When to replace a crank?

[DebW]

If this is 7-speed, then I can understand his recommendation if your 7-speed STI shifter is worn out. You can no longer get 7-speed STI shifters from traditional sources, so would have to replace it with 8 or 9 speed and then upgrade the cassette to 8 or 9 speed. If you upgraded to 9-speed, you'd find the spacing between the chainring too wide for the new chain and need to replace the whole crank too. But if the STI shifter is fine, all you need to do is put on a new 7-speed cassette and chain (assuming those are needed). If the shifter is bad, ask for 8-speed, because 7 and 8 speed chains are the same and your crank would then not need replacing (unless it is really worn out).

Oh "whacking something with a piece of pipe to spread it" is cold setting. Actually not whacking with the pipe, but pulling with the pipe. Cold setting just mean bending steel without heating it. But I wouldn't let any bike shop guy do that. If you want to spread the rear triangle, take it to a framemaker with a jig who can align the dropouts correctly after it's spread.

[Tuckervill]

I wouldn't do a THING to that bike except tune it up and ride it. Wait until something breaks. Don't fix it if it ain't broke!

Karen

[OakLeaf]

I wouldn't do a THING to that bike except tune it up and ride it. Wait until something breaks. Don't fix it if it ain't broke!

Karen

If the bearings have never been re-packed, the grease is now 20 years old and almost certainly not doing its job. BBs, hubs and headsets will last a long, long time if they get a little attention every so often and are kept in proper adjustment, but riding with dried-up grease is a good way to wear them out very quickly.

If you haven't seen (and ridden) the bike, you're really jumping the gun. It may not need anything but fresh grease, tires, cables and housings. It may need a lot.

[Tuckervill]

Yeah, I would include greasing the bearings in the tune-up. But I do my own work.

Karen

[Triskeliongirl]

Rather than buying this bike, why not just pick up a used terry 9 spd. Tons come up on ebay or at the terry website, in the ~$300-400 range.

There is a problem to find 7 speed replacment parts, and upgrading it to 8 or 9 spd may cost as much as just buying a used 9 spd (I KONW all 2001 and onward tery bikes are 9spd, possbily earlier ones too just not 100% sure). Just pick up a used 2001+ symetry.

[Triskeliongirl]

If your heart is set on this bike, just buy a NOS 7 speed casette and chain and do it yourself. Replacing a casette and chain are trivial:

http://cgi.ebay.com/NOS-Shimano-Hype...16136010r28369

Even if the bike is 20 years old, the bottom bracket may not need replacement, its got more to do with miles of wear than absolute age.

[ZenSojourner]

Rather than buying this bike, why not just pick up a used terry 9 spd. Tons come up on ebay or at the terry website, in the ~$300-400 range.

There is a problem to find 7 speed replacment parts, and upgrading it to 8 or 9 spd may cost as much as just buying a used 9 spd (I KONW all 2001 and onward tery bikes are 9spd, possbily earlier ones too just not 100% sure). Just pick up a used 2001+ symetry.

I actually already HAVE a Terry with a 9 speed rear cassette - 2006 Madeleine which I bought new in 2006.

Symmetry vs Despatch - geometry's not the same. Plus this bike is only $225, plus plus I almost never see anything this small for sale. 19" + bikes come up fairly often, this is nominally a 17.5", actually 17". They changed the way they measure the frame size later, so it's a little bit smaller than a 17.5". Which is great because now I get a shot at a slightly shorter top tube without losing that much in other aspects of the bike.

I would probably have trouble finding replacement shifters for 7 speed, but I don't really think those are going to need to be replaced. It's had 2k miles put on it since they switched over to STI, and one of the shifters has already been replaced in 2004. I can get any of several 7 speed rear cassettes if I need to.

Plus plus plus this is 7 miles from where my son lives in NC, and he's coming up to see me next week. When the universe calls, I figure I ought to answer, LOL!

It's just this gonzo mt. biker guy who runs the bike shop I go to seemed a bit overly enthusiastic about rebuilding the entire bike so he sort of had me a little worried with his "oh you change ALL YOUR COMPONENTS every year" kind of attitude. Plus he was steering me towards the most expensive components - like Campagnola triple, Campagnola shifters, etc. Road triples, for some reason, cost more than mt. bike triples, and they're not even as nice (IMO, as far as getting those low gears). There are mt. bike components on this bike, as well as on my Madeleine. Sticking with Mt. bike components if I should need to replace for cause would save me several hundred dollars. Except for the shifters of course, though there's always the possibility of going to flat bars and turning this into a hybrid if it came to that.

[Triskeliongirl]

Then go for it, but just replace what needs replacing with 7 speed stuff. If you can't find NOS stuff on ebay, often if you post what you are looking for in some of the more techie bike forums, someone will have something sitting in a spare parts box they will either sell real cheap, or send you for shipping costs.

Maybe you could use this bike to learn more about maintenance, since yes, the bike shops will be less inclined to help you with parts that are out of production, but most of what you'll need to do isn't that hard at all.