Replacing old school 3*9 drivetrain with newer gear

John U

MTB Precision
I want to update my old man's 3*9 drivetrain on his old 26" hard tail with newer gear.

Some of the replacement options mention chainline. This is something I've never needed to worry about when replacing drive chains on bikes.

Something like this looks good.
https://www.ebay.com.au/i/122733314...%3D705-139619-5960-0%26rvr_id%3D1356316715995

What issues Should I look out for with this upgrade. Front dérailleur clamp is customisable. Only thing that concerns me is the chain line thing.
 

Halo1

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I went 1x9 then 1x10 then 1x11 on my 26er and never bothered to worry about the chain line. I used the original 3x cranks for the first 2 upgrades and just replaced the middle ring with a Narrow wide ring. I am following this now in case I missed something.
 

Lazmo

Old and hopeless
I want to update my old man's 3*9 drivetrain on his old 26" hard tail with newer gear.
Being an old man myself, and with my main bike being originally 3*9, I have two questions.

How old is your old man?

Does he ever use the front granny gear while riding?
 

John U

MTB Precision
Thanks for all the replies.

$440 for slx 1x11 including brakes and cranks on Merlin. Mad not to.
For simplicity's sake this sounds good. Can't find the all inclusive set for $440 though. $540 was as close as I got.

Being an old man myself, and with my main bike being originally 3*9, I have two questions.

How old is your old man?

Does he ever use the front granny gear while riding?
He has his OBE. Don't think he uses the granny much, if at all.

I replaced the cables on his set up over the weekend hoping to improve the shifting but it's still not good. He rides it out on the rail trail mostly. There's a few hills and it gets windy at times. I just to make the riding as enjoyable as possible so he'll keep doing it. Chain cassette and rings all look ok. Think shifters might be rooted.
 
Or about $170 for shifter, chain, cassette and derailleur. $20 Chinese NW ring on eBay.
This is my set up.
Got Zee RD and shifter in wide range 10spd. Cheapo NW chainring, working fine so far.
And have run the same set up on both kids bikes when they had geared bikes.
 

The Duckmeister

Has a juicy midrange
There isn't anything fundamentally different between 3x9 & newer stuff (beyond the additional gears of course), except for the SRAM cassettes with 10T top sprocket that need a specific freewheel body, which probably can't be retrofitted to your current hub. 10 & 11-sp. cassettes that stick with the 11T top gear will fit the existing hub.

As far as chainline goes, 1x systems will generally place the ring in the same alignment as the middle of a 3x. For 2x there's a bit of difference of opinion. Shimano place the two rings in the same alignment as the small & middle of a 3x, while SRAM place the two rings effectively in the gaps between the 3x. Be wary of "Boost" stuff, which moves the rings 3mm outboard to maintain proper alignment with cassettes on "Boost" hubs, which are 6mm wider than standard.
 

The Duckmeister

Has a juicy midrange
I replaced the cables on his set up over the weekend hoping to improve the shifting but it's still not good.
Did you replace the outers as well or just the inner cables? If you didn't do the outers, there's a fair chance the inner sleeve is worn, which will still cause crappy shifting even with new inners.

Worn or more commonly gummed-up shifters will manifest themselves with slipped or missed shifts as the ratchets don't engage properly. A generous spray of a light lubricant worked into the shifters to soften the cheesy grease does the trick.
 

slowmick

38-39"
Does your old man like change?

i was not a huge fan of 2 x 10 when i first changed from 3 x 9. everything was different. The low wasn't as low and the high wasn't as high and the it took me a while to get used to where i should be on the cassette.

would it be enough for him to lose interest? Can he have a spin on one of your new fangled bikes and have a try? Just a thought. maybe i am just a muppet.
 

John U

MTB Precision
Did you replace the outers as well or just the inner cables? If you didn't do the outers, there's a fair chance the inner sleeve is worn, which will still cause crappy shifting even with new inners.

Worn or more commonly gummed-up shifters will manifest themselves with slipped or missed shifts as the ratchets don't engage properly. A generous spray of a light lubricant worked into the shifters to soften the cheesy grease does the trick.
Replaced inners and outers. Might be worth a try. What sort of light lubricant would you recommend?
 

John U

MTB Precision
Does your old man like change?

i was not a huge fan of 2 x 10 when i first changed from 3 x 9. everything was different. The low wasn't as low and the high wasn't as high and the it took me a while to get used to where i should be on the cassette.

would it be enough for him to lose interest? Can he have a spin on one of your new fangled bikes and have a try? Just a thought. maybe i am just a muppet.
I still find the same thing Mick.

He spends most time in the middle chain ring. If anything 1 * might be a goer for him.

He's pretty happy with his set up. Doesn't suffer from upgraditis.
 

moorey

call me Mia
Thanks for all the replies.



For simplicity's sake this sounds good. Can't find the all inclusive set for $440 though. $540 was as close as I got.



He has his OBE. Don't think he uses the granny much, if at all.

I replaced the cables on his set up over the weekend hoping to improve the shifting but it's still not good. He rides it out on the rail trail mostly. There's a few hills and it gets windy at times. I just to make the riding as enjoyable as possible so he'll keep doing it. Chain cassette and rings all look ok. Think shifters might be rooted.
Merlin can be dicks. Their additional discount at checkout comes and goes from day to day. Was there Friday, and a few weeks ago when I bought my full groupo for $445.
$193 is still great for just train though.
Where are you again? I bought mine as spare, just coz. Still in the box. You could have it for what it owes me, except post is the bugger. I'll re-buy if they come back on special one day...or not, and use the money for something else.
Lemme know if it's any good to you.
 

John U

MTB Precision
Merlin can be dicks. Their additional discount at checkout comes and goes from day to day. Was there Friday, and a few weeks ago when I bought my full groupo for $445.
$193 is still great for just train though.
Where are you again? I bought mine as spare, just coz. Still in the box. You could have it for what it owes me, except post is the bugger. I'll re-buy if they come back on special one day...or not, and use the money for something else.
Lemme know if it's any good to you.
That would be awesome Moorey. Pm incoming.
 
I run 3 X 9, rarely use the big ring. When the drive train craps out I guess I'll see if I can go 1X but I kinda don't see the point other than the old style gear seems to just get phased out so will be forced to if I want something decent.
 
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