rtciv

My touring (and mostly commuting, in reality) bike is out of action (no chain, no front derailleur, many broken spokes, no working brakes) and in need of major surgery. I would like to take the opportunity to modernise two main areas:

> brakes - I'm sick of the fiddly and strenuous adjustment of the ones I'm using now
> wheels - I would like to move to 700c so that I can buy wheels whose spokes don't start snapping after 100mi

Pricing up the most basic parts for a near-complete overhaul:

> crankset/chainwheels (moving down from 42/52 - not that young any more)
> front derailleur
> chain
> wheels (changing to 700C)
> cassette
> brakes (and maybe new levers if my existing ones won't do??)

brings me easily to the cost of new budget tourers such as the Flat White. Second hand "better" tourers are of course occasionally available but it can be months or years until one pops up locally, and most for sale need a lot of work anyway so it doesn't help much.

Things that are ok on my current bike:

> frame (some Emelle thing, nothing special but it fits me)
> saddle and seatpost
> pedals
> BB
> tyres for a while
> shifters (DT, which I much, much prefer to other options)
> hopefully the handlebars and brake levers


Questions:
> Am I right in thinking that no new tourers are produced with DT shifters? Will the frames at least be able to accept them if I put them on?

> How can I determine whether my current brake levers will work with whatever type of modern brakes? I am thinking cantilever, probably.

djb

methinks you should keep a keen eye out on the used bike market, you'll be able to find a newish bike or one is great shape for less than the money spent on giving your bike a new life, and no messing around finding parts etc etc.
There are lots of good used bikes out there, you just have to really look all the time and know what you are looking at to grab one when it appears.

thats my 2 cents.

rtciv

Yea, I think I'd know what's good when I saw it but it does take a lot of waiting, doesn't it. Especially for my requirements of 60cm+ frame, ideally 61 or 62 really - not many around.

andrewclaus

I hope you were exaggerating about breaking spokes after 100 miles. That's one very poorly built or extremely overloaded wheel.

Everything is inter-related when it comes to components. A very effective rim brake is the linear brake, but you need the correct brake lever and that doesn't work on drop bars (unless you get a special brake that's not as effective). So your choice of brakes may depend on your bars, for instance.

And brake choice depends on frame and fork mounting options, wheel size, tire size, etc. If you have caliper brakes now, you probably can't switch anything.

Photos of your old bike would help in a yea/nay decision.

What's your current wheel size?

jefnvk

What do you have now? Are you comparing same level of components on both? I'd guess what you are getting on a new sub-$500 lugged steel touring bike is probably many levels lower than what you are specing out for your rebuild. The fact the Flat White doesn't even list specifications for what is on it and is only a 2x7 screams low end parts.

saddlesores

what wheels do you have now? rims/spokes/hubs? what size?

you have 27" wheels now.....it's prolly the wheelbuild that's causing the breakage,
rather than the size.

will 700C fit in your frame? slightly different rim dimensions may
not work well with your current brakes.

Mr IGH

If you're interested in riding now and not screwing around waiting for the proverbial needle-in-a-haystack, why not go new if you have the cash? And yes, you can put downtube shifters on new bikes that have the proper studs on the downtube (Surly is one brand). Also, lower-cost bikes may not have the proper stud on the DT, there's also the option of a bolt on bracket.

Once you have a new bike with bar-cons or brifters you may find they're preferred.

bikemig 

I like DT shifters for touring as well. In addition to the Surly, I'd take a long hard look at the Soma Saga DC (which can also take DT shifters). There are other bikes out there as well. A used quality touring bike is also not a bad way to go.

mstateglfr 

- Crankset will cost $20-80 depending on quality and style.
- FD will cost $12-25 depending on quality and style.
- Chain will cost $8-20 depending on quality and style.
- wheels will cost $150-300 depending on quality and style.
- cassette will cost $15-30 depending on quality and style.
- brakes will cost $25-40 depending on quality and style.
- brake levers will cost $15-30 depending on quality and style.

These are all US prices. All this is based on sourcing new components from ebay, overseas retailers(so domestic/EU retailers for you).

Rebuilding your bike would be, in my view, 10x better than that FlatWhite bike you mention. Thats cool looking, but the shifting style isnt what you want, and you would have a higher quality of components on your bike.

So $245-525 USD would get your current bike back on the road and ready to handle what you need. Pretty big price range, but there are a lot of options for each component. The low end of my pricing would still get you components at or better than the FlatWhite bike.

Tourist in MSN

I hate the old downtube friction shifters, but I admit that I am using one (front only, rear not downtube) on the rando bike I built up last year.

Some frames have downtube shifter bosses, such as the rando bike I built up last year. But some do not. If you get a different frame, if the downtube is the same diameter as the older frames then you could find some old clamp-on downtube shifters on ebay or if you are lucky maybe a bike shop has a bucket of vintage parts in the corner that they stripped off an old bike.

But, if you buy a new frame that does not have downtube bosses and the downtube is a larger diameter so that the old clampon ones won't reach around the tube, you are out of luck.

In the photo of my rando bike shifter, I took the vintage Huret shifter off of one of those clampon type shifters. It did not use the same bolts that modern shifter bosses use, so the thumbscrew is of a different brand.

Doug64

They do come up.

https://seattle.craigslist.org/est/bik/6055482227.html

rtciv

The frame is an Emelle Ranger (61 or 62cm) that I got for £80 or so. All components are no-name or unknown, mostly from my collection of old parts or sourced very cheaply. I know the usual brand names but I don't know much about what is supposedly better or worse spec with most components, and I with a lot of bits I don't suppose I care all that much, in the end. I do need to stop using these awful wheels, though, that's for sure.

I imagine that any available branded 2017 components will be so far ahead of the unbranded junkbox 1970s stuff I'm used to (I only last year started using a cartridge BB, until then I was used to washing and repacking all the loose bearings in the BB, picking out shards of broken ones, etc.)

From a vendor's site:

Frame : 700C Chromoly Lugged
Rear Shock : N/A
Fork : 700C Steel Trekking Fork
Headset : Steel A-Head
Shifters : Shimano ST-A070 2/7-Speed
Rear derailleur : RD-A070 7-Speed
Front derailleur : FD-A070 Band-On Double
Chainset : Prowheel 34/50 Steel Black (51/54cm – 170 57/60cm – 175mm)
Bottom Bracket : Thun Sealed Cartridge
Chain : KMC 7-Speed
Cassette / Freewheel : Shimano CS-HG41 7-Speed
Rims : 700C Alloy Double-Wall
Hubs : KT Alloy Front/Rear QR
Tyres : Schwalbe 700×35C Kevlar
Brakes : Tektro Canti-Brake
Brake levers : Shimano ST-A070
Handlebars : 6061 Alloy Drop 31.8mm (51cm – 42mm 54/57/60 – 44mm)
Grips / Tape : Custom Adventure
Stem : Alloy Black (51/54cm – 90mm 57/60cm – 105)
Saddle : Traditional Rivetted Saddle
Seatpost : Alloy 26 × 350mm
Pedals : Alloy Silver – Non-Slip Rubber Insert
Extras : Mudguards & Rear Carrier – Multispanner, User Manual, Allen Keys and Pump
Weight : 13.53

Probably about as cheap as things get, but still cheaper than me buying the same parts separately, I believe? That's the main thing - buying separate parts is simply more expensive than identical parts on a complete bike, I guess because manufacturers obviously get huge discounts from component suppliers. Low end parts, for sure - but all available for £350 for me. But, yes, I don't particularly want brifters.

I have no-name 27" wheels, not a lot of choice around for those. I would be changing my brakes completely, but do you mean where the brakes will fit on the frame - that might be a problem? Fixture points too high away from the rims?

I do have the money - everyone does, right, if they dig deep - but I guess the reason I have the money is because I don't spend loads on new things very often, haha. It's not really in my nature to do so, doesn't feel comfortable. I think I could accept the £500 mark because that's just how much things cost, can't get a bike for much less, but I don't really enjoy buying "new" things. I find it objectionable somehow I can't really explain.

Do you think that any old brake levers will work with modern cantis?

mstateglfr 

Yes, road brake levers(aero or non-aero) work perfectly with cantilever brakes.
The issue would be whether your bike can run cantis or not. You mention its an old 70s bike...not a good chance itll have canti studs to mount the brakes. If they exist on the frame, I would figure you would already have canti brakes.

jefnvk

If you want a cheaper new "touring" bike, the Fuji touring is seemingly well regarded, certainly far nicer of a bike than the one you linked. If you could find a model year old one still in stock somewhere around you (not pulling up a lot of UK bike shop links), you could have quite a bit nicer bike for 100 pounds or less than the one you linked (although the 2017 seem to be priced higher, dunno if something changed on them):

https://www.evanscycles.com/fuji-tou...-bike-EV241592

EDIT: and yes, rebuilding can add up in a hurry. I've done two. That said, they can still come out much cheaper than a new bike, especially if you don't need to redo the wheels (where the bulk of your cost lies)

SparkyGA

Just a thought, instead of going with 700c wheels on a frame that designed for 27" wheels, why not look at 650c wheels instead? Good options these days in that wheel size.

There are some pretty big gains by just building up a new frame/bike vs using your current frame. A lot of the newer tech is wonderful to use and super easy to find parts for. 9/10/11/12 speed stuff is wonderful and extremely easy to work on. Same with modern BB's, hubs and such.