can always come off the bike onto the new frame if you switch frames , over all id try to match the sons new bike wich will most likely be and 11 speed shimano or sram , maybe campy if he is feeling dangerous , then you can swap parts in case something breaks or something like that
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Old 08-16-20, 10:59 PM
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CliffordK
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@d.bartley's Album:

https://www.bikeforums.net/g/user/524784
https://www.bikeforums.net/g/album/18833992

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f645d76042.jpg

Man, I didn't realize bicycles were required to do police lineups. What did that poor bicycle possibly do?




https://www.policeauctionscanada.com...d-Bike-139981D

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Old 08-16-20, 11:20 PM
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CliffordK
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It is always complex to critique a bike that one uploads that isn't actually one's bike. There could be subtle issues with the bike that may be on your bike, or with the bike you took the photo of.

For example the seat in that bike may have been swapped at some point. Or maybe it is just worn.

If you have the bike setup for yourself to ride, one can also look at fit, as well as get an estimate if the setup is correct.

It does look like most of the photos I'm seeing online are pretty "stock" without a lot of different options. One size fits all?
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Old 08-16-20, 11:26 PM
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Actually .... if he has a freewheel, not a freehub, there might be spacing issues if he tried to move up to more gears and a freehub. Also, he would need to buy not just a rear wheel, but a new rear shifter. Even using Microshift or whatever, now we are talking a few hundred dollars in parts for a bike which probably cost a few hundred dollars. ($3889 is about the average I have seen online.)

CCM Presto 700C Road Bike https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/c...?rrec=true#spc

22.5" aluminum frame---700C tires---21-speed Shimano Revo grip shifters---Shimano derailleurs---Alloy calliper brakes---Alloy rims and stem

Ride it and enjoy it but do not spend a penny on it besides maintenance. This bike cannot really be upgraded. I mean, you can buy a wrecked Ford Pinto from a junkyard and buy a big motor and new suspension and a new interior, wheels and tires, new electronics ..... and you would be left with expensive trash. Just like a $600 car, you put gas in it and drive it to work and save for a new one.

Nothing inherently Wrong with the bike, but all its components are the cheapest and weakest---except for the ones which are the cheapest and heaviest. The freewheel is an outmoded design, but replacing it wouldn't be worth the cost. Save the money and shop around for a better bike.

The deal is, a $300 bike can work okay if you don't use it hard or depend on it much. A $600-$800 bike can do everything a lot better for the rest of your life. There was a guy on this site a few years back who put thousdands of miles on a Decent entry-level bike--A Dawes Lightning from Bikes Direct, $500 at the time. I rode thousands of miles on a similar bike.

When I started cycling as an adult I was broke, so I collected junk bikes and fixed them and rode them. I cannot tell you how many times I have been let down by cheap parts, or how many bikes/wheels/bottom brackets/cranksets/et cetera I went through before i finally saved up enough for a real bike. Once I got a real bike, I was shocked to find that real bike parts keep working for years, not weeks

I have ridden thousands of miles on junk bikes, and mostly enjoyed them. You can do the same. But if you plan to ride with vigor and enthusiasm, treat yourself to a decent bike.
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Old 08-16-20, 11:41 PM
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Ok, we don't have a lot of info about your old bike. How well did it fit? Over the years, there has been a lot of trickle-down technology that might have been exceptional in the 70's, 80's, and 90's, but is just normal today.

Your new bike appears to have an aluminum frame, albeit likely a heavy aluminum frame. But, perhaps comparable to some vintage frames.

Most of the new bikes are really designed to ride on the brake hoods most of the time, and while there are a range of brake levers available, most do a pretty decent job at stopping the bike. I see your bike comes equipped with some version of dual pivot brakes. I haven't used that model, but it likely could stop the bike well.

Hyperglide was introduced to cassettes to help with shifting, including synchronized cogs, as well as shift gates. And, that technology has been incorporated in almost all modern cassettes, freewheels, and even cranksets/chainrings.

I agree with others. You can spend a lot of money going overboard on upgrades. And, still end up with a little fancier cheap bike.

I would be tempted to get some narrow lightweight vintage wheels like you mention. Along with some quality tires. Keep in mind that many vintage "freewheel" wheels were designed for 126mm dropout spacing, and you likely have 130mm dropout spacing. You can fix that, but I wouldn't just cram in undersized wheels.

You can also go with a cassette, and either use a 7 speed cassette, or upgrade the shifters too. Brake Lever shifters (Brifters?)

Say, if your son buys a $1000 to $2000 bike, try it out. But beware, It can be addictive.
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Old 08-17-20, 03:52 AM
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Since you said "I rode it and surprisingly, despite the fact that it wasn't a real road bike, it was nice to ride," my recommendation would be to just ride it with the heavier wheels to get back in shape and learn what you don't like about it for the type of riding you actually end up doing/enjoying now. Don't ride your son's new bike until you've done that for a while! That would be kind of like falling for the car salesman's trick of having you test drive the fully loaded luxury model when you came in to buy the low end model - of course, it will feel better but do you really need the high end stuff?

Give it a season, as you decide you want to go faster or longer or both or whatever, you can keep your eye out for what your next bike should be as the supply chain starts to get going again.

I rode a low end Schwinn 10 speed for many years, decided touring was what I wanted to do - added a Trek 520. After 20 years of that I realized I was now mostly doing day rides and exercise and wanted to go faster vs. carry heavy loads further. First I lost weight, then I bought a lighter carbon bike, what I call my mid-life crisis bike... Gave that 1979 Schwinn to my brother-in-law who just wants to ride around his neighborhood and he is still having fun with it.
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Old 08-20-20, 01:05 PM
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If the bike is a PRESTO I wouldn't try upgrading it. The frame is very and I do mean VERY heavy for an aluminium alloy frame. The rims are pretty heavy to as are the hubs. The handlebar is a THREE PIECES assemble so that the twist-grip shifters can be fitted onto it.

If I had access to a bicycle co-op I MIGHT consider getting a one-piece alloy handlebar and combination brake levers/shift levers if I could get them to match however number of cogs the freewheel has - most likely 7 cogs. Other than that, I'd save up and buy a better bike later.

Cheers
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