bringin back the freewheel

Nobody has any thoughts or answers... unfortunate

spadiusblade said:

Nobody has any thoughts or answers... unfortunate

You will find all the info you need on Sheldon Brown's site.

If you are going to put some new age flare on the bike, the No.1 thing I would do is re-space the rear to 130mm and use a cassette hub. Then you will be able to get parts easily.

Cheers

Geoff

spadiusblade said:

Nobody has any thoughts or answers... unfortunate

Too many options to cover them all.

You can spread the steel frame, put in a 130mm cassette hub and do whatever you want. The real limiting factor would be your budget. You can restore it to near original condition for less than $100 with new tires, tubes, and maybe a chain/freewheel, and cables. Or you can spend $1000+ and go whole hog modern or anywhere in between.

You can use the current crankset with pretty much any drivetrain, although front shifting won't be the best with a 10s chain. Getting a new big chainring will help.

The shifters need to match the number of cassette cogs. Match the chain with the cassette, 7/8 with 8s chain, 9s with 9s, etc...

spadiusblade said:

I currently own an 84 Bridgestone 400. Its old and its kinda ugly, but I love this bike. I was thinking about restoring it with some new age flare here and there. The spacing for the rear wheel is 126mm and currently has a seix xpeed freewheel on it. I was thinking of getting new wheels and a seven speed freewheel. But then I dont really know what chain or crankset to use with it.

Then I thought why not redo the whole group and make it cassette? But I don't know what the largest gear cassette I can away with is and all that. I need your help you savvy bikers you....

So how do you picture yourself riding this bike when it's finished? If it was my bike, that's what would be driving my decision making. I'd definitely want to get rid of the freewheel but I think that I'd probably go with a 7-speed cassette to keep the rear spacing where it is.