Sanity check

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    • #247595

      I’m kind of a “ride what you got” guy and use my mountain bike to get to work when it works out. But this is the state of repair that it is in.

      The flats are easy enough to repair but that is no optical illusion on the front wheel and the rear wheel is not true-able either. When I fix this up, it will have knobbier tires that I will not want to ride to work on.

      So the question then becomes, if I want to ride to work; what bike? Found two bikes that have piqued my interest but not sure if I would happy with either:

      1) Torker K2

      Pros: simplicity, 2-speed coaster brake, offbeat
      Cons: gear ratio is pretty slow and unsure of size (large not available but supposedly has shorter wheelbase than medium)

      2) EVO Vantage 5.0

      Pros: cheap and ample gearing
      Cons: cheap as hell

      Anyone else buy a cheap or oddball bike? Happy with purchase or gathering dust?

      Bonus question: for fixing my mountain bike what is a good cheep trail tire (ideally available in 29×2.4, 27.5×2.4 and 26×2.4)? Haven’t decided on rear wheel size yet been riding with 27.5 on rear and sometimes front. Pedal strikes have been bad but considering shorter cranks too. Goal is fix bike on the cheap but still end up with a better bike than it came from the store.

    • #248987

      That torker looks like a cool cheap bike. I’d take it to 7-11 for beer runs. If your commute involves hills a coaster brake is terrifying. I don’t get your tire size question, are you actually randomly changing wheel sizes? I would stick to what the bike was sold with.

    • #248990

      I ended up riding my single speed MTB to work. It is not as bad as I thought. I just put more pressure in the wheels. I clocked myself at 30 on the downhill and with my disk brakes that isn’t too scary. With a coaster brake, I would probably ride my brakes down the hill and try to stay under 15 or so.

      First couple times riding the single speed to work, I was literally reaching for the shifter to go faster. Now I just pedal faster or accept that it will take me a couple more minutes to get where I am going. But the hill home is brutal.

      Regarding fixing the pictured bike up. I am keeping my options open. The default was going to be get new 29er wheels but I was experimenting with different wheel sizes. I had tried 29 on front and 27.5 on back and it was pretty good and I did a supposed black diamond downhill trail on just 27.5 wheels and that was fine too.

      I plan to go to the bicycle co-op and see what they have for MTB wheels. 99% sure I will stick with the 29 front for the roll over advantage but willing to go down to 26 on the rear to slacken the bike <span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>and</span> to be able to use wider tires. Really want to get 2.4 on there an that isn’t going to happen with 29 rear.

    • #248991

      Just stick to the 29 wheels. You mentioned pedal strikes; the smaller wheel isn’t helping you there.  A shorter stem is a cheap way to get you over the back of the bike (you mentioned the smaller wheel to slacken the HA). Obviously not the same as a slacker head angle but may help you out without jacking up the geometry. You can only do so much with that bike before your wasting time and money unfortunately.

    • #248997

      A “ride what you got” guy would ride what he’s got. Fix your bike, man!

    • #260340

      Finally fixed my bikeBroken things replaced since new: frame, wheels, rear derailleur, saddle.
      <p style=”text-align: left;”>Upgrades: tires, wide ratio cassette, crankset, shifter, brake levers, grips.</p>
      Next: pedals, stem, handlebars, dropper, fork.

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