UPCYCLE ANOLD BIKE!

SHELL OUT FOR A NEW BIKE IF YOU LIKE – BUT IT MAY BE WORTH HAVING A SECOND LOOK AT THAT OLD FAITHFUL HANGING IN THE RAFTERS OF YOUR GARAGE. HERE’S A CASE STUDY ON TURNING AN AWKWARD OLD HYBRID INTO A MODERN ALL-ROAD MACHINE.

THE BIKE

So-called ‘hybrid’ bikes were all the rage about 20 years ago; big companies like Trek and Giant released a slew of them.

The term referred to a road bike with some mountainbike features – notably, a more upright riding position, a flat handlebar (which the designers thought would be easier for recreational riders to, er, handle) and MTB brake levers with V-brakes. And although many hybrid frames had plenty of clearance for wider tyres, in South Africa at the time there were precious few options in the 700c wheel category – it was 23mm or nothing.

This Trek 7500FX originally belonged to Hayley’s dad, Roy. He bought it new in 2001, and completed many Arguses and 94.7 Cycle Challenges on it. Yes, even with that ridiculous stem and those bar ends!

Hayley rode it in its original form for a few years (and also did a couple of Arguses), but as her cycling improved, she realised she wanted a drop-bar bike – having a choice of hand positions is more comfortable over long distances, and a drop bar puts you in a more efficient, more aerodynamic position.

She loved the bike, though, and didn’t want to sell it – especially considering its connection to her dad. So she took it to Nils Hansen at Woodstock Cycleworks and asked what could be done…

THE UPGRADE

Pssst! Wanna hear a secret? The hybrid is actually a gravel bike – it was just way ahead of its time. It’s a rigid-fork road bike with space for big tyres, and it isn’t scared to get dirty. You want to tell me your gravel bike is something else?

With dozens of all-road and gravel tyres to choose from these days, the first thing Nils did was replace the skinny old Michelin Dynamic tyres with a set of 32mm Panaracer Paselas, to better soak up bumps on the road, and with enough tread to handle some rough stuff. (The frame clearance is enormous; in the future, Hayley could fit even wider tyres, should she wish to.)

Next up was swapping out the giraffe stem and flat bar for drop bars and a short stem, for a more efficient riding position. But drop bars don’t play nicely with trigger shifters and flat-bar brake levers, so Nils dug around in a box of bits and found a used set of 8-speed Shimano Sora shifters that would work with the Deore rear derailleur.

Because of the greater mechanical advantage of V-brakes, however, they require levers with longer cable travel than the Soras employ – so Nils installed some nifty adaptors, to extend the travel. Problem solved.

The other issue was that the left Sora shifter is designed for a double chainring, whereas the original chainring set is a triple. Nils could have helped Hayley source a new crankset with two chainrings – but to save money, he told her to just pretend the smallest ring isn’t there! The gear range remaining, between the biggest 48t ring and the middle 38t ring, coupled with the 11-30t cassette, is more than sufficient for the riding she wants to do.

And the total upgrade cost, including parts and labour? R4 300 – substantially cheaper than any equivalent new bike.

The moral of the story: take your bike to your local bike shop and ask what they can do to modernise it. If they tell you that nothing can be done, you’re at the wrong bike shop.