iceberg said:
Need help:
I have an older, steel frame, Fuji Team bike from around the 80's/90's with a Shimano 600 set up that needs, i think, an overhaul on the drivetrain. the front deraileur is ok but i think i need a replacement for the rear along with new chain. also need a new cogset and hub in the rear as well.
i'm out of my league on these repairs and will have a good, local shop do them for me. they can order the parts necessary and figure it all out but that'll come at a higher price. ideally i'd like to order the parts needed and have them install. so here's where i need some advice:
1. is it possible to find a new 7 speed rear deraileur, cogset, hub, chain?
2. is it possible to upgrade to 8 or 9 speed?
3. where might i look to either order &/or find specs on what would work on my bike?
4. is it possible to just call Nashbar or Performance Bike in hopes that they have technical/mechanical staff that can help me figure out waht to buy?
FUJI bikes use ENGLISH threaded BBs. Your seatpost size depends on the frame's actual vintage. The frame undoubtedly has a 1" threaded (English) headset. The front derailleur's clamp size is 28.6mm. The brake "reach" depends on the frame's vintage and/or wheel size used.
The "vintage" parts you need are available via eBay ... but, unless you are one of those KOF-types (keeper of the faith/flame), then you may as well choose 'modern' components for any that you feel need to be replaced.
Almost ANY Shimano rear derailleur can be used to replace the one which is currently on your bike if that is all you think you need.
IF the rear derailleur wasn't destroyed in an accident, your shifting problems could be resolved by replacing the cable & any housing + simply lubing the pivots on the derailleur.
Your hub may simply need to be "re-packed" ... new grease and/or bearings (you'll need some CONE WRENCHES + "white lithium" grease) ...
The Shimano 8-speed chains appear to be copies of the SEDIS NARROW chain to me, so it is a good choice for any 5-/6-/7-/8-speed drivetrain.
IMO, upgrading to 8-/9-/10-/11-speed can be a DIY project ... the most difficult hurdle may be the rear triangle spacing + aligning the rear derailleur hanger ... but, even THAT can be DIY endeavor unless you have arthritis OR only weigh 85 lbs OR if you are a complete klutz.
You don't have to change the crankset unless you want to. Everything else simply unbolts from the frame with common, Metric hand tools ... except for the BB and/or crankset + chain, the new components are attached using commonly available, hardware-store hand tools.
If you want to upgrade to only 7-speeds, then you can simply buy a
SunRace freewheel -- they are made to fit a 126mm spaced rear wheel & have 7-speed indexed cog spacing which is close enough, IMO, to work with an 8-speed indexed shifter.
If you want to use indexed shifting, then you can simply mate ANY
10-speed CAMPAGNOLO shifter with an 8-/9-speed SHIMANO rear derailleur to mate to the 7-speed SunRace freewheels. Wheels with the 8-speed Shimano & Campagnolo cog spacing are close enough that they are interchangeable with some tweaking. In addition to indexing to an 8-speed Shimano/Campagnolo cassette, the 10-speed Campagnolo shifter can ALSO mate to a 9-speed Shimano drivetrain (some tweaking) AND, of course, a 10-speed Campagnolo drivetrain.
BECAUSE the 10-speed Campangolo shifters can be used with the broadest swath of drivetrains AND because 'I' think it superior to the Shimano (I
love Shimano, BTW) & SRAM shifters (I
hate SRAM's North American customer service & I am 'neutral' to their components except for their GRIP SHIFT which I prefer to trigger shifters), it is what I recommend if you think you may have an inclination toward indexed shifting in the future, or now/tomorrow. The ONLY Campagnolo shifters which should be avoided are the 'QS' shifters from 2007-and-2008 ... but, even those are "okay" (i.e., better in some ways to Shimano & SRAM shifters because they can downshift under load as their "older brother" Campagnolo ERGO shifters can ... the QS shifters are probably no worse in durability than Shimano & SRAM shifters ... while the QS shifters can be rebuilt, it probably isn't cost effective).
The Campagnolo "front" shifter can be use with almost ANY front derailleur that has ever been made if it actuated with a cable (the exception would be the earliest, rod actuated derailleurs) ... my personal preference is the Shimano ULTEGRA 6500/6503 (double/triple) 9-speed front derailleurs.
If you want to go to a 9-/10-/11-speed drivetrain, then you will need to respace the rear triangle to 130mm -- on a STEEL frame you simply need a metric-preferred tape measure + some upper body strength:
- First, remove the chain because you will need to use a chain that is specific to the rest of the drivetrain ...
- Remove the rear wheel & measure the 'gap' between the dropouts ... it is probably ~126mm (the spacing you want is 130mm) ...
- "Stand" behind the frame while gripping each dropout one hand (palms down), and try pulling the dropouts apart using what you guestimate to be about 30+ lbs of "force." Measure. You will probably find that the separation did not change by much. You will want to repeat the process until you achieve a separation of 130mm. If it did not change at all, use more force until you have applied enough force with a single pull to change the separation by at least 1mm. DO NOT use anything other than your bare hands & upper body strength ... it is better to start with less force than you think you need & escalate thereafter.
Now, it may be an unintended fabrication alignment, but on the two FUJI frames whose spacing I changed (S10-S
[circa 1976] and an S12-S LTD
[circa 1980]) to 130mm from 126mm the rear deralleur hanger did not have to be realigned because the dropouts were slightly boat-tailed (not parallel) when the frame's spacing was 126mm & parallel when re-spaced to 130mm. THAT suggests that you may not need to have the rear derailleur hanger realigned on YOUR Fuji if you decide to respace it to 130mm.
If you do need to realign your rear derailleur hanger, then you can do this with a pipe wrench + two small scraps of plywood (which are used to sandwich the dropout to prevent marring).
N.B. If you pull on the dropouts equally using only your upper body strength, then the dropouts will be centered. If you use a 2x4 (as suggested by the late Sheldon Brown, then you are probably setting yourself up for a world of trouble-and-hurt since it will probably be very difficult to NOT apply too much force AND it will probably be difficult for you/anyone to do so equally on both sides ... resulting in needing to bring the frame to a GREAT bike shop who has access to an better-than-average Wrench or access to a frame builder).
I think the shops which can realign a rear derailleur hanger will charge ~$10 ... maybe, more ... maybe, less.
Buy the components from whomever you want ... buy a copy of ZINN AND THE ART OF ROAD BIKE MAINTENANCE and/or look at the PARK TOOL website ... buy tools as needed. Originally, most of my non-bike-specific tools came from SEARS.
In other threads in this Forum you will read some shop "mechanics" say that a lot of the work they do is "fixing" the problems created by people installing their own components ... but, to that I will note that they will charge you the same whether you tried to do it, or not ... if they charge by the hour, then you will have at least saved half of the cost of labor ...
IMO, if you decide that you want to upgrade the drivetrain, then the reason it is worth learning to DIY is because you will be able to do the SMALL things which many people often drag their bike to the shop for which most people can do themselves.
I've said it before ... IMO, the only people who should NOT
(know how to) do most of their own wrenching are surgeons & hand models.
