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$1,000 of Parts on a $50 Walmart Bike
Every component on a used Huffy replaced to chase a $2,400 Specialized at half the price. It went from 13:18 to 10:40 on the test loop and lost 15lb — and the conclusion was that the frame does matter after all.
- City Commuter (benchmark bike)
City Commuter (benchmark bike)
“I'm glad we did the Walmart bike first, cuz I was kind of like, you know, it's not that bad. And then you get on that and you're like, oh my god. Way better bike. Crazy how much better.”
CUES Groupset
“Shimano, SRAM, Campagnolo — those are all good brands, but our Walmart bike came with Shimano, so it kind of doesn't mean anything. You need to make sure you're getting their good line.”
11-Speed Cassette
“Our new one has 11. Because we don't have those three gears up front, we're making it up in the rear.”
Wide-Narrow Chainring (1x)
“A chain goes wide, narrow, wide, narrow. What a wide-narrow chainring does is line up the teeth with the wide-narrow holes — a tooth made for a wide spot, a tooth made for a narrow spot. That keeps the chain more secure.”
Ride Tour Tyres
“A lot of people don't like tyres that are meant to be really tough and avoid puncture because they're not as smooth of a ride. We live in LA. I'd rather just not have to deal with punctures all the time.”
Rigid Carbon Fork
“Forks with suspension in them like this can often be a marketing gimmick — you can't even adjust them or tune them in any way. This is way lighter, dude. This is carbon fiber.”
ShockStop Suspension Stem
“I kind of splurged and got this Redshift shock-absorbing stem, only because the Specialized had a very similar thing. It's got a spring in the stem — we'll get a little bit of relief in our hands from the bumps, but we won't lose any energy down here from pedalling.”
- Clutch Rear Derailleur
Clutch Rear Derailleur
“The clutch basically lets you make this a lot harder to move. Once it's in place, it wants to stay where it is. Versus this one will just wiggle around like crazy — so you're going to get a bunch of chain slap.”
Derailleur Hanger Alignment Gauge
“If the derailleur is not parallel with your wheel, then it won't be parallel with all of these gears. Imagine the chain, instead of being straight, it's going to be at an angle trying to go up the gears.”