Cycling UK Forum

Ouch.
My experience with 5 speed Sturmey started with the a single cable Sprinter unit manufactured in the mid 90's. This clocked up several thousand urban miles and was reliable but prone to weather ingress that was exacerbated by the lack of an oil port. The plastic lever was an ergonomic disaster and with no lever option for a drop-handlebar bike I had to place it side-on to the brake lever which was OK for changing two of the positions in one direction but awkward for any other movement. The hub was recently serviced and declared in good order but has been consigned to the re-use-one-day drawer.
I have recently built up a bike with a twin cable 5 speed hub from, if I remember correctly, the 70's. Again the levers were a hideous mess and totally unsuitable for down tube mounting so, on advice from the web, I am going to fit friction levers and learn the positions by trial and error. Lets hope the hub itself lasts

Friction front shift gets round road/MTB lever/mech. incompatibilities.

Usually but not always:

The problem I had with a recent mech was when I changed only the middle ring for one with 2 teeth less. The chain wouldn't shift up as the chain would get stuck under the shifting ramp on the inner cage plate.

Agree with Norman.

The problem I had with a recent mech was when I changed only the middle ring for one with 2 teeth less. The chain wouldn't shift up as the chain would get stuck under the shifting ramp on the inner cage plate.

I would try to obtain a front mech from that period. They were excellent and not at all fussy about chainring size.
I have had issues with some more modern front mechs. They have shifting ramps designed for specific/relative chainring sizes that baulk if alternatives are substituted.
My 90's mtb has Deore DX/XT and runs a 24/38/48 with an xt shifter. I have had 28/38/48 and 26/36/48 combinations in the past with no difference in shifting quality - which incidentally is near silent with a non-index thumbshifter (which works in the same manner as bar-end shifters).
The Raleigh Randonneur is almost certainly steel, 531 and conventional geometry so will be ideal for a 80's or early 90's LX/DX/XT front mech. You will need bottom cable pull and 28.6 clamp diameter.

I have serviced a few Specialized Sirrus recently and a common problem is hub deterioration. All the ones I have dealt with have unbranded cassette hubs hubs for Shimano or Sram fitment.
The weather seals at the back of the cassette body let water in and this travels through the mechanism and exits via the right hand bearing race, washing out the grease as it goes. The cones wear and the freewheel can lock or spin free.
I have yet to manage to remove a cassette body to establish if it is compatible with another brand - something that is very easy on a Shimano hub with the right tools.
Replacing the whole hub is straightforward if the rest of the wheel is low mileage and in good order. The dimensions of the existing hub need to be compatible with a replacement so the original spokes can be re-used. You are best advised to take it to an experienced wheelbuilder who will determine if, while dissassembling, each component part is fit to be re-used or should be replaced.

I have seen some pretty shocking quality rims. I recently dealt with a not inexpensive, downhill style MTB with un-eyeletted 'A' section rims. As part of the production process the inner wall of the rim had been punched through to allow access to each spoke end. No neat, stress-free drillings for this £800 beastie. Just 64 torn and jagged rings of anodised aluminium.

I covered mine in brush painted smooth Hammerite yellow laying it on thick to give lots of creases and folds for dirt and grime to get stuck in. The yellow looked really tatty in no time. You could add different colour bar tape to each side and take a brush to different components with black silver or rust colour paint to break up the uniformity and create a unloved appearance. I had the advantage of always being able to park in the same place so I simply left my bike locks there to save the bother of carting them around. In 6 years of parking it in Southampton it was never touched once - although I did have to ask Security to snip somebody elses lock when they wrapped it round my bike as well as theirs!

11 speed Shimano front mechs have very different pull ratios to the 10/9/8 speed systems. The cable anchorage arm is at least twice as long so the front shifter has additional take up to match. I would imaging there is a very broad sweep required on the bar-end shifter to change from ring to ring on 11 speed?

Excellent!
You are very brave giving that a go.
Your title suggested something else to me (viewtopic.php?f=5&t=111832&p=1090469#p1090469)
but I am glad I read on.

your rejection of this headset (for a fiver! ) makes no sense to me; the cartridges (which are stainless, right?) at least have seals in them whereas the old design (which you love and I thought was awful) had no seals at all. I never saw one that had been used on a mudguardless bike that wasn't horribly corroded...

Steady on old chap!
I haven't seen an A9 for many a year and didn't remember it lacked seals. I last had one on my hill climb bike which was a very suitable place for such a light headset and, given it's low mileage, good seals weren't necessity. This new item is going back because the gap on the lower race is simply huge. There are better designed cartridge headsets out there for less than the £20 I paid for the A9

The alloy A9 arrived today and it does have cartridge bearings so, in my opinion, not the sort of quality it once was. Futhermore there are no plastic or rubber seals and the gap on the lower bearing assembly is plenty big enough to catch a lot of road spray.
I will be sending it back for a refund.

I bought a black steel A9 headset only a few months ago and was surprised to find that had ball bearings in. I felt robbed but then calmed down a bit when I realised that, perhaps, the price was too much of a bargain after all.
From the same place the alloy version was more than double the price (externally it looks identical to the roller bearing one I had back in the '80s). We shall soon see as it should be here tomorrow but i gotta say, that photo don't look too promising.

You really don't want the rim to wear out. What tends to happen is the sidewalls 'tip' outwards. If you are lucky, contact with the brake blocks will warn you of this. If you are unlucky the tyre blows off, the wheel stops.....

Stronglight A9 - the alloy version had roller bearings running on steel inserts. Not sure if the design is still the same but one is on the way to me from here (http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/HSSTA9/str ... ng-headset) so will report back soon.

Gripshift make grips that are short to match their shifters.