# Trek MT60 Upgrades



## naiku (Apr 17, 2009)

I picked up a 2011 Trek MT60 for my son a week ago, and am now looking to carry out a couple ugprades on it. Mostly going from 6 speed with twist shifter, to 7 speed with a trigger shifter. Eventually things like wheels and brakes, but for now I just want to go to 7 speed, especially as when he has been riding lately he shifts gears using the twist shift while he is braking.

The current cassette is listed as a "Sun Run 14-28" but I can't find any information about it, does anyone know anything about it? What would be a good replacement? I think the rear derailleur should be OK, its a Shimano TX35, and it looks like I can get a shifter fairly cheap. 

I just want to be certain that I am getting something that will fit, before actually ordering anything. I could only really find people upgrading the Hotrock (was my first choice) and not much else.

Thanks.


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## XLR99 (Sep 21, 2010)

Are you sure it's a cassette? My kids' is a freewheel, but it's also a few years older, so they may have changed to a cassette. I ended up getting a 13-28 7spd; choices are pretty limited & I was worried that with a 34 I'd need a long cage RD that would get beat to death.
I'm doing the same thing with hers, the twist grip is aggravating her & I figure going to a standard trigger shift will help when she moves up to a bigger bike.


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## naiku (Apr 17, 2009)

XLR99 said:


> Are you sure it's a cassette? My kids' is a freewheel, but it's also a few years older, so they may have changed to a cassette.


That's one part I am not sure about, Trek list it as a cassette, but I could not find anything else about it. I think the easiest thing will be for me to take it off and confirm which it is.



XLR99 said:


> I'm doing the same thing with hers, the twist grip is aggravating her & I figure going to a standard trigger shift will help when she moves up to a bigger bike.


While my son does not seem that bothered about the grip shifter, the fact that he is inadvertently shifting while braking makes me want to switch it out, not to mention (as you put) it helping when he eventually moves up to a bigger bike.

I am however kicking myself for giving away a full 8 speed setup (shifter, derailleur, cassette and chain) a few months back that I could have probably used.


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## IAmHolland (Jul 8, 2010)

XLR99 said:


> I ended up getting a 13-28 7spd; choices are pretty limited & I was worried that with a 34 I'd need a long cage RD that would get beat to death.


You don't need a long cage for a 34T cog.



naiku said:


> That's one part I am not sure about, Trek list it as a cassette, but I could not find anything else about it. I think the easiest thing will be for me to take it off and confirm which it is.
> 
> While my son does not seem that bothered about the grip shifter, the fact that he is inadvertently shifting while braking makes me want to switch it out, not to mention (as you put) it helping when he eventually moves up to a bigger bike.


I'm pretty sure sunrun is a freewheel. You can also look at the axle, to see if there's a lockring. A freewheel won't have one.

Hotrock, Trek, etc. They are all mostly the same, the mods carry over. Of the 20" bikes I've had (Hotrock and GT Scamp), the same problem areas exist.

Shifting while braking can mean that the hand is not in a neutral position on the bar. It could be wrists down and bearing weight in an odd angle, and then rotating to reach the brake lever or neutral wrists and rotating to have to reach the lever. Either it's form or the levers are in the wrong place. It might not hurt to work on cockpit and instruction. Triggers will just mask it.


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## naiku (Apr 17, 2009)

IAmHolland said:


> Shifting while braking can mean that the hand is not in a neutral position on the bar. It could be wrists down and bearing weight in an odd angle, and then rotating to reach the brake lever or neutral wrists and rotating to have to reach the lever. Either it's form or the levers are in the wrong place. It might not hurt to work on cockpit and instruction.


Thanks, I did already move the levers around some. They originally were almost entirely underneath the bars, they are now just probably about 20 degrees down from horizontal.

Next time he is riding though I will take a look at his wrists, as maybe he is holding them down and having to twist around the bar to brake (which would also make sense as he is twisting forward, and shifting down).


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## Roaming50 (Apr 30, 2009)

On a Trek MT60 you will have a freewheel not a cassette.

Take a look at my thread for the upgrades I did on my son's Hotrock. Somethings to be careful about that I learnt from my build:

- If you change your rear derailleur, most long cage derailleurs are too long for a 20" wheel. You need to search out a short cage or mid cage - which can be hard to find.

- The Shimano Acera SL-310 triggers work well with an Altus rear derailleur but you will most likely have to change out the brake levers as well otherwise the index finger trigger can't be pulled. Avids FR5s work well. If you don't want to change your current derailleur the SL-310 will work with the SIS mech.

- SRAM X3 triggers work well and may not need a brake lever swap (though I would still recommend the Avid FR5) but finding a mid-cage X3 or X4 rear derailleur is hard and you will need to change your SIS derailleur. A long cage X4 will not work with a 20" wheel. Its too low to the ground. You can get an X5 mid cage but it's $64.

When it comes to swapping the 6-speed freewheel to a 7-speed you may need to shim the axle (I found a spring washer worked well) and then re-dish the wheel depending on you current axle spacing.

It's all quite doable. Good luck with your upgrades.


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## Roaming50 (Apr 30, 2009)

BTW, this will be the type of freewheel on your Trek.


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## IAmHolland (Jul 8, 2010)

naiku said:


> Next time he is riding though I will take a look at his wrists, as maybe he is holding them down and having to twist around the bar to brake (which would also make sense as he is twisting forward, and shifting down).


Yep, my daughter does that. I've been working with her to keep the wrists steady, as it's bad for the joint in the long run to put so much pressure on it.

I put a trigger on my daughter's bike (also 1x9) but still working with her on form, even though I had better and easier twist shifters than the crappy Shimano Revo. Given a choice between the X0 twist and X5 trigger, my daughter chose the trigger. My son used twist, 2x8, for the longest time and had no problems. I didn't give him a choice as I was running double chain rings and he would not be able to trigger shift the front. The twist is good for the front as it ratchets up in 1/3 increments instead of a long push for the 1->2 front shift.


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## naiku (Apr 17, 2009)

kerryn said:


> On a Trek MT60 you will have a freewheel not a cassette.
> 
> Take a look at my thread for the upgrades I did on my son's Hotrock. Somethings to be careful about that I learnt from my build:
> 
> ...


Thanks for the info, I have been following your thread fairly closely. For now I plan to keep the original derailleur, so I will look into the shifters you mentioned.

Avid FR5 levers :madman: yep, that is something else I gave away. I was having a garage clear out one weekend, and thought to myself "I won't need these" and donated them on bikeforums.net. Oh well, maybe if I upgrade my bike to BB7's (if I get a set with new levers) or hydro's, I can then put my SD7 levers on my wifes bike, and her FR5's on my sons bike. LOL.


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## IAmHolland (Jul 8, 2010)

kerryn said:


> - If you change your rear derailleur, most long cage derailleurs are too long for a 20" wheel. You need to search out a short cage or mid cage - which can be hard to find.


or spend more.  I don't even like to run long cage on my bikes that are not 3 x something. mid-cage or short-cage, FTW.



kerryn said:


> - The Shimano Acera SL-310 triggers work well with an Altus rear derailleur but you will most likely have to change out the brake levers as well otherwise the index finger trigger can't be pulled. Avids FR5s work well. If you don't want to change your current derailleur the SL-310 will work with the SIS mech.
> 
> - SRAM X3 triggers work well and may not need a brake lever swap (though I would still recommend the Avid FR5) but finding a mid-cage X3 or X4 rear derailleur is hard and you will need to change your SIS derailleur. A long cage X4 will not work with a 20" wheel. Its too low to the ground. You can get an X5 mid cage but it's $64.


Look at the SRAM Attack triggers if you're going to spend money, and if you upgrade to 8/9 speed. I use it on one of my bikes, it has a barrel indicator like the X5. It is very compact and doesn't take up space like Shimano or lower SRAM X3/X4 triggers. Although the X3/X4 is much tighter than a Shimano. I never understood why Shimano has to use that super large display.

The downside of the X3/X4 trigger is that you need a SRAM derailleur. The low end Shimano derailleurs are easier to shift. The springs are very soft, but at the same time they flop around quite a bit, which might not be a bad thing overall. My daughter's X.7 short is tight, but also harder to shift because of it. She's able to move it after some adjustment and cable housing work, but it's still with large effort. She's just turned 6 though, so still small.

Look at the SRAM TRX shifter too (works with Shimano derailleurs), it is compact too, but not so good in the construction area and cheap. Unfortunately (IMO), it's shifting is Shimano like, thumb down, index up, instead of like higher end SRAM using thumb only. Also it doesn't have 2 independent levers, but one that is joined. Based on the direction it rotates it shifts up or down, which is why it is not thumb/thumb action.


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## IAmHolland (Jul 8, 2010)

naiku said:


> Avid FR5 levers :madman: yep, that is something else I gave away.


Tektro levers work just as well as the FR5. The SD7 levers are the only Avid levers worth getting. Anything else, just get Tektro, cheap, abundant and just as functional as the FR5. You just need to get the one that is not in twist shifter configuration, which is the majority of the levers out there, if you are going to use a trigger.

Or get a different trigger like the SRAM Attack, but only if upgrading to 8/9 speed.


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## naiku (Apr 17, 2009)

...


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## naiku (Apr 17, 2009)

Well, I finally got around to this. He had been riding fine with the components that were on there, but was still struggling with the grip shifter, also during a fall he somehow twisted the fork around entirely, which put some stress on the front brake, and tore the noodle.

So, while buying a new brake noodle I took the opportunity to swap out some other parts. Found a mid cage XT derailleur for $20, Acera shifter for $15, and picked up a new 7 speed free wheel. Also discovered I had some nicer brake levers in my parts bin, and put on some flame grips for him. 

Almost have everything put on now, and will get some pictures. I have to find a washer though, as Kerryn posted above, I can't shift onto the smallest cog, so need to find a washer. Other than that its going fairly well. 

I also need to play around with the brake lever / shifter position, at the moment I don't think they are in a good position, but will get to that once I have the gears shifting correctly.

Then it will be trying to service the fork, it seems to do nothing at the moment.


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## Roaming50 (Apr 30, 2009)

Don't forget that you may need to dish the wheel about 1.25mm assuming the washer is about 2.5mm. 

I dished mine in the frame as I do not have a truing stand. With the brakes off I taped some guides to the frame to get a centerline and point to aim for and when from there.


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## naiku (Apr 17, 2009)

kerryn said:


> Don't forget that you may need to dish the wheel about 1.25mm assuming the washer is about 2.5mm.
> 
> I dished mine in the frame as I do not have a truing stand. With the brakes off I taped some guides to the frame to get a centerline and point to aim for and when from there.


Thanks for the tip, I will have to find a nice DIY as I also do not have a stand, and never dished a wheel before.

Annoyingly I need to get to town to pick up a removal tool for the freewheel, the old freewheel I used a somewhat destructive method to remove (I am sure I could rebuild it, but no point). The new one is now on, and my FR-5G is no good for removing it, now I can't take it off to put on a washer. Typical.


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