billas

Quick question? I did a search but could not find the answer. I have a 4-5 year old Giant FD806 that I bought for my daughter and used it to teach her how to bike. Now that she has learned I want to start upgrading the components. Can a 6-speed rear free-hub accommodate at least a 9- speed cassette? or even maybe and 11-speed?Do I need to change the chainwheel as well because of the required narrower chain? Can you post your setups here with pics and details? Needing some ideas. I would like to get some mid to top line Shimano/Sram components on it.
I do have a couple OG MTB's that I upgraded but have absolutely no clue about the folders. Thanks.

Russ Roth

You need a whole rear wheel, new cassette and shifter. Going 11 speed you may have trouble with the chain riding on the chainring depending on how wide the chainring is. But you have no front shifting to worry about so it's easy. I would suspect you want to stay 10sp if the rear end measures 130 for best wheel strength. But 6sp is a screw on freewheel while 8,9,&10 are cassettes in which the mechanism is built into the hub. All three speeds use the same hub while the best you might do is a 7sp freewheel with the current hub.

linberl

Yup, +1. Freewheel limitation. I think the cost of upgrading exceeds the value of that bike. You're look at a new rear wheel, cassette, chain, rear der, shifters, cabling. Maybe sell it and buy a new bike with the specs you want or a used bike with a free hub and quality frame to upgrade. Just my opinion. There is nothing different about upgrading this folding bike compared to any other bike. It's a bike that just happens to fold. Unlike a Brompton, nothing is super proprietary.

Russ Roth

I don't fully agree with linberl if you can do the work and you've said you've done upgrades before. The rear wheel is going to be annoying to find but a shop that specializes in these should be able to get you a basic rear wheel for around a hundred. From there a 9 speed chain, cassette, shifter and rear derailleur will set you back another hundred, maybe less. Alivio components are sturdy and reliable and about as nice as you need for a bike like this. You can go with sram cassette which I think are nicer than Shimano at the lower end and a kmc chain will set you back another 15.00

Jipe

11s is possible on a standard 9-10s hub with Shimano XT M8000 components.

And for road 11s, the difference in size of the cassette is very small and won't cause problems with a 130mm spacing (all 11s road bikes with rim brakes have a 130mm spacing).

Now about the choice between upgrading the existing bike or buying a new bike with 11s, actually there are very few folding bikes with 11s and they are high end = expensive.

billas

Might be a far fetched goal but I weighed the bike and it tipped the scale at just over 31lbs.I would like to bring that down to about 25lbs. Not sure if this is possible. Most of the components are IMO heavy alloy and some are steel (bottom bracket, chainring, RD, etc. I would still like to keep the fenders and the rack.Now that I got some opinions, I would probably try to go with a 9-speed. Am I able to use current 11-speed RD's?

linberl

This is what the OP said he wants, though..."mid to top line Shimano/Sram components on it.". Alivio is pretty far down the line. 105 is solid mid-range and Dura Ace tops. This bike imo isn't worthy of either of those upgrades, but that's just my opinion.

Russ Roth

Actually looking at the components groups Alivio should be mid-range, there are tourney, altus, and acera below it and above is Deore, LX, XT and XTR, if you consider 3 below and 3 above then Alivio and Deore are your mid-range lines in MTB and is a fairly reliable and under appreciated group. If you want nicer still a quick shop of universal cycles produces
KMC X10 chain
XT m786 rear der
HG81 SLX 10sp cassette 11-36
M6000 right shifter
total 144.00 plus a 100.00 wheel would be less then 250 for a nice upgrade that should work with the crank. If I was bored and searched enough sites and ebay I'm betting I could trim that down another 20.00 and 10speed would be an easy fit on there.

OP; getting it down to 25lb will not be easy, cassettes are lighter than freewheels but cassette hubs are heavier then FW hubs, you'll save some weight with the parts like I listed but not a lot. The frame, fork, seatpost and stem really account for a lot of weight you can do nothing about and those aren't light parts. The fenders, rack and kickstand don't help. Your crank is heavy but for this style bike it is a nice design and a better BB like a UN55 might only save 1/4lb from my experience, you have to go a lot more expensive to save some weight there. You'll be another 200+ in the hole to switch to a lighter crank with chainguard that saves you anything and at that point it does start to get pricy.

linberl

Ha ha, I don't even count Tourney or Altus. Those are big box bike components. Ymmv.

Russ Roth

Unfortunately both tourney and altus appear at the bike shop, just check out entry level trek, giant, spec, etc. Shimano still makes worse then that for the cheap stuff at wally world.

linberl

That's really sad. So people who probably has the least ability to keep a bike shifting properly get the crappiest shifters that are constantly going out. I haven't ridden anything with less than Alivio since i was a kid. Big fan of 105; that's what I have on my bike. Bit heavier than the super high end stuff but just as accurate.

billas

So I was thinking more in the lines of maybe an XT groupset. Worst case scenario maybe Deore? I would definitely want a better bike but unfortunately no one sells anything better here. So does MTB chainrings work with our bikes?