On Aug 5, 6:01 pm, "Neal" <
[email protected]> wrote:
> I'm starting to ride my old touring bike again that is running a five speed
> freewheel with friction shifters. Is it possible to put on an older shimano
> sis 6 speed freewheel, derailier and indexed shifters? Will I need a longer
> axle and spacers? I know the 120mm frame spacing will probably have to be
> increased too. I can no longer hear if the bike is completely in gear and I
> think the indexing might help but I don't want this project to get to
> complicated and costly.
>
> Neal
You might look for some parts on ebay, but I question whether the old
touring bike is worth the money it would take to install indexed
shifting. Look for a 7s Hyperglide freewheel (which includes those
made by Sun Race), rear derailleur almost anything but pre'97 Dura
Ace, and some type of indexed shifters (assuming Shimano). You
probably want to avoid anything 6s because of the difficulty finding a
freewheel still in usable condition, although maybe someone does still
make them. Be patient, know what you want, and accumulate parts. As
someone else said you could get a lot of benefit from a newer
derailleur while trying to find the right shifters. See this site for
mix and match possibilities:
http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=3946
You could find info on the Web about DIY respacing the rear dropouts,
because the cost of getting a pro job might be more than the total
cost of all the parts.
"Touring bike" can mean a lot of things. If the bike is a very high
quality old 531 frame most likely made in England it would be worth it
(yes, I know there were quality frames made in other places with other
tubing 35 years ago); otherwise, probably not, IMO, because you can
get something used for a couple hundred dollars that does what you
want with indexed shifting and proper spacing, and keep the old bike
as your occasional "retro" ride.