- aftermarket parts on Huffy?
Todd M. Felmly
Please no flames or comments on my choice of bike (I only ride 5 miles a
day). I have a Huffy Ironman and would like to know if aftermarket parts
like a new crank would fit right in the frame or am I SOL?
Todd
Rick Denney
You are probably SOL. Your Huffy will have a one-piece crank, which uses
excessively large diameter bottom bracket bearings and a smaller pedal
spindle thread. Consequently, you can't upgrade either with better
stuff, at least not without performing miracles. The dropouts don't have
a hangar, so you'll have to rig something to get a good-quality
derailleur on the bike, and shifters go with the derailleur. The wheels
use a freewheel, probably with 6 speeds (or maybe even five), so the
chain and gears will be non-upgradeable. The handlebar is probably
steel, which has a smaller diameter than the good stuff, so you'll have
to upgrade the stem and bar at the same time, if you can find a stem
that will fit in the steerer. The wheels are bolt-ons, and quick-release
axles won't fit. The rims will be steel, and the brakes stamped from
steel, so make sure your health insurance is paid up. The only thing you
can upgrade is the saddle, and that would be a very good idea.
Even if you could replace everything with the best stuff, you'd turn a
48-pound bicycle into a 40-pound bicycle (or something in that range).
That's 10 pounds more than the cheapest decent bike.
You'd be much, much better off buying a well-used bicycle of even medium
quality, and cleaning it up. It will provide you an upgrade path as
funds permit. Such bikes can be had for the same money as a bike like
yours, including the shop labor to make it functional. If you by the
used bike at a bike shop, it will already be in some kind of running
condition (assuming a reputable shop).
Good luck.
Mike Prybell
Are we forgetting that BMX bikes run all the same size stuff as a
department store huffy. You can get some sweet cranks for it. And you
can get sealed bearing BB and great pedals . There are tons of good stuff
avalable. The only question I have is why bother??
--
>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=
Mike
mikepry...@worldnet.att.net
"A trail is a terrible thing to waste....... Hammer On."
<=<=<=<=<=<=<=<=<=<=<=<=<=<=<=<=<=<=<=<=<=<=<=<=<=
Rick Denney <rde...@mail.viggen.com> wrote in article
<33D3EC...@mail.viggen.com>...
Philip Blaiklock
On the subject of "gaspipe" bikes as they are called (Huffy, Murray,
etc...), I think they have gotten somewhat of a bad rap. Ok, if you buy
a model with derailleur gears and caliper breaks, you will be
dissapointed. I have never seen a bike in a walmrt without one brake
pad dragging on the rim.
However, these brands make for some damn good, and cheap criusers (ie,
backpedal brakes, hub gears, etc). My first real bike was a 3-sp
roadster type of this quality, and I am still banging myself over the
head for selling it. It is the kind of machine that if you crashed it
into a Caddilac, the caddy would have more damage. They may be sluggish
and weigh 50 pounds, but God, bikes like that have soul.
Sincerely,
_________________________________________________________________
|PHILIP BLAIKLOCK /|\ http://washington.xtn.net/~philipb/ |
| Thou /_|_\ |
| Shalt Not \ | / - You Can't Do That On Star Trek! |
| Assume \|/ - The U2 Survey Page! |
|________________________V________________________________________|
"If it had been possible to build the Tower of Babel without
ascending it, the work would have been permitted."
-Franz Kafka
Karl Frantz
Todd M. Felmly wrote:
>
> Please no flames or comments on my choice of bike (I only ride 5 miles a
> day). I have a Huffy Ironman and would like to know if aftermarket parts
> like a new crank would fit right in the frame or am I SOL?
For the most part, yes they will. I wouldn't bother except for repairs,
myself. If you're thinking of a new crank, and the current crank is the
one-piece type, you can get adapter kits to fit a three-piece cotterless
crank. Derailleurs and such are pretty standard and should be no
problem.
What were you thinking of changing?
--
Karl Frantz
Maynard, Massachusetts
fra...@eng.pko.dec.com
Dan cheng
I remember reading quite a while ago here in rbt that somebody was
touting the benefits of riding a Huffy. One of the things he claimed
was that finding replacement parts for ones that wore out was done
simply by contacting Huffy, telling them what part(s) you needed and
they would send them out either for free (I can't remember) or for
some nominal charge (cheap, anyway).
So, that's what I would suggest doing from the get-go.
Good luck!
Dan
In article <EDoLy...@riker.neoucom.edu>,
Todd M. Felmly <tfe...@riker.neoucom.edu> wrote:
>
>Please no flames or comments on my choice of bike (I only ride 5 miles a
>day). I have a Huffy Ironman and would like to know if aftermarket parts
>like a new crank would fit right in the frame or am I SOL?
>
>Todd
>
Jeffrey J. Potoff
Dan cheng wrote:
>
> I remember reading quite a while ago here in rbt that somebody was
> touting the benefits of riding a Huffy. One of the things he claimed
> was that finding replacement parts for ones that wore out was done
> simply by contacting Huffy, telling them what part(s) you needed and
> they would send them out either for free (I can't remember) or for
> some nominal charge (cheap, anyway).
>
I have a hard time believing this from the number of Huffies / Murries,
etc
that came through our shop for repair. Huffies are many LBS bread and
butter. There are thousands of them, and they break a lot. Many times
not because they're all that bad, but because, in general, they are
ridden by 12 years olds who beat the everliving piss out of them.
Jeff
Dave Johnson--see sig to reply
>
>Please no flames or comments on my choice of bike (I only ride 5 miles a
>day). I have a Huffy Ironman and would like to know if aftermarket parts
>like a new crank would fit right in the frame or am I SOL?
NOT trying to be a smartass, but what are you trying to accomplish by
changing the parts on your Huffy? I wouldn't bother making changes to
reduce weight-In order to reduce the weight significantly, you'd have
to spend as much as a new bike. If the crank length is way off, you
might consider changing it, but if it's a 3 piece, it's going to be
expensive. After long searching, I was finally able to find a 3 piece
triple for $25, when someone broke my wife's. Probably nearly the
cheapest triple made. Even a 1 piece will cost, and won't be any
better than what you have. You should be able to find discarded donor
bikes, if you are mechanical enough. If you aren't mechanical, leave
it alone. Bike shop labor will eat a hole in your wallet, when
compared to the price of a Huffy.
Things I might consider:
Switching to slick tires. I've bought Specialized Fat Boys for about
$25/pair, and they make a huge speed difference on my son's bike.
Department stores still carry 26" tires with minimal tread, but these
are still around $7 each.
Toe clips. Once you get used to them, they are the best per-dollar
performance increase on your bike. They can be adapted to almost any
pedal with a little drilling.
Seat: If the one on the bike is uncomfortable, you might find a
better one inexpensively. Many bike shops have semi-new seats
cheap--Often under $5. (They might not be the most comfortable, since
they are most likely leftover from someone improving *their* seat, but
might be more comfortable than what's on there now. Might also have
been replaced by a gram-shaver trying to get an ounce or two off their
bike)
Brake shoes: Can make a big difference in stopping power. Especially
consider new shoes if the Ironman has sidepull brakes.
If it were mine, I'd keep it maintained, but don't try to improve it.
Instead, save your money for a used bike. If you don't insist on a
mountain bike, you won't have to save as much.
_______________________________________________________
To contact me, change mailcity to wesnet. If you forget,
mailcity will remind you.
Joshua_Putnam
In <33D620...@ewi.org> jack moore <jmo...@ewi.org> writes:
>At least until a couple of years ago, Huffy had their own diameter
>headset,
It's been a while since I replaced a Huffy headset, but I seem to
recall them being standard American sized headsets -- not as
common as BSA or JIS, but not limited to just one manufacturer.
32.7 head tube ID, 26.4 crown race, 0.833" stem quill. Not much
in the way of high-end stuff made in this standard, but there at
least used to be CrMo forks with canti studs available.
>one-piece crank arms, and lack of brake bosses (except on their
>higher end bikes). This makes aftermarket stem or fork replacement
>virtually impossible. I'm not sure if a 68 or 73 mm BB will fit but
>it would have to if you want to replace the cranks with an aftermarket
>crankset.
Several manufacturers make BB conversion sets specifically for
using three piece cranks in bottom brackets intended for
Ashtabula-style bottom brackets, some of them even using fairly
decent sealed bearings and hardened CrMo spindles. BMX shops
would be more likely to have this sort of thing than mountain
bike shops.
>If your bike is using a U-brake type system you most likely
>don't have brake bosses on your fork legs. This means it would be
>rather difficult to attach cantelever brakes to either end of your bike.
True, but there are many caliper brakes available that are far
better than the stock stamped steel ones found on most Huffies.
Again, a BMX shop is likely to have these parts while a mountain
bike shop won't.
--
Jo...@WolfeNet.com is Joshua Putnam / P.O. Box 13220 / Burton, WA 98013
"My other bike is a car."
http://www.wolfenet.com/~josh
jack moore
Karl Frantz wrote:
>
> Todd M. Felmly wrote:
> >
> > Please no flames or comments on my choice of bike (I only ride 5 miles a
> > day). I have a Huffy Ironman and would like to know if aftermarket parts
> > like a new crank would fit right in the frame or am I SOL?
>
> myself. If you're thinking of a new crank, and the current crank is the
> one-piece type, you can get adapter kits to fit a three-piece cotterless
> crank. Derailleurs and such are pretty standard and should be no
> problem.
>
> What were you thinking of changing?
>
> --
> Karl Frantz
> Maynard, Massachusetts
> fra...@eng.pko.dec.com
At least until a couple of years ago, Huffy had their own diameter
headset, one-piece crank arms, and lack of brake bosses (except on their
higher end bikes). This makes aftermarket stem or fork replacement
virtually impossible. I'm not sure if a 68 or 73 mm BB will fit but
it would have to if you want to replace the cranks with an aftermarket
crankset. If your bike is using a U-brake type system you most likely
don't have brake bosses on your fork legs. This means it would be
rather difficult to attach cantelever brakes to either end of your bike.
If component upgrading is in your future then I would suggest trying
to find a used MTB frame. I saw new Cr-Mo steel frames available
through Supergo for $100. It's probably a Giant/Trek/etc. frame.
jack
jmo...@ewi.org
Pjwig
You can put a tuxedo on a pig , but it's still a pig.
Bill Weston
> You can put a tuxedo on a pig , but it's still a pig.
Yep. you just can't polish a turd.
Karl Frantz
jack moore wrote:
>
> At least until a couple of years ago, Huffy had their own diameter
> headset, one-piece crank arms, and lack of brake bosses (except on their
> higher end bikes). This makes aftermarket stem or fork replacement
> virtually impossible. I'm not sure if a 68 or 73 mm BB will fit but
> it would have to if you want to replace the cranks with an aftermarket
> crankset. If your bike is using a U-brake type system you most likely
> don't have brake bosses on your fork legs. This means it would be
> rather difficult to attach cantelever brakes to either end of your bike.
>
Like I said, I wouldn't bother except for repairs. Dunno about the
headset sizes, but all the Huffy/Columbia/whatever stems I've seen have
a .833" quill, which is no longer available in *good* aftermarket stems
but you should still be able to get cheap ones, if you need a different
length. Bar clamp diameter ought to be the usual 25.4mm.
All the U-brake installations I've seen have studs (bosses), but they're
in the wrong place for cantilevers. The cheaper Huffys use nasty
stamped-steel sidepulls anyway (worse than U-brakes).
What part of the one-piece crank is non-standard on Huffys (as compared
to other one-piece cranks)? I've encountered different threading for
the races, and differing numbers of balls, but that's about it.
Keep in mind that when you want to sell a complete bike for $89.95,
there isn't going to be much room in the budget for proprietary tooling.
And almost nobody ever buys repair parts for these things, because they
hardly ever get ridden, or aren't worth fixing once broken. The parts
aren't the same as one would find on a decent bike, but that doesn't
make them unique to Huffy or even all that unusual.
Karl
Todd M. Felmly
Rick Denney (rde...@mail.viggen.com) wrote:
: You are probably SOL. Your Huffy will have a one-piece crank, which uses
: excessively large diameter bottom bracket bearings and a smaller pedal
: spindle thread. Consequently, you can't upgrade either with better
This is true.
: chain and gears will be non-upgradeable. The handlebar is probably
: steel, which has a smaller diameter than the good stuff, so you'll have
: to upgrade the stem and bar at the same time, if you can find a stem
: that will fit in the steerer. The wheels are bolt-ons, and quick-release
: axles won't fit. The rims will be steel, and the brakes stamped from
: steel, so make sure your health insurance is paid up. The only thing you
: can upgrade is the saddle, and that would be a very good idea.
Lets not forget that this is an Ironman ATB. It uses at least better
quality 'cheap' parts like a Shimano SIS quick fire shifter, cantilever
brakes w/Shimano pads, alloy wheels and handlebar.
Sheldon Brown
> Jack moore asserted:
>
> >At least until a couple of years ago, Huffy had their own diameter
> >headset,
Joshua_Putnam wrote:
> It's been a while since I replaced a Huffy headset, but I seem to
> recall them being standard American sized headsets -- not as
> common as BSA or JIS, but not limited to just one manufacturer.
> 32.7 head tube ID, 26.4 crown race, 0.833" stem quill. Not much
> in the way of high-end stuff made in this standard, but there at
> least used to be CrMo forks with canti studs available.
This is correct. Since the threads and crown race diameter are
standard, it is possible to install a normal I.S.O./B.S.C. fork in such
a frame. This will also permit the use of a standard 7/8" (22.2 mm)
stem. (You may have to enlarge the hole in the headset lock nut.)
[More good avice from Josh snipt]
I have an article on One-piece Cranks which might be helpful:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/opc.html
Sheldon "Ashtabula" Brown
Newtonville, Massachusetts
+-----------------------------------+
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Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
(617) 244-1040 FAX 244-1041
Jeffrey L. Bell
Copralite was initially discovered by mineral collectors who sold it
to jewlers who made it into brooches. The paleontologists had to
persuade the jewlers to divulge their sources.
Incidentally, there was an a blurb in the Ann Arbor News about an
executive at Huffy. Apparently they are trying to introduce some
higher end bikes. When asked what the biggest obstacle to marketing
them under the name huffy he said "In a word, K-Mart."
-Jeff Bell
Mike Battle
> In article <EDoLy...@riker.neoucom.edu>,
> Todd M. Felmly <tfe...@riker.neoucom.edu> wrote:
> >
> >Please no flames or comments on my choice of bike (I only ride 5 miles a
> >day). I have a Huffy Ironman and would like to know if aftermarket parts
> >like a new crank would fit right in the frame or am I SOL?
> >
> >
Well, the K-Mart or Pep Boys or wherever you got the bike will have some
parts for it.
Also, you will find that many of the Schwinn man's parts will fit, and
are of superior quality, and he, too, will laugh at yer Huffy.
If you want a better crank, the BMX people usta have a crank spindle &
bearing kit that fit the oversize Amerikan/Schwinn bottom bracket &
mounted the 3-peice aluminum alloy crank arms. The cost (certainly by
the time you equip it with arms & sprockets) is about half of what you
paid for the whole bike.
I find I must agree with the comment made elsewhere in this thread, that
if you polish a turd, all you get is a polished turd.
Mikie
--
"By US Code Title 47, Sec.227(a)(2)(B),
a computer/modem/printer meets the definition
of a telephone fax machine.
By Sec.227(b)(1)(C), it is unlawful
to send any unsolicited advertisement to such equipment.
By Sec.227(b)(3)(C), a violation of the aforementioned
Section is punishable by action to recover
actual monetary loss, or $500,
whichever is greater, for each violation."
David Walker
Yeah
BMX shop is the best place to go.
What you have on your crank uses a rough bearing race. Previous postings
refer to the conversion sealed bearing bottom bracket which would cost
anywhere from $40 and up, not including a new crank for another $40 and
up. If you want a lowtech solution replace it with a new bottom bracket
with good Phil' grease and some plastic seals to keep it in. Look for a
Odyssey Dynatron at about $10. Your crank uses 24 threads per inch on
the pitch. The Schwinn size ( 28tpi ) is used on some higher end
chromoly OPC. An excellent chromoly
bottom bracket was Tange with 12 balls, but not sure on availability
anymore.
HUFF & Puffy