Spare Parts or Upgrade for Bicycles


The brake caliper is upgraded with the cheapest which cost less than RM20 each. The discs cost less than RM15. The adapter, less than RM10. I made a mistake by initially planning to upgrade to 180 mm until I found that the 203 mm discs allow better braking performance and does not cost much more.

Because I am stll waiting for a cheap 203mm front adapter, I upgraded the front with the new caliper and the 180 mm discs. The replacement calipers use larger pads and are compatible with the adapters. The original calipers are unfortunately too small. The PM screw spacing is less than 74 mm, when the adapters require 74 mm.

I do not throw away the original parts. They become the spare parts. Strangely, they are not compatible with all the parts that are available for sale. This is another reason why we should upgrade instead of using original parts.  Original parts are too difficult to find.

The 7-speed Threaded Freewheel is upgraded to the Shimano Megarange 14 - 34 T. No need to upgrade the Derailleur Tourney RD Tz. It came with the Begassu Soldier Full Suspension Folding Mountain Bicycle.

It is so difficult to remove the rear wheel without removing the derailleur and its  guard. Much easier to just remove them first.

There is no need to change the chain. The 34T gear can work with the 24T for the front derailleur, which is what we should do to reduce cross chaining losses. The rear and front derailleurs must be set to the same gear range.

I notice that there is still a lot of space for a larger Freewheel, so probably we can upgrade to a 9-speed, without changing the chain also. But we need to change the shifter.

Price of parts would be much higher compared to equivalent spare parts. My policy is to buy parts that only cost slightly higher than the original specs.

This Shimano Megarange costed me RM50. The original Freewheel has the lowest gear of 28T which is not low enough to climb steep hills. 34T is the lowest gear for a 7-speed.

I have ordered a DNP 11-34T Freewheel for RM90 from Aliexpress so it will take  more than 2 months to arrive. The highest gear of 11T is higher than Shimano Megarange which only has 14T. 11T is useful for the Oscar which can be fitted with a 1000W hub motor using its V-brake which is a rim type. This hub motor cannot be fitted with disc brakes, either in frames for disc brakes or even rim-brakes with an adapter. It is too big.

I thought my bicycle is too small but because they are mountain bikes, their hubs are already large.

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