How hard (moreso costly) is it to put a modern drivetrain on a vintage mtb?

[madjh]

This is a 1993 Scott with a modern transmision, a 970 XTR. And it is low gearing: 34-22. But if you go 10 speed with a XT 785 ot XTR 985 you can do a 42-22 to climb anything.

The XT RD is not expensive pt a Deore + sunrace casette if you go 10speed 42-11 and XT or deore Shifters all around 150€ with a chain and new cables etc

 

[retrobiker273891]

Grab these. Cracking cranks

https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/sugino-impel-chainset.478531/
But as said, we have a wanted section. Pop in what you need and chances are some of the lovely hoarders on here have it. And more. Best way to dodge ebay prices.

Thanks, will this fit on any old frame? Are there different threads or such? I was somewhat confused when reading about it. Maybe it is more concerned with new ones? Something about sealed bottom brackets and threaded bottom brackets.

I have done bike maintenance before, know most parts, except the chainset and freewheels are probably the only parts I am unfamiliar with dealing with and seem to require specialist tools I don't have.

 

[Imlach]

Thanks, will this fit on any old frame? Are there different threads or such? I was somewhat confused when reading about it. Maybe it is more concerned with new ones? Something about sealed bottom brackets and threaded bottom brackets.

I have done bike maintenance before, know most parts, except the chainset and freewheels are probably the only parts I am unfamiliar with dealing with and seem to require specialist tools I don't have.

Fits unto a square taper bottom bracket. What cranks do you have atm? You'll need a crank puller to get the arms off if square taper, then put the Impel on and torque them down. You may want to measure the spindle, I've run Impels fine 3x with a 113m length spindle.

 

[retrobiker273891]

This is a 1993 Scott eith a modern transmision, a 970 XTR. And it is low gearing: 34-22. But if you go 10 speed with a XT 785 ot XTR 985 you can do a 42-22 to climb anything.

The XT RD is not expensive pt a Deore + sunrace casette ig you go 10speed 42-11 and XT or deore Shifters all around 150€ with a chain and new cables etc

View attachment 878042View attachment 878043

Looks great. Is it your build?

I am thinking 22/34 to start and then if I still wanna go even lower I can then look into that. Seems 22/34 is fairly easily attainable and giving 16 gear inches that is rather low such that I doubt I would have cause to go lower. I could even go a tad lower with a 20 on the front instead, which I have seen as the lowest commercially available chainring.

 

[Imlach]

Looks great. Is it your build?

I am thinking 22/34 to start and then if I still wanna go even lower I can then look into that. Seems 22/34 is fairly easily attainable and giving 16 gear inches that is rather low such that I doubt I would have cause to go lower. I could even go a tad lower with a 20 on the front instead, which I have seen as the lowest commercially available chainring.

Unless you're intending to do some very serious loaded touring in very steep terrain a low of 16" is more than sufficient. 3x7 and 3x8 still offers the greatest range at the lowest price

 

[retrobiker273891]

Fits unto a square taper bottom bracket. What cranks do you have atm? You'll need a crank puller to get the arms off if square taper, then put the Impel on and torque them down. You may want to measure the spindle, I've run Impels fine 3x with a 113m length spindle.

Well I have a British Eagle pub bike right now that I got for 20 quid back in 2003 or so. Had just been in my mum's garage for 15 odd years and just got back into cycling with it these past couple of weeks. It has been good in that it has got me out and riding again but I would like to get something else if I want to get more into riding. It is fine as a little run around while here and I am not fussed about it being 'naff' it is just the gearing that is brutal on the hills!

I would be happy keeping this and riding it however the gearing is too high! It is only 15 speed and the lowest gear is 28/28 which makes any significant hills painful! Also heavy so not like an equivalent road bike gearing which would be similar gears.

Just to try and understand the mechanics I tried taking the crank off that the other day and I got stuck after taking the nuts out the middle of the crank. 3 piece crankset apparently and had no crank puller. I since watched a video on that but was scratching my head why it wouldn't come off at the time as in every other case of undoing a nut whatever it was holding pops right off!

Do to it being an overall poor bike to begin it seems counter intuitive to overhaul this bike and rather get a better retro frame, sans suspension. This one has full and I can feel it sapping the energy out of my pedal strokes!

My plan is either get a whole retro bike off here or get just a frame and transfer across the eagle stuff but seeing prices of frames on here being similar to whole bikes it seems better to do the former.

The Eagle is not total crap as I changed quite a bit, new wheels and tyres (at the time) so could use those.

 

[retrobiker273891]

Unless you're intending to do some very serious loaded touring in very steep terrain a low of 16" is more than sufficient. 3x7 and 3x8 still offers the greatest range at the lowest price

Yes to go lower seems merely for novelty at that point. I do not have a reference point to know how low it is from experience but I know on the lowest of 28/28x26= 26 and 16 is a lot lower than 26 so I am guessing it will be a lot easier!

I would say I am fairly fit - not cycling fitness having not done it regularly for so long but overall cardio - too and by no means would I be wanting to use it all the time but I want it there if I choose and better than walking. I also find it fun riding up hills in an easy gear.

 

[retrobiker273891]

In fact, as I am moving in a few weeks so don't want to undertake anything big before, I could get the crankset and put it on the British Eagle as practice until I am setup at new place and ready to take on a bigger project.

 

[retrobiker273891]

As I haven't bought the new/old bike yet any recommendations as to specs that would offer me the smoothest passage to acheive as in what spec to look for or is it all much of a muchness, in terms of uniform form factors, so long as I get a 90s mtb?

 

[Imlach]

Right. Your best bet would be to go for a complete bike, pop a wanted ad as said. It'll be a lot cheaper to buy a complete bike than build one up. Less faff than moving everything over as well. Ease yourself into wrenching, get a nice serviceable bike that suits your needs and maintain it yourself, get tools as you need them and don't overthink it too much. You can also make a thread asking what to look for, occasionally there's good bargains posted in the Marketplace/eBay watch section too.

https://www.retrobike.co.uk/forums/mtb-ebay-marketplace-watch.4/
And here's the wanted section:

https://www.retrobike.co.uk/forums/mtb-wanted.3/
Throwing good money after bad is never the right approach. Impel cranksets are solid and I like them a lot, but if I were I'd put the money aside and look when somrtbing pops up on here in the 150ish quid bracket. Occasionally some real bargains cheaper too. What are your needs specifically?