chrishooper78

Hi guys,

I am a casual bike tourer/bike packer on a limited budget. I took my Trek 7.2 FX commuter and fitted panniers and racks and have been using it for touring fair distances (circa 40-50 miles per day). However, I have been struggling to keep going on some of those Welsh hills near where I live (Shrewsbury, UK), and am planning a couple of upgrades:

1. Existing rear 32 cog (max) cassette and derailler to Trek 520 equivalent gear (HG200, 11-36, 9-speed + Shimano Alivio M4000, long cage, 36T max cog) - looking for more traction on hills, but can the rear setup be mixed with the existing crank/front derailleur without issue?
2. New bars - have considered a number of options but with UK availability/price will probably go for butterflys or hornbars with a nice amount of curl-over (e.g. Humpert Hornbar).

I did consider a complete replacement to Trek 520, but I am currently working on some debts and my attitude to purchases is cash only.

Any advice on the above, plus any other suggestions for cheap/effective upgrades gratefully received.

zweitesmal2

I've toured on a Trek FX 7.1 and it was a good time, but both wheel rims failed on me (front at 3500mi point and rear at 7500mi). I also upgraded my crank to a Shimano 105 52/36, which ended up being the perfect size for the job. Otherwise I found the aluminum FX to be a wonderful fit.

IPassGas

I have a trek 2012 fx7.3 that I use for commuting. The bontragger wheels are crap, spokes breaking after a few years (i kept it true and tensioned). I don't know your weight and amount of load, but if I were using it for longer touring I would replace rear wheel with 36 spokes and decent rim, sjscycles likely has something. My 7.3 is 8 speed with 28 front, so if same as yours, the revised 21 gear inch is a tad high. You need to check if front 8 speed chainring will work with 9 speed chain.

fietsbob

Maybe get midrange Shimano hub wheels.. 36 spoke .. heavy duty rims..

chrishooper78

After a fair bit of research, I've decided to go with an 8 speed Sunrace 11-40T cassette with derailleur extender, so that I can keep basically everything else on the bike (hopefully!!). That will give me 19 gear inch, which is a lot better than the current 27, assuming it all works okay.

Hear what you (and others) are saying about the wheels...not a priority for me atm., but definitely something to think about in future.

rifraf

27 inches?
Wow my knees are aching just reading that. I'll stick to my 15 for loaded hill work, but kudos to you.
If it works ok, I suspect you'll be immeasurably happier with the new cassette/derailleur combo upgrade.
Look forward to hearing how you get on with the conversion.

chrishooper78

Possibly the reason why I ended up pushing my bike up some of the hills on a recent trip across Snowdonia....I'm hoping with 19 I can stay in the saddle a bit longer.

speyfitter

Is this an 8 speed drivetrain? If so your quickest bang for your buck would be to swap out the front crankset, assuming it's a front triple (and bottom bracket if it's not a square taper currently) to a square taper 42/32/22 8 speed front triple crankset. If you have an 11-32 rear cassette in the back then the 22 smallest/inner chain ring (of a 42/32/22) and 32 largest rear cassette cog will work very well on hills. If you want a little bit more you can find a Shimano Claris or older Sora 11-34 8 speed cassette (non-mega range) which has a 28 to 34 tooth jump for the easier gears (the mega range version of 11-34 is a 26 to 34 tooth jump which sucks for cadence and is a bit more clunky). I have a 42/32/22 8 speed front triple with an 11-34 8 speed rear cassette on my 99 Trek 520 I rebuilt earlier this year and I'm very happy with the gear range overall and the low gearing is nice and low.

If you were doing a 9 speed I'd opt for either a front triple 44/32/22 with an 11-34 or 11-36 rear cassette or if you want a front double shimano has a newer 36/22 double crank out which would work well for loaded touring. The 36-11 would likely be fine for your top/hardest gear loaded and the 22/34 or 36 low gear would work well for hill climbing loaded.

chrishooper78

This is the way (19 gear inches). Will I need to split/shorten the chain?

chrishooper78

*UPDATE*

So I took speyfitter's advice and went for a Shimano FC-M311 Altus 42/32/22 crank (8 speed) , with no other changes to the drivetrain. A noticeable improvement in climbing (24 -> 19 gear inches), though haven't tried it loaded yet. I suspect I will want a bit more so might do the rear cassette etc. at some point.

Removing the old crankset took some doing, with a few orders off Amazon, as it gradually dawned on me that I needed a torque wrench, 8 mm hex socket and crank removal tool. Several adjustments to the front derailleur also required, but found help on youtube ("How to adjust a fron derailleur " - Park Tool).

Also fitted a set of trekking bars which are working out quite well. Gears/levers are a tad difficult to reach on the bottom bar, but otherwise i'm happy.

Got the bike packed up and ready to go this eve. Would share some photos except i'm not allowed yet! (also links)

headwind15

I do not know where you are on pedal systems. Some tourists like/ some dislike pedal shoe systems. I am of the type where after using a cleated system for over forty years, I have no idea how a tourist could go back to street shoes after using a cleated shoe.

chrishooper78

I'm a cleats man, despite breaking my collarbone five or so years back (don't mount a kerb in the pouring rain with slick tyres on). I like not having to worry about / maintain foot position.

crankholio

I've been riding a Trek 7.5 FX as a touring bike for several years. Some of the changes I made include drop bars, bar end shifters, a 48/34 compact crank, and a cassette that goes up to 34T. Perhaps I've never had a good triple setup, but I always found them clunky when shifting, so I've stuck to compact cranks, and I'm getting to the point where I could just lose the large ring all together and go with a single. My low gear is 27GI as well, and it's been alright, but I could use a little lower. The FX has been a great bike, but I'm getting ready to retire it and go with something more tailored to touring.

If you plan on using the FX for a while, I highly recommend a compact crank and some comfortable bars that will take bar end shifters. Having friction shift on the front with only two chainrings solved every front shifting issue I ever had. Or a single on the front would probably work just as well if you don't care about really high gears.

cyccommute 

You are on the right track. I use a derailer extender and it works fairly well. Do be aware that the extender is a little delicate and can break fairly easily. Your low gear isn’t 27”, however. It’s 23”. If you changed your crank to a 44/34/22 with your current cassette, you would end up with a 19” gear. A really good square taper mountain crank should be relatively cheap on Fleabay. This is what the gearing would look like compared to your current gearing. If you did both the crank and the 11-40 cassette, you could get down to a 15” gear

The rest of the bike is probably good, although the wheels may be a weak link.

chrishooper78

Bimey two months since I last posted....time flies when you're busy as **** at work.

Done both the butterfly bars and 42/32/22 crankset, and delighted with both. Here's a few shots of the new parts fitted and some action shots in the wild:

speyfitter

I’m so happy to hear you took the gearing advice I offered and it worked out well for you. I have the exact 42-32-22 Shimano triple crank with bashguard on my 520 build that you picked up and I couldn’t be happier mated to the 11-34 in the back. The majority of my riding is in the 32 front crank gear but I definately spend time in the 42 and 22 both loaded and unloaded which tells me I made the right choice.