19bonestock88’s commuter bike BUILD: replacing the “Green Line”

[ME_Andy]

For the future, nashbar.com is a good place to buy a quality bike for, like, $250. It ships to you but you have to assemble it.

Keep an eye on Craigslist, too

[Grant-53]

It will take some fine tuning as with any new bike not set up by an experienced mechanic. For snow I would want a 42 mm mud and snow tread if it clears the frame of the hybrid. I had a problem on my Jamis Aragon with snow build up around the the lower rear frame stays once. Enjoy.

[19bonestock88]

With some eyeballing, I think a 42mm tire would fit the hybrid, but I’ll worry about that when it’s closer to time for snow to fly, as that bike needs some love to be reliable for commuting...

How do I adjust the derailleurs to shift better? I don’t know jack about adjusting them, last time I tried I basically ruined it (I was 15)... when it’s on the small chainring, the chain pops in the lower gears, and it happens a little in the middle chainring (and in 1st gear mostly), but it’s smooth on the big chainring...

I did adjust my brakes, but I still think it could stand a little better set of pads, I’ll wait until these are fairly worn though...

I’ve probably missed some things but I’m still tinkering with it...

[19bonestock88]

Today is my fourth consecutive work day of using the bike instead of the car... it’s taken about 18mi of low average driving off the car, and will save eight cold starts... today I made the trip in right at ten minutes, for an average speed of just a hair over 13mph... I’m also trying to source sheets of .040 HDPE for making a rear wheel disc, hopefully that will make me a little faster...

[19bonestock88]

I fixed my gear/chain skipping... I adjusted the limit screws on the rear derailleur to where both 1st and 7th gears line up correctly when selected, and I noticed my rear wheel not 100% straight so I fixed that too...

I’m considering bumping tire pressure to 80psi instead of just 60, but the issue is that my rear tire has a max of 50 listed on the sidewall, and the front tire just says to inflate to 86psi... so technically my front is under inflated and my rear is over... I really need to get a pair of matching tires and matching tubes... rear tire has presta valve and front has a schrader valve

[California98Civic]

Raising tire pressure helps range but hurts ride quality on a road bike quite a lot, I find. ... when I found my wheel a little off I used a small aluminum shim in the rear dropout to even it up (my frame is aluminum).

[19bonestock88]

I hadn’t thought of a shim, I just slid the end of the axle forward in the dropout, about 1/8 inch... seemed to work okay...

Still have been researching tire sizes/choices, trying to decide between 28 and 32mm, or should I go smaller than 28mm? Thinking of splurging when tire replacement is due, and getting a set of Continental GatorSkin tires, for sake of durability...

[California98Civic]

I have gatorskins on the back. Good tire. Needed it for durability, too. Fewer punctures. I went for largest I could fit into the frame.

[19bonestock88]

What was the reason for going bigger? I know I can fit a 35mm but don’t want any bigger...

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by 19bonestock88

What was the reason for going bigger? I know I can fit a 35mm but don’t want any bigger...

A larger tire, I hoped, would help reduce the frequency of flats, and absorb shocks better. I think it might have succeeded on both counts but I cannot tell for sure because I didn't track any baseline or change.