Snufkin

Hey all,

I'm posting this in the touring forum as the primary function I want my bike to fulfill is to allow me to tour/bikepack with it. Please let me know if there's a more suitable location for it.

I'll try to be concise. I have an aluminum frame 26" Giant Rainier (an old entry level mtb with a frame known to be solid for its spec) that I currently use for everything - mainly urban commuting several days a week, but also backpacking into national parks on sandy and rocky fire trails (hence why I need a mountain bike). I can't afford anything but "budget" bikes. My Rainier has been great - the upgraded fork makes every bump easier and with a frame bag, top tube bag and front and rear racks it has handled the load of my camping gear adequately.

The main weakness has been the gears. Despite repeated trips to my local mechanic, adjustments and replacements, it's still pretty crummy at shifting into the correct gear when I need it to, and staying there (deore 3x9 for what it's worth). For me at least, this is a very frustrating experience. So I want to eliminate that problem.

I've found that you can get a nice shiny 1x11 groupset for around $400 (AUD), and seeing as this could be transferred to another bike if I get one down the line, I've got it in my mind that this is my best bet.

At first, my thought was to spend ~$600 on a second hand Talon or the like. But the forks would be a downgrade and I'm not actually sure the groupset would be any better (but happy to be proven wrong).

My budget is extremely limited (young casual paying exorbitant rent). Something like $600 would be the absolute maximum, and this would be my Christmas present to myself.

Hoping for some advice/affirmation

Cheers!

pdlamb

"Worth" is subjective. So I don't know the answer to your real question -- how bad do you want it?

I'd start by asking your shop mechanic to check the derailer hanger adjustment. If that doesn't fix your problems, perhaps find another shop with a different mechanic.

If that doesn't work, it's possible that there's something wrong with your system. But people have been riding Deore without problems for years and many, many miles.

GamblerGORD53

A 1x is NOT a tour bike by any stretch of imagination. I have seen these with low 30s teeth on MUPs. They are using the highest gear on the flat. LOL. $400 is insane anyway.

cyccommute 

Learn how to do your own adjustments. When you say it won’t shift into a gear and stay there, I assume you are talking about the rear. Going to a 1x11 won’t fix anything if you can’t work out why the 9 speed rear isn’t shifting properly and staying in gear. 99.99% of shifting problems are cable problems. 0.009% is due to misaligned derailer hangers with the other 0.001% being other causes including extraterrestrial influences.

The cable has to be tight enough but not too tight. Shift into the highest gear (usually the lowest cable tension) and see how much slack the cable has. It should have a little bit of “twang” to it but not guitar string tight. You shouldn’t be able to pull the cable away for the frame without applying some force to it. If the cable is too loose, it will take a double shift to make the derailer move and the derailer may not hold the gear.

Next, shift to the lowest gear (highest tension) then upshift without pedaling. This will relax tension on the cable and allow you to pull the housing out of the frame stops. The series of pictures below illustrate what I mean

Library - 3391 by Stuart Black, on Flickr
Library - 3392 by Stuart Black, on Flickr
Library - 3393 by Stuart Black, on Flickr
Library - 3394 by Stuart Black, on Flickr
Library - 3395 by Stuart Black, on Flickr

Once you have the cable out of the stops, grease the inner cable under the housing and inspect the ends for any displace rods in the housing. You may need to pull off the caps but sometimes you see rods poking out like this

IMG_1361 by Stuart Black, on Flickr
IMG_1362 by Stuart Black, on Flickr

If the cable housing looks like this, replace it.

You should also check the derailer hanger. The hanger should be straight so that the cogs on the cassette and the jockey wheels are in a straight line. You can just stand behind the bike and see if the jockey wheels line up. If they don’t, the hanger needs to be aligned.

And, finally, after you’ve checked for extraterrestrial influence, look at the limit screws. Hint: shifting problems are never ever limit screw problems. In fact, I’d say that extraterrestrial influence...both aliens and the astrological... is more likely to cause shifting problems than the limit screws. Put down that screw driver!

robow

Get a new mechanic or better yet, learn to make the repairs yourself. This would likely be your cheapest and imo, your best option.
No, I would not want a 1 chainring system for touring, for most riders, not enough of a gear range and/or further compromised by too large of steps in between.

saddlesores

what sort of replacements?
how old are the cables and housing?
are they quality, or cheapo generic stuff?

phughes

Sounds like a bad mechanic. I have a 1984 Ross Mt. Rainier and would use it for touring any day, with its 3x6. I would not want to downgrade it to a 1x9, or any other 1x, at least not for touring. I even swapped out the original rear XT derailleur for a cheap $12 derailleur one day while away from home, as a quick fix, intending to get something better when I got home. That was sometime around 2008, and I am still using it.

I sometimes think of converting my Long Haul Trucker to a 1x, then I come back to my senses after reliving past tours in my head.

mtnbud

If you want to save money and simplify things, consider replacing your shifters with some quality vintage friction thumbshifters. (Some index thumbshifters also have the ability to switch to friction mode.)

They are super simple and are easy to adjust. They're also very easy to work on. Make sure the shifters can handle the spacing on your rear cassttte. (Most 8 speed friction thumbshifters will handle a 9 speed cassette.) You will have to replace your brake handles if you have the integrated type.

{Did your mechanic make sure your chain hasn't stretched too much? When your chain has stretched enough, it will slip on the cogs. Additionally, the teeth on you cogs may have worn to the point of needing replacement especially if you let your chain go too long...}

Tourist in MSN

What is the shifting problem, front or rear or both?

If it is the front, try a friction shifer.

Several years ago I had some problems shifting and found that I had a lot of dust that had gotten inside my shifter cable housing. I do not recall if I managed to clean it out or if I replaced the cable housing, but that fixed that problem.

I have three bikes with a 3X8 drivetrain, there is no way you could talk me into a 1X system for touring, in touring you need a very wide range of gears. A 1X system does not have that wide a range.

All of my 3X8 bikes have a friction front shifter.

And the 1X11 components that will need replacement later cost a LOT of money when you wear them out. Your 3X9 system is much better for touring.

tyrion

3x9 Deore is a very solid drive train. I don't know why you're having troubles with it, but if you can get it working correctly, I think it's a much better system for touring and commuting than 1x11. Make sure you can live with the reduced gear range before you switch to 1x11.

djb

there is no reason why after checking the forementioned things, and replacing the housings and cables on your own, that things shouldnt be working perfectly.
and no reason to upgrade to a new 1x system, but you will have to learn some mechanic skills to do this on your own, and to buy some tools.
If you never clean your bike, the rd could be all gummed up, totally classic. Trigger shifters could also do with a spraying of internals to degunk.

you're not talking about a million year old 6 spd bike, this is 9 spd and you should be able to get this working properly--or a diff mechanic. But save the bucks and learn how to do it on your own is my suggestion.
Or dont, up to you.
It aint rocket science though.

Snufkin

Thanks for the feedback all! My idea of getting a new groupset has been ditched as it definitely doesn't sound like it's worth it - now to work on fixing my current one up.

Indigo82

That's a lot of money to be spent to upgrade an old bike. I wouldn't do it because if you want to tour with it you would need even more money for other things, but let's talk about it leater. I'm just like you and I'm on the budget. I just finished 216 kilometers in a day. I ride bike from 1994. My first serious bike when I was just 12, but this bike had been made into real touring machine with numerous modifications and tweaks. I like it's geometry and it really suits me. Although I have a modern mountain bike with 3x9 gears, I tour on my old steel bike. I upgraded bike over the years but I kept it original philosophy. It was 3x6 and I upgraded to 3x7. Front triple was changed to lower teeth count crankset 42-32-22 and the freewheel was changed to 7-speed megarange 14-34. I have very low gear inches for climbing hills 16.8 and somewhat low high gear of 78 gear inches, but I never go fast in touring because I am loaded. It all cost me little money and it doesn't stop me to tour. I can fix and adjust everything on my bike. I use thumb shifters. They work great and are super reliable when adjusted properly. When touring you don't need shifters and groupset for racers. People toured in the old days too. All the novelty in bike world these days is unfortunately very expensive and it defeats the essentials of cycling. You would need good rack and system how to carry your stuff, a good lights (I used dynamo hub. I cycled 55km last night in pitch darkness offroad and it worked great.), and some other little things here and there. So instead of spending lot of money, try to optimize the bike equipment and part according to your real needs. Pay attention to your seat and handlebar, they are very important for long hours on the bike. Good luck.