Can i move my shifters?

[rferguson61]

Im new to cycling. I picked up an old Schwinn Sprint for free. It needs some love so im slowly upgrading it. My latest upgrade was from a threaded riser to thread-less. I have run into a problem. The shifters mounted on the quill (that was much longer) before and i dont have enough room to mount them on the thread-less. My buddy has a Traveler with the shifters on the downtube...is it possible to move them from the riser to the downtube using the same clamp? I dont really wanna drop $50 on a new mount...on a budget here. I dont see a problem with it...but ive been wrong before. Thanks!

 

[danfoz]

If they are the old school "friction" shifters I'm seeing them on eFray for as low as $10. I'm gathering $50 is the quote from the local bike shop?

Hopefully someone mechanically inclined will respond. Good luck.

 

[daveryanwyoming]

Originally Posted by rferguson61 .

Im new to cycling. I picked up an old Schwinn Sprint for free. It needs some love so im slowly upgrading it. My latest upgrade was from a threaded riser to thread-less. I have run into a problem. The shifters mounted on the quill (that was much longer) before and i dont have enough room to mount them on the thread-less. My buddy has a Traveler with the shifters on the downtube...is it possible to move them from the riser to the downtube using the same clamp? I dont really wanna drop $50 on a new mount...on a budget here. I dont see a problem with it...but ive been wrong before. Thanks!

The question is whether the shifter mounting clamp with that was clamped around your stem's quill is the same diameter or has enough expansion range to clamp around your downtube. Since you have the parts and have already removed the shift mounting clamp from the old stem it should be easy enough to find out.

If your current shifter mount won't fit your downtube you can buy one from Problem Solvers for $40 http://www.jensonusa.com/!FBsbqqqgSr3rSyUex8QzUQ!/Problem-Solvers-Downtube-Shifter-Mount?utm_source=FRGL&utm_medium=organic&gclid=CMGwn8qEvrcCFWKCQgodYgQAXw

So not quite as much as you've estimated but still not free. You might also be able to find one scavenged off an older frame that used a clamp on shifter mount but that will likely be difficult as most bikes equipped with downtube shifters used brazed on shifter bosses and not a removable clamp.

Good luck,
-Dave

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Most of the old quill type stem clamp diameters are smaller than D-tube diameters. Some Schwinns utilized a plate type mount that was sandwiched in between the locknut and upper bearing race.

Friction? Index? 6-speed? 7-speed?

For as little as $10-$15 you can buy new Sunrace index shifters. The quality is not up to shimaNO, but they do work. http://www.yellowjersey.org/friction.html

Many bike shops still have NOS D-tube shifters in parts bin and used take-offs that aren't worth much. Try your local shops.

 

[rferguson61]

Originally Posted by CAMPYBOB .

Most of the old quill type stem clamp diameters are smaller than D-tube diameters. Some Schwinns utilized a plate type mount that was sandwiched in between the locknut and upper bearing race.

As i woke up and looked at my bike this morning (its kept in my room since my city is in the top two for bike theft) it hit me that the downtube is almost twice the size of the quill and wouldnt work. They arent index, its a 10 speed. I dont know what friction means....like i said still new here. lol

 

[daveryanwyoming]

Originally Posted by rferguson61 ....I dont know what friction means....like i said still new here. lol

Friction shifters just use friction to hold them in place in any selected gear, push the levers forward or pull them back and listen to the noise the chain makes to know when you've centered the shifter over the gear and aren't rattling around between two gears.

Indexed shifters have click indents, one for each gear you select. If they're properly adjusted each indexed click represents one gear and you get the correct shift without a need to fine tune it to reduce chain noise from the chain being between two gear choices. If they're not well adjusted then they'll always make a bit of noise with the chain not settling properly onto only the chosen gear.

Shift levers designed to be mounted on the stem or the downtube can be either an indexed type with the click indents (which usually can also be operated in a friction mode by rotating a knob) or pure friction shifters with no click indents for each gear.

-Dave

 

[rferguson61]

Thanks Dave! Totally makes sense now. Ill have to check mine. Im 99% sure they are pure friction but im questioning because the ones on the Traveler that im building up for my sister seem to have a little knob that can be turned but i didnt know what it was for. Thanks again!

 

[jpr95]

The little knob could just be a friction adjustment--something all friction shifters have. If the shifters won't stay in one position on their own, you tighten the knob (often it's a little D-ring) until they stay put.

 

[danfoz]

All this talk of DT friction shifters reminds me of my first road bike in the early 80's.

It was a $199 42" wheelbase Taiwanese 25lb tank with steel rims, "safety" brake levers, and stem shifters. After taking a hacksaw to the nubs left after removing those safety levers and throwing on some Dia Compe rubber brake hoods, the first real upgrade was a set of Campy Nouvo Record downtube clamp-on shifters I got out of a used parts bin. Totally transformed the bike. Well maybe not functionally but it looked a whole lot more "pro".

 

[CAMPYBOB]

"the first real upgrade was a set of [COLOR= rgb(255, 0, 0)]Campy[/COLOR] Nouvo Record downtube clamp-on shifters I got out of a used parts bin."

Please.

In the interests of our Olde Engrish and Cherman brethren and world peace, use the politically correct terms "Campag" (from the Middle Engrish, meaing: To cost too much) or "Campa" (from the Low German, meaning: Der engineering iz too simple!).

Your first road machine sounds similar to my 1972 Schwinn Continental except you got at 13-pound weight break over my boat anchor. I have a similar tale of eliminating the brake safety levers, pie plate, KICKSTAND and horrible rubber-coated seat. There were Schwinn Approved Weinmann brakes on mine, which Dia-Compe copied to perfection! I never did move the stem shifters. I took the more reasonable road and sold the tank.

 

[danfoz]

Originally Posted by CAMPYBOB .


I took the more reasonable road and sold the tank.

I probably ended up dumping way to much $$ before wising up. Mine came with some kind of centerpulls, nowhere close to Weinman quality. But since centerpulls were definitely not pro looking in the 80's those were the next parts on the scrap heap. Replaced with some extra long reach sidepulls that just barely made it to the rim, followed by some nicer 700c custom wheels from bike Nashbar (still clinchers) which made a staggering performance increase over the stock 27"s, and the first 19c clinchers to hit the market (I think they were Wolbers but they definitely rode like ****) along with a Concor saddle purchased from a bike shop on the Champs Elysees itself, topped off with a 14-18 freewheel (possibly a Regina?). Yes I know, bizarre gear ratio. That iteration actually made podium at Bear Mountain in 1982.

Eventually was able to replace the old girl with a "real" road bike (i.e. with forged dropouts and not stamped steel), a used Peugeot, albeit a low end one but at least the 3 main tubes were 531. A size too big (remedied by some Cinelli 66 deep drop bars) but heck she worked well and did the job. The Concor saddle came along for the ride on the next couple of bikes until I tore it up in a wreck.

 

[danfoz]

Just coming from the deli and passed this. Schwinn is one of those companies that produced bikes on the extreme ends of each spectrum. Looks like a piece of junk today but once upon a time I bet this baby was running hot laps in Central Park at 6:30am. Braze on shifters to boot...





Hopefully we are somewhat back on topic.

 

[alienator]

Just coming from the deli and passed this. Schwinn is one of those companies that produced bikes on the extreme ends of each spectrum. Looks like a piece of junk today but once upon a time I bet this baby was running hot laps in Central Park at 6:30am. Braze on shifters to boot... Hopefully we are somewhat back on topic.

Schwinn had some excellent bicycles. From about the same period as the bicycle in your photo was a Schwinn I had, a light blue Schwinn 974 built up with Shimano 600. I don't have a photo of it, but it looked an awful lot like this one. I even eventually put a Selle Italia Flite saddle, one that I picked up at Nashbar one day while roaming their store in Youngstown.

Of course it had downtube shifters, and it also had Schwinn's funky seat post, the one with an internal expander that negated the need for a seat post clamp.