Any way to adapt an 8/9 speed wheel to take a 6 speed screw on cassette?

[al77]

Is there any way to adapt an 8/9 speed wheel to take a 6 speed screw on
cassette? I know this might sound a bit daft but i'm happy with my 6
speed cass & shifters but most of the wheels I see on ebay or similar
are for 8-9 speed, so am wondering if I could adapt one to take a screw
on 6 speed cass somehow?

thanks,

Alan

 

[Clive George]

"al77" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Is there any way to adapt an 8/9 speed wheel to take a 6 speed screw on
> cassette? I know this might sound a bit daft but i'm happy with my 6
> speed cass & shifters but most of the wheels I see on ebay or similar
> are for 8-9 speed, so am wondering if I could adapt one to take a screw
> on 6 speed cass somehow?

No - they're completely different. And it's a much better design.

(this assumes when you say 6 speed cass you actually have a 6 speed
freewheel)

cheers,
clive

 

[al77]

Ok, thanks. Yes It's a 6 speed screwe on freewheel, I'll just keep my
eyes open for suitable wheels then...


Clive George wrote:
> "al77" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Is there any way to adapt an 8/9 speed wheel to take a 6 speed screw on
> > cassette? I know this might sound a bit daft but i'm happy with my 6
> > speed cass & shifters but most of the wheels I see on ebay or similar
> > are for 8-9 speed, so am wondering if I could adapt one to take a screw
> > on 6 speed cass somehow?
>
> No - they're completely different. And it's a much better design.
>
> (this assumes when you say 6 speed cass you actually have a 6 speed
> freewheel)
>
> cheers,
> clive

 

[David Martin]

al77 wrote:
> Ok, thanks. Yes It's a 6 speed screwe on freewheel, I'll just keep my
> eyes open for suitable wheels then...

You could get a set of appropriate spacers and build a six speed
cassette. Are you using indexed gears? Why the desire to stay at
6-speed?

...d

 

[patrick j]

On Sun, 3 Sep 2006 13:10:48 +0100, David Martin wrote
(in article <[email protected]>):

> al77 wrote:
>> Ok, thanks. Yes It's a 6 speed screwe on freewheel, I'll just keep my
>> eyes open for suitable wheels then...
>
> You could get a set of appropriate spacers and build a six speed
> cassette. Are you using indexed gears? Why the desire to stay at
> 6-speed?

I can understand the desire to stay at six speeds. My favourite bike is a
seven speed and for some reason I rather enjoy it's limited number of speeds
compared with the very narrow spaces on the latest bikes. I think it might be
to do with just knowing which speeds I am in at any given time. I might just
be deluding myself however.

In the coming months I will be changing it to a nine speed as the cassette
for this particular bike (my Moulton AM7) is very rare indeed as it is quite
specialised in nature. It can still be bought "new" or at least unused if
old, but at a considerable price. It has a nine tooth small sprocket and is
in fact constructed from a six speed.

Fortunately with minor modifications a modern nine speed will go on the
bicycle very successfully having rebuilt wheel with new hub of course.

However I rather like the standard seven speeds so I'll miss it


--
Patrick
My bikes: Moulton AM7 and two Moulton APBs - an R18 and a "mongrel"
Pic of R18: <http://patrickjames.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/R18.jpg>

 

[vernon levy]

> You could get a set of appropriate spacers and build a six speed
> cassette. Are you using indexed gears? Why the desire to stay at
> 6-speed?
>
Because they're good enough?

My Galaxy has a seven speed Megarange cassette which, for most rides, is
treated as a six speed and it meets my needs well.

I remember when I had a Sun three speed derraileur bike and I coped with
that. Mind you I was 1/2 of my current weight and was 1/3 of my current
age.

When I 'downgraded' my 24 speed Sora equipped road bike by fitting a
Megarange block instead of the close ratio road block it cam fitted with, I
found the gear ratio spread much more suited to my riding style even though
I had one less useable ratio for normal circumstances.

 

[Mike Causer]

On Sun, 03 Sep 2006 13:26:06 +0100, patrick j wrote:

> In the coming months I will be changing it to a nine speed as the cassette
> for this particular bike (my Moulton AM7) is very rare indeed as it is
> quite specialised in nature. It can still be bought "new" or at least
> unused if old, but at a considerable price. It has a nine tooth small
> sprocket and is in fact constructed from a six speed.
>
> Fortunately with minor modifications a modern nine speed will go on the
> bicycle very successfully having rebuilt wheel with new hub of course.

What hub are you planning to use? My AM7 needs a new back wheel too.
As I'm a spinner the 10 tooth top cog/lockring is almost untouched, so I'm
hoping I can get part of the cost back by selling it. Apart from that
only the rim is worth hanging onto, everything else is worn out.


Mike

 

[Rob Morley]

In article <[email protected]>
al77 <[email protected]> wrote:
> Is there any way to adapt an 8/9 speed wheel to take a 6 speed screw on
> cassette? I know this might sound a bit daft but i'm happy with my 6
> speed cass & shifters but most of the wheels I see on ebay or similar
> are for 8-9 speed, so am wondering if I could adapt one to take a screw
> on 6 speed cass somehow?
>
A screw-on block isn't a cassette, it's a freewheel (unless you mean the
Uniglide cassette style that had a threaded top sprocket instead of a
lockring). The newer cassette hubs can be used with seven speed
sprockets by adding spacers - you will need to re-space your rear
dropouts as current hubs use 130mm axles instead of the older 120/126mm
spacing, but that's a fairly easy job with a steel frame. If you can
find a six speed cassette (rare these days) you could also fit that to a
8/9 speed freehub body, although you will need to use a non-threaded top
sprocket and adjust the spacing.

 

[patrick j]

On Sun, 3 Sep 2006 14:49:14 +0100, Mike Causer wrote
(in article <[email protected]>):

> What hub are you planning to use? My AM7 needs a new back wheel too.
> As I'm a spinner the 10 tooth top cog/lockring is almost untouched, so I'm
> hoping I can get part of the cost back by selling it. Apart from that
> only the rim is worth hanging onto, everything else is worn out.

Hi Mike

I will probably use an upmarket Shimano hub and then I will use a Shimano
cassette with an 11 tooth smallest sprocket.

However there is something important to consider which is that to use a
cassette with 11 tooth small sprocket you must get the drop-outs replaced by
Alex Moulton bicycles because the 11 tooth sprocket will collide with the
frame. It might be that you could get any frame builder to do this but the
drop-outs on Moultons are not standard, the derailleur hanger is in a
different position from normal as you probably know.

In my case I will raise the gearing by using a larger chainwheel.

--
Patrick
My bikes: Moulton AM7 and two Moulton APBs - an R18 and a "mongrel"
Pic of R18: <http://patrickjames.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/R18.jpg>

 

[[email protected]]

al77 wrote:
> Is there any way to adapt an 8/9 speed wheel to take a 6 speed screw on
> cassette? I know this might sound a bit daft but i'm happy with my 6
> speed cass & shifters but most of the wheels I see on ebay or similar
> are for 8-9 speed, so am wondering if I could adapt one to take a screw
> on 6 speed cass somehow?

No way to adapt a cassette hub to freewheel but, if you could put up
with a 7 speed screw-on freewheel these might do:

http://www.edinburgh-bicycle.co.uk/catalogue/detail.cfm?ID=19546

I have a pair and they seem fine.

 

[Simon Brooke]

in message <[email protected]>, al77
('[email protected]') wrote:

> Is there any way to adapt an 8/9 speed wheel to take a 6 speed screw on
> cassette? I know this might sound a bit daft but i'm happy with my 6
> speed cass & shifters but most of the wheels I see on ebay or similar
> are for 8-9 speed, so am wondering if I could adapt one to take a screw
> on 6 speed cass somehow?

No, and this is a good thing. The screw on free-wheel is a totally
appalling piece of design. The bearings are in the wrong place, the
axles bend, and the freewheel tightens itself up in use and is
absolutely appalling to remove. A modern back wheel also won't fit in a
frame designed for a 6-speed freewheel because the over-locknut
measurement is greater.

Do yourself a favour and move to modern kit. If your frame is steel you
can cold-set (bend) it to take 130mm OLN wheels.

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; Human history becomes more and more a race between
;; education and catastrophe.
H.G. Wells, "The Outline of History"

 

[[email protected]]

al77 wrote:
> Is there any way to adapt an 8/9 speed wheel to take a 6 speed screw on
> cassette? I know this might sound a bit daft but i'm happy with my 6
> speed cass & shifters but most of the wheels I see on ebay or similar
> are for 8-9 speed, so am wondering if I could adapt one to take a screw
> on 6 speed cass somehow?

I have bought cheap screw on hub wheels a coouple of times in the last
10 years with no delay at local bike shops.Just ask. They won't be
fancy but mine lasted long enough for the price of 20pounds plus.
In view of the other comments it's interesting that I have two
redundant such wheels in the garage with broken axles.
They will get you a 6 speed hub easily for about 14gbp.
Decathlon Eastwood have these wheels hanging up when I look.
TerryJ

 

[[email protected]]

> They will get you a 6 speed hub easily for about 14gbp.
6 speed freewheel