Wheels for a hybrid?

[WindingRoad]

Sorry if there is already a thread on this but I couldn't find it. So I have my workhorse bike that I use for heavy duty chores like going to the grocery, carrying books etc. I keep on tearing the heck out of this bike so I'd like to upgrade it to be more durable. First off it's a Giant, TranSend which is I realize it a low end bike but I plan to have it for a long time I really like it and love riding it. It's having bottom bracket problems and the wheels just keep going out of true, not to mention the deraillers are really cheap. Soooooo..... I'm thinking of new cranks, wheels, deraillers and brakes. I can get pretty good deals on parts but I still need to watch my costs. It seems to me that to find 700C wheels for a hybrid is a custom product thing? I wonder what is the best combo of rims, hubs and spokes to achieve the lightest wheel with most durability? Not really sure, getting a bit overwhelmed with info at this point. I'd appreciate any input you all might have, not sure on what crank set would be appropriate either???? So many questions. Is a road bike crankset usable or the same as that for a hybrid??? Help girls!!!

[Cataboo]

What I did when building up my surly to be more of a work horse - I found some truvativ elita road cranks on ebay that were new and I think the cranks went for like $35 on the auction. They're nice looking cranks and have worked well for me - I managed to get them in 165mm, which is the length I like my cranks and is kinda hard to find. We got the bf a set of 170mm as well for about that price. I do have a spare set of carbon fiber cranks that I could put on the bike, but that kinda would turn it into not a work horse.

For wheels.. there's a place called rocky mountain cyclery on ebay which sells a lot of wheels. I got a 36 spoke deore xt hub, thick mavic rims 700c wheelset from them (well,I've gotten 2 sets) - great bomber wheels that spin well. the ones I got were 135 mm which is mountain bike width (I don't know what your hybrid takes for hubs), which was wide for my surly which is supposed to take 130 mm hubs, but since the surly's steel, it flexes justenough that I can use the wider hubs - I just gotta pull and push while putting the back wheel on.

[Melalvai]

I don't know the answers to your questions, but I really enjoyed building my own wheels (with the mechanics' looking over my shoulder). My understanding is that because I built them myself, they are better wheels than if they'd been trued by a machine.

[WindingRoad]

Catriona - the XT hubs are actually what I was looking at using; I found some rims by Velocity that look promising, they are called a Dyad and they come in 32/36/40 and 48 hole patterns. They are 24 mm wide which I think is what my wheels are. Not sure which hole pattern would be best really. I'm just getting started here so I think I have more questions than answers at this point I have noticed that spokes come in different diameters too?

[KnottedYet]

If you can get ahold of a copy of "The Bicycle Wheel" by Jobst Brandt, do it! Beautiful book, chock full of clear illustrations and more knowledge than I'll ever manage to retain.

I know Brandt has a big rep as a curmudgeon, but I can put up with a lot of curmudgeoninity when there's passion for the subject involved!



Jobst and Sheldon. RIP Sheldon, we miss you.

[Cataboo]

http://stores.ebay.com/Rocky-Mountai...34Q2ec0Q2em309

[WindingRoad]

So I found some wheels that I think will work pretty well, they are actually tandem wheels so hopefully I cannot destroy these. I'm looking at about $400 to fix the bike up properly: wheels, shifters, brake levers, pads, new bottom bracket, rear derailleur, change from 8 to 9 speed cog and new chain. I really like the bike a lot and we've been through a lot of miles together so far. So I hope I'm not being an idiot in upgrading it.

[WindingRoad]

So I did get the tandem wheels, 48 spoke, virtually bomb proof! Got some Bontrager, Hardcase tires 700 X 32's and love them. Decided not to spend so much so I kept everything 8 speed but replaced the rear derailleur with a nice Deore in stealthy black to match my bike. OMG what a difference in the shifting! Like butter now I had already put the Gore Ride-On cables a while back so I think I have a pretty decent commuter now. I got almost 3,000 miles out of the original cheapie stuff that came on it so hopefully this will last longer. Apparently the chain was a bit of a problem too, I had bought a heavy duty SRAM chain for it but it was almost too wide even though it was supposed to work. I switched to a shimano 8 speed chain and now no issues with engaging.

Melalvai - I added this later you reminded me, I almost forgot that I too replaced my bottom bracket. Seems like the ones that come on some bikes are real crappy.

[Melalvai]

So I hope I'm not being an idiot in upgrading it.

You absolutely are not being an idiot upgrading it. I would have kept on replacing parts as they wore out on my old bike forever, but it didn't fit me quite right. I got a new low end WSD bike and I intend to replace parts on it forever. In the last 18 months I've worn out a few bits and we've replaced them with better components.

Especially your bottom bracket. On my old bike I went through THREE bottom brackets (in a couple years). When you haul stuff on your bike, that happens.

[JennK13]

Post pics! What model/year TranSend do you have? I have an 08 LX, the "men's" model, as I got a killer deal on it buying the prior years model. I love that bike, and commute several days a week on it carrying a fair amount of stuff. I ride it pretty hard, too, so I'm curious as to what you've done to it. So far, no issues. I've had it a year now and probably have at least 1,000 miles on it. The more I ride, the more particular I get as I've become more intune with my body. Definately want to change my saddle and handle bars (a bit too wide for me). Nothing major, just minor tweaks I'm more aware of now that I have another bike I'm more comfortable on.
Got to say, love the disc brakes, and I find the shifters easy and responsive. Great bike i'll have for a long time, though I expect it to look a bit different in 10 years

[WindingRoad]

Jenn I am pretty sure my TranSend is a 2009. Here's some of the improvements.