Donor bike...

[Bogmonster666]

I actually went out for a 10 mile easy ride tonight, despite my knackered ankle, and was out for about 5 hours, recognised a friend in pub garden and it went downhill from there.

But cycling related stuff, as my ankle is injured I set bike on 'speed' setting and pedalled really slow. It transpires that the tsdz2 has much more torque at lower cadence than I had appreciated. I've just been trying too hard..

Anyway, my 26+ year old mountain bike is awesome, apart from the totally sphincter puckering descents in the wet on steep hills with its rim brakes.

So I'm looking at another donor for my tsdz2. What about either a Boardman hybrid (local boardman hybrid comp looks promising) or maybe a voodoo marasa? Anybody any experience of these with the tsdz2?

 

[Bogmonster666]

I am confused with bottom brackets but I suspect the Boardman hybrid comp BB shell is incompatible with tsdz2 - anybody know?

 

[Bogmonster666]

Ok, so the bike has a sram via Centro crankset which means the BB is:

PowerSpline Bottom Bracket - BB-PS-A1 - TRUVATIV

PowerSpline Bottom Bracket, BB-PS-A1, TRUVATIV. A tough bottom bracket that will go as hard as you. The PowerSpline has a heat treated chromoly 12 spline spindle to make sure it can go the distance ...

www.sram.com

The cables route underneath, the rear brake should be easy and the fron derailleur will go. Just need to sort out the rear derailleur. @Woosh and others, do think the tsdz2 will fit if I re-route the rear derailleur?

This is a Boardman comp hybrid.



EDIT: I think the answer should be 'yes' btw. The bike is not that cheap but it has decent mudguards and Topeak mtx rack (or whatever the racks with the slide rail are called - I have a trunkbag for these and that is where I carry my battery on existing bike. I could find a cheaper doner but by the time I add rack and mudguards then might as well go for a better quality bike?

I think possible downside is it is quite a sporting ride and I think I am on the edge of medium and large (this bike is large).

 

[Woosh]

Ok, so the bike has a sram via Centro crankset which means the BB is:

PowerSpline Bottom Bracket - BB-PS-A1 - TRUVATIV

PowerSpline Bottom Bracket, BB-PS-A1, TRUVATIV. A tough bottom bracket that will go as hard as you. The PowerSpline has a heat treated chromoly 12 spline spindle to make sure it can go the distance ...

www.sram.com

The cables route underneath, the rear brake should be easy and the fron derailleur will go. Just need to sort out the rear derailleur. @Woosh and others, do think the tsdz2 will fit if I re-route the rear derailleur?

This is a Boardman comp hybrid.

View attachment 51526

Yes, I think the tsdz2 will be OK after sorting out the cables under the bb.

 

[Bogmonster666]

I didn't buy the Boardman bike in the end - although I think it is still listed maybe? Something didn't quite stack up and not really sure I want the maintenance cost of 10 speed.

Tbh, the only thing I am really lacking in my current, ancient MTB is disc breaks. I am ok with the 26" wheels (and easier to get the gear ratios I want with the tsdz2). No suspension forks, no problemo (I suspect I'm better off without suspension forks than with cheap suspension forks with no lockout), and my bike is lighter than many current budget offerings.

Have not had a proper look but I either want a hybrid with wide tyres or a mountain bike with commuting tyres. Preferably 9 speed cassette or 8 at a pinch. Must have disc breaks.

Something like the carerra subway 2 (with different tyres) might be ok? There is a Carrera Vengeance in vgc near me (8 speed cassette and non-locking forks), and Halfords have a sale on with crossfire 2 (very heavy and non-locking forks) and vengeance included. 20% off and can stack blue light card discount I think. Doubt I can also stack cycling UK discount as well though....

Overall it feels like a lot of spend to get a bike with disc brakes that is otherwise worse than my current 26 year old bike for my purposes. The subway 2 is probably the best fit but not in the sale.

Other recommendations? Many cheap bikes with normal forks and rim brakes, but as soon as you start getting discs you are lumbered with cheap suspension forks, unless you get spendy...there must be some other options out there...

 

[Sturmey]

I am looking at a carrera Vengeance at the moment (which I got secondhand very cheap). They may not be the most suitable bike to convert. The rear dropouts are very shallow and the hanger plate is not that deep so I dont see any potential for filing deeper. I could make up a set of steel plates to give deeper/ reinforce the existing rear dropouts and this seems to be the best option.

The front fork is an alloy suntour xcm30 with beefy looking dropouts. A front hub with anti rotation washers fits in perfect but are the alloy dropouts strong enough? It could be difficult to attach torque arms and they may not be effective due to shape of recesses. The KT controller can be set for 'soft start' so this may be a possibility.

As regard fitting a middrive, the bottom bracket and rear chainstays are wider than a normal hybrid so getting a good chainline and getting the lower gears to work well might be an issue.

 

[chris667]

As most of your braking is on the front wheel and you appear happy with the rest of the bike, have you considered just fitting a fork with a disc brake? Might be more straightforward than replacing a whole bike and will possibly work out cheaper too.

There are any number of cheap steel MTB forks in all sorts of configurations with a disc tab.

My cargoish MTB with front and rear racks is not something that worries me with V-brakes, although I might replace them with Maguras in the future as they are easier to live with. Not meaning to sound patronising, but if you really find the rim brakes you have terrifying make sure they are well set up. New cables make an enormous difference, as does setting up the straddles properly (if you have cantis).

 

[Peter.Bridge]

Other recommendations? Many cheap bikes with normal forks and rim brakes, but as soon as you start getting discs you are lumbered with cheap suspension forks, unless you get spendy...there must be some other options out there...

I converted my Boardman 29er Pro - nice big frame for batteries, and light. Seemed to work well with the BB02B -needed a BB adapter https://www.empoweredcycles.com/blogs/news/101474694-bottom-bracket-standards-and-bafang-mid-drive-motors and had some fun with the cables that went underneath the bracket but I suspect everyone has some problems

Is this spendy ? Not cheap but could put an offer on - not too bad value ?

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[Bogmonster666]

I think the v brakes are set up ok, and have new pads. The cables are old though...and cleaning the rims definitely helped.

In the dry or on flattish roads I'm happy enough. It's streep hills, 15% + when it's wet that I find I need to be very careful as I struggle to get adequate stopping power. The road I live on has a long 16% descent on a single track with bends and a liberal scattering if loose gravel to boot

I do like your idea about changing the front fork! Will need to look into that. Not sure what diameter steerer tube and would need to find a suitable fork for a 26" wheel with disk mounts.

 

[Bogmonster666]

As regard fitting a middrive, the bottom bracket and rear chainstays are wider than a normal hybrid so getting a good chainline and getting the lower gears to work well might be an issue.

I see others have fitted a TSDZ2 to a vengeance, not sure what chainline issues they had? I get the impression that no additional spacers were required but not sure?

The chainline on my current bike isn't bad as weird offset BB shell that works in my favour...another reason to keep the old bike...

 

[Bogmonster666]

This is one option:

Boardman Comp

It does have a decent rack (and I need an Topeak £50 mtx rack for my trunk bag that carries my battery) so that is a bonus. It's a 10 speed cassette and would prefer 8 or 9 due to maintenance costs.

I don't think the 18 months old as implied in the advert is quite correct - maybe they bought it used 18 months ago, as I think this is more circa 2016 to 2018. I also think a large may be too big for me, from what I have read they are quite long in the top tube and stretched out.

I think I need to keep looking...

 

[Bogmonster666]

Another possibility is the rims are just too polished now. My son had the bike for a long time and didn't change the rock hard pads. Even though I have cleaned the rims, they do feel very polished.

EDIT: Actually, just had a closer look, I think the rear rim is too worn and maybe it needs replacing...it might be as simple as that. Putting a flat edge against the rim is showing a bit too much of a concave shape for my liking. Not wanting a rim to blow out at 30 mph downhill ... Would give an opportunity to swap to 8 or 9 speed as well.

 

[Bogmonster666]

Well, I found my wife's 25 year old bike in the garage (she is never going to use it), nicked the rear wheel, swapped over the cassette an tyre and trued it up a bit and went for a spin. The brakes are MUCH better - kept locking up the wheel! Not tried in the wet yet though. I think if I swap out the front wheel as well then I will be ok. I think my bike's rims were old and worn and polished. I guess you learn something every day. Assuming this really works out then I'm happy. I'll save a few hundred quid, use what I've got, and tbh my bike in all other respects works really well for me Love the bike you have got!

EDIT: Swapped the front wheel as well, and the stopping power is night and day. Think this will keep me going for now. I can put the knackered wheels on my wife's bike ... Only joking