Upgrading my Trek 1.1 Alpha Road Bike.

[MaeJoMTB]

So this was a really cheap bike, 14,500bht purchased in BK 6 months back.

Not really done any work on my own bikes before, always went to the shops.

Shimano Claris groupset (8x) with both brake/shifters road damaged due to me falling off.

Found a guy online selling the Shimano Sora groupset (9x) s/h for 3k (he's upgraded to 105), and thought I'll give it a go.

So I got, shifters/brakes, front gear/crank mech, rear mech, 11/30 cassette, chain, tektro front/rear V-brakes.

What I thought would be hard ..... was easy.

Changing the brake/shifters, only problems was the cables were all too short, just reused my original cables, all comes off easily. But rethreading two of the cables they unwound a bit, of well, two less strands on each cable should be alright.

What was hard .......

The chain, I can't get the old chain off, no link to split, and no tool to split a chain.

The cassette, I don't have a tool to get it off.

The front gear/crank mech ... it's for a different size downpipe 31.8mm and my existing mech is 34.5mm, I didn't even know they came in assorted sizes. I think my Claris front gear/crank mech will work with everything else.

Oh well trip to the shop tomorrow, no point buying tools I'll only use once.

Why don't original chains come with a break link?

Edited February 1, 2016 by MaeJoMTB

[CNXBKKMAN]

I think the Claris front mech will work just as well as the Sora that doesn't fit so I wouldn't worry about that. You can get plastic adapters that clip around the band and reduce the size. These normally come with new shimano front mechs so they will fit different size down tubes. If you cruise around a few bike shops they may have these lying around somewhere. You might get lucky and hopefully give you them for free.

A good upgrade on a Trek 1.1 might be better quality, lighter wheels and some decent tyres to go with them.

[MaeJoMTB]

I only fell on one side ....... so how did I rub both brake/shifters?

They still work, but not pretty.

[MaeJoMTB]

I think the Claris front mech will work just as well as the Sora that doesn't fit so I wouldn't worry about that. You can get plastic adapters that clip around the band and reduce the size. These normally come with new shimano front mechs so they will fit different size down tubes. If you cruise around a few bike shops they may have these lying around somewhere. You might get lucky and hopefully give you them for free.

A good upgrade on a Trek 1.1 might be better quality, lighter wheels and some decent tyres to go with them.

Decent tires might have saved me from the fall!

[MrTrip]

I only fell on one side ....... so how did I rub both brake/shifters?

12632885_10153895209588749_111431718_o.jpg

They still work, but not pretty.

Battle scars. Cool!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SpokaneAl]

Not to be overly critical, but even with your upgrades, you are still dealing at the very, very low end of components and bike frame. I just can't see much of an improvement with the changes you have discussed.

Your best option is to just get out and ride and work on improving the engine (you) rather than trying to make these small, really non consequential component changes.

Edited February 1, 2016 by SpokaneAl

[MESmith]

So now you will end up with a 30 rear cassette, rather than the 32 you changed to, for the mountains.

I ended up with the same bike as you, but the shop put a 34 rear cassette & new chain at time of purchase.

[MaeJoMTB]

I'm not all that weak now.

30 is all I need.

@SA

The difference between a $500 cycle and a $500,000 cycle is 5% on a 10 mile ride.

Edited February 2, 2016 by MaeJoMTB

[MESmith]

I'm not all that weak now.

30 is all I need.

Time to find some steeper hills

[SpokaneAl]

I'm not all that weak now.

30 is all I need.

@SA

The difference between a $500 cycle and a $500,000 cycle is 5% on a 10 mile ride.

Good point, although for those of us who have decided, at this point in life, to splurge a bit, we are buying the high end bikes for more than increased speed, much the same as purchasing a nice Lexus vs. a bottom end Nissan.

[villagefarang]

I'm not all that weak now.

30 is all I need.

@SA

The difference between a $500 cycle and a $500,000 cycle is 5% on a 10 mile ride.

Good point, although for those of us who have decided, at this point in life, to splurge a bit, we are buying the high end bikes for more than increased speed, much the same as purchasing a nice Lexus vs. a bottom end Nissan.

Driving at the same speed, I much prefer my BMW over my Fortuner. Granted they both get me from point A to point B but that is pretty much where the similarity ends. Same thing with bikes, in my opinion.

[bobfish]

MaeJo,

It's good that you're having fun with this upgrade. Ignore the negative comments - if you'd decided to upgrade to dura-ace we'd all be complaining the bike isn't worthy .

Toolwise, you should get yourself a chain splitter - very handy item to have in your kit. There are other ways to take the cassette off without a chain whip, youtube has some Macgyver methods. Or make your own whip using a metal bar, old chain and a few bolts. But you do need the adaptor.

None of these tools are actually expensive if you stick to the budget level. Enjoy!

[SpokaneAl]

MaeJo,

It's good that you're having fun with this upgrade. Ignore the negative comments - if you'd decided to upgrade to dura-ace we'd all be complaining the bike isn't worthy .

Toolwise, you should get yourself a chain splitter - very handy item to have in your kit. There are other ways to take the cassette off without a chain whip, youtube has some Macgyver methods. Or make your own whip using a metal bar, old chain and a few bolts. But you do need the adaptor.

None of these tools are actually expensive if you stick to the budget level. Enjoy!

Sorry, I did not mean to be overly negative. Like many here, I love bicycles and riding and just wanted to provide my two cents.

Again, I apologize.

[MaeJoMTB]

Toolwise, you should get yourself a chain splitter - very handy item to have in your kit. There are other ways to take the cassette off without a chain whip, youtube has some Macgyver methods. Or make your own whip using a metal bar, old chain and a few bolts. But you do need the adaptor.

Took it to my local Thai bike shop for the cassette and chain swap.

They seemed excessively worried that I wanted a 9x cassette to replace a 8x cassette.

They had all the tools, seemed puzzled by the cassette, came in 3 chunks, but they managed to put it together.

Put it all together then the discussion how how much.

"Do you think he will go for 300bht, no that's too much better try for 200bht"

All in Thai, just because I can't discuss the bike parts in Thai, they assume I can't understand them!

So a bit overpriced at 200bht, but a lot cheaper than buying the tools.

Took me a couple of hours at home to tune the gear changes, front 2 ring was the biggest problem, probably because I didn't have the correct Sora mech to fit my pipe. Still a bit of effort to go from small ring to big ring. But fine the other way round.

[MaeJoMTB]

I'm not all that weak now.

30 is all I need.

@SA

The difference between a $500 cycle and a $500,000 cycle is 5% on a 10 mile ride.

Good point, although for those of us who have decided, at this point in life, to splurge a bit, we are buying the high end bikes for more than increased speed, much the same as purchasing a nice Lexus vs. a bottom end Nissan.

I love belting past all the 30 year old Thais on their 100,000bht all carbon road bikes on the Doi Suthep hill.

I want a bicycle shirt made up in Thai ....... "I'm over 60, try to keep up!"

Or ......... "you can't buy a bike light enough to stop me passing you on a hill climb"

[MaeJoMTB]

Went out today on the flat for the first time.

Can now cycle up to a max speed of 44Km/hr (but not for long) ....... gears being closer enables me to increase my top speed by 4Km/hr.

The bike originally came with a 8x 11/28 cassette, which was really smooth.

I then changed to a 8x 11/32 for hill climbing but it really sucked on the flat, distance between gears was way too far.

The 9x 11/30 I now have really works well on the flat, gears are nice and close, and a pleasure to change up with no immediate speed drop.

Essentially I'm back to where I was on the 11/28 cassette, but with one lower gear added on.

I can see how a 10x changer with a 11/32 cassette would really work well.

Need to try a hill next, hope the 30 is low enough for my poor legs.

Edited February 3, 2016 by MaeJoMTB