Have a very old Roberts tourer (frame #404), modified in the 1980s with a 130mm rear end. I'm currently running a triple chainset (Stronglight), a Deore FM and a Deerhead RM, with Shimano 105 downtube shifters (it's 7 speed at the moment).
Question is, I'm restoring this bicycle and want to replace the triple with a compact double and like to ask forum members what their thoughts are with regard to a suitable transmission - front and rear mechs, plus I'd like to replace the downtube shifters (with a brake lever/gear shift combo) - is a 130mm rear suitable for 8 speed (or 9 or 10) ?
All suggestions welcome.
John.
Gearing advice sought please.
Re: Gearing advice sought please.
if the present stuff is worn out then fair enough, maybe you need some new bits, but if you are expecting transformation of some kind in going to a compact double, prepare yourself for a disappointment. Unless you choose your ratios very carefully you will just end up running cross-chained most of the time.
A 130mm OLN rear end will accept 'road' wheels of 8,9, 10, and even 11s. However all these wheels are heavily dished and are not that strong, for a touring bike.
A thinking man's choice would be to use a triple ( extant?) chainset, 8 from 9s cassette fitted to (your extant?) 7s freehub body (which is a much stronger wheel because it is less dished). If you want the shifters on the handlebars there are various ways of achieving that.
You don't say if you are using dropped handlebars or what brakes you have. If you are planning to use modern STIs for dropped bars, this opens a new can of worms regarding brake compatibility; new STIs use a new brake cable pull ratio that doesn't work very well with most older brakes.
cheers
A 130mm OLN rear end will accept 'road' wheels of 8,9, 10, and even 11s. However all these wheels are heavily dished and are not that strong, for a touring bike.
A thinking man's choice would be to use a triple ( extant?) chainset, 8 from 9s cassette fitted to (your extant?) 7s freehub body (which is a much stronger wheel because it is less dished). If you want the shifters on the handlebars there are various ways of achieving that.
You don't say if you are using dropped handlebars or what brakes you have. If you are planning to use modern STIs for dropped bars, this opens a new can of worms regarding brake compatibility; new STIs use a new brake cable pull ratio that doesn't work very well with most older brakes.
cheers
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Re: Gearing advice sought please.
Thanks Brucey,
currently has Miche hubs laced to Mavic MA3s - so good wheels, brakes are Deore - not sure how old but arms are at right angles to seat stay if that helps ? Would like a more compact cantilever if possible.
The chainrings are past their best so a new chainset is required - I do have a not-very-used Deore triple in my spares cache, guess I could team this with the not-very-used Deore rear mech I have one and an 8 speed freewheel ?
I'd rather not keep downtube shifters what are the options ?
I use a Randonneur 'bar.
Thanks, John.
currently has Miche hubs laced to Mavic MA3s - so good wheels, brakes are Deore - not sure how old but arms are at right angles to seat stay if that helps ? Would like a more compact cantilever if possible.
The chainrings are past their best so a new chainset is required - I do have a not-very-used Deore triple in my spares cache, guess I could team this with the not-very-used Deore rear mech I have one and an 8 speed freewheel ?
I'd rather not keep downtube shifters what are the options ?
I use a Randonneur 'bar.
Thanks, John.
Re: Gearing advice sought please.
STIs that were launched pre 2008 have the cable pull that works best with cantis. If you want to use a later model STI then a high MA canti (such as BR-CX70) is an option, but these STIs are mostly 9s or higher.
Road triple STIs will only work road triple front mechs directly or MTB triple front mechs with a travel agent adapter. Road double STIs won' t work a triple FD at all.
Other shifter options include
- bar end shifters
- paul's thumbies (you can mount your DT levers on these brackets)
- Kelly's take offs
and there are many others eg I have made a bracket that fits onto the stem nosebolt that allows a set of band-on DT levers to be fitted to It. Any conversion to bar-mounted shifter needs you to fit 'ergo boss' cable stops to the DT lever bosses.
Some Campag ergos have non-indexed LH shifting and will work almost any FD. Rear shifting is a bit of a minefield for an otherwise shimano system but there are workarounds; a 10s campag ergo will shift an 8s shimano rear mech on an 8s shimano system, or a an 11s mech (or RD4700) on a shimano 10s system (perhaps with a little tweak) and campag 11s shifters will shift a shimano 9s mech on a shimano 9s system. Current cheaper campag 11s shifters are however not durable and earlier 10s models are starting to suffer from limited parts availability. Campag brake cable pull works OK with most cantis.
Re chainsets if you use an MTB chainset at its intended chainline (~50mm) then some 'road' FDs won't reach far enough to get to the big ring. If you like the extant chainset, you can get replacement chainrings (eg from Spa cycles) which fit most common chainsets.
cheers
Road triple STIs will only work road triple front mechs directly or MTB triple front mechs with a travel agent adapter. Road double STIs won' t work a triple FD at all.
Other shifter options include
- bar end shifters
- paul's thumbies (you can mount your DT levers on these brackets)
- Kelly's take offs
and there are many others eg I have made a bracket that fits onto the stem nosebolt that allows a set of band-on DT levers to be fitted to It. Any conversion to bar-mounted shifter needs you to fit 'ergo boss' cable stops to the DT lever bosses.
Some Campag ergos have non-indexed LH shifting and will work almost any FD. Rear shifting is a bit of a minefield for an otherwise shimano system but there are workarounds; a 10s campag ergo will shift an 8s shimano rear mech on an 8s shimano system, or a an 11s mech (or RD4700) on a shimano 10s system (perhaps with a little tweak) and campag 11s shifters will shift a shimano 9s mech on a shimano 9s system. Current cheaper campag 11s shifters are however not durable and earlier 10s models are starting to suffer from limited parts availability. Campag brake cable pull works OK with most cantis.
Re chainsets if you use an MTB chainset at its intended chainline (~50mm) then some 'road' FDs won't reach far enough to get to the big ring. If you like the extant chainset, you can get replacement chainrings (eg from Spa cycles) which fit most common chainsets.
cheers
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Re: Gearing advice sought please.
I would second Brucey's advice re sticking to your wheels and fitting an 8 speed cassette. I would also suggest fitting bar-end levers. I do like STI levers but I'm also a big fan of bar ends. You can buy Shimano Ultegra 8 speed bar ends.
https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m2b0s108p14 ... d-Shifters
I've just fitted a pair on my wife's Moulton along with an 8 speed cassette and I run bar-ends on my Moulton. They fall to hand very nicely and you won't have the problems of trying to get your triple to work with whatever mech / chainset combo you're using.
Ian
https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m2b0s108p14 ... d-Shifters
I've just fitted a pair on my wife's Moulton along with an 8 speed cassette and I run bar-ends on my Moulton. They fall to hand very nicely and you won't have the problems of trying to get your triple to work with whatever mech / chainset combo you're using.
Ian