Twenty year old Ross MTB - upgrade or not?

I'm still trying to convince my brother to improve his ride.

He's got a no-suspension, steel frame Ross bike in good condition, but needs
to upgrade the rear sprocket for moderate street riding, get a new chain, and
true the front wheel. (Sorry don't have a pic, and can't find the "Ross bikes" site)

He's afraid that if the bike shop gets started they'll say, 'oh, can't swap the sprocket,
b/c the "inser- expensive-bike-component-here" is bad and needs replaced first.

I told him that even though the bike is 20 years old, it's got a good frame (whole
bike weighs only 32lbs), and is worth spending at least what he paid for it, (and in
today's dollars only, I said -$300),

I think when it's got new lightweight wheels, more road-worthy tires, and a better street-
oriented set of gears, it will fly!

Am I right, or does he really need a new bike? It seems to pass the test for 'bike's I'd grab
at yardsales'.

-Badger

In article ,
Badger_South wrote:
I'm still trying to convince my brother to improve his ride.

He's got a no-suspension, steel frame Ross bike in good condition, but needs
to upgrade the rear sprocket for moderate street riding, get a new chain, and
true the front wheel. (Sorry don't have a pic, and can't find the "Ross bikes" site)

He's afraid that if the bike shop gets started they'll say, 'oh, can't swap the sprocket,
b/c the "inser- expensive-bike-component-here" is bad and needs replaced first.

I told him that even though the bike is 20 years old, it's got a good frame (whole
bike weighs only 32lbs), and is worth spending at least what he paid for it, (and in
today's dollars only, I said -$300),

I think when it's got new lightweight wheels, more road-worthy tires, and a better street-
oriented set of gears, it will fly!

Am I right, or does he really need a new bike? It seems to pass the test for 'bike's I'd grab
at yardsales'.

$300 is way too much to spend on that. You can buy an STI-equipped
used road bike for that much money that would be 1000% better.

Putting smooth tires on the Ross makes sense.

The freewheel and chain I would replace only when worn out.

Buying light wheels for it is nuts.

--Paul

On Fri, 04 Jun 2004 23:07:33 +0000, Paul Southworth wrote:

Buying light wheels for it is nuts.

nuts if you spend too much, you can get an on sale wheelset, cassette,
tires and a fresh chain for about $150. If he decides to get a newer cycle
these can be recycled and he can have a sturdy set of wheels and a racy
set. You'll have to cold set the dropouts + 10mm to make a modern set work
with his old friction shift and I wouldn't get anything more than an eight
speed cassette which'll work just fine with an adjusted old derailleur.

From what I remember of eighties Ross bikes--the frames were servicable
but the wheels sucked. So getting components that'll be recyclable on a
newer ride makes sense. But $300 is silly--you can get a quite nice
"comfort" bike for that kind of dough. It's kind of the magic number, give
me an old ride worth upgrading, and $300 can make it into a very fresh
cycle equivalent in feel to something new in the $800 range--of course for
those that prefer or don't mind friction shifting. Hey, they still make
fretless basses...