As I wrote in my previous post, the TREK is almost finished... all but the crankset. Last week I decided not to use the triple that came on the bike originally, since the 48 and the 38 tooth rings are both significantly damaged, and since the rings are welded together instead of held together by bolts (and thus they are non-removable.) After spending a great deal of time on the internet and after consulting my LBS, I determined that there was not a decent crankset to be had anywhere for under $40. The problem is that, since I found the TREK in a dumpster to begin with, I would like to keep the re-building cost as low as possible, and I am already approaching the $50 mark due to some unavoidable expenses such as paint, freewheel, bar tape, chain, etc. So today, after nearly a week of frustration, the time came to take matters into my own hands. I decided to use the original crankset, but to modify it by cutting off the 48 and 38 tooth rings, leaving only the 28. This is a little bit crazy, especially as it leaves a gearing ratio of 28:17 which is pretty high, but I figured I'd try it and see how it goes (worst case scenario I buy a new 14 tooth freewheel or something.) So I grabbed my grinder and started cutting. When the smoke cleared, I was left with a custom crankset that only needed a bit of careful filing and a couple coats of matte black Rustoleum to reach full badassness. I won't be able to finish the build until monday due to a wedding and an open bar, but as of right now I'm pretty optimistic that my little chopshop crank job will work great. Here are the pics:
Before:
After:
All you need: Grindalero, Roland Pliers, Roland File
2 comments:
You are the king of the one stop chop shop. I tips me lid.
I don't know if you check this anymore but I have a question. I'm trying to turn my Trek 800 into a single speed and stumbled across your blog. I decided I wanted to use it for some mountain biking and decided to use the 28 tooth chainring like you did because it's in the best condition. When you ground the 48 and 38 tooth chainrings off, did you have to leave part of the 38 tooth chainring on since the crank arm is connected to the 38 tooth chainring? It looks like that's what you did in your pictures but I can't tell for sure. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.
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