Looking for old bike parts - links welcome

Greetings!

First time poster here but longtime Usenet junkie

Anyway, my situation is somewhat bleak. I have an old Specialized bike set up as a road bike (not
sure exactly what "kind" of frame it has, road or touring or what). The bike was given to me out of
the blue many years ago, and I have been riding it ever since. I figure this bike would have been
new in the mid 80's. The problem now is wear and tear. I'm looking for links, hints, tips, advice
on where I can find some old parts for this bike. It's a 15 speed and the rear gears are pretty
worn, causing the chain to slip. I've been told that rear 5 gear cassettes (did I use the right
term?) are next to non existent. Also the rear fork is so narrow that there's really no room to
"fudge" anything.

I really like this bike and would hate to have to scrap it. I know modifications can be done but I'm
just not sure it would be very cost effective. Any help greatly appreciated.

TIA!

-gk-

 

"Toxicdistortion" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
>
> Yeah, these guys mentioned that, but then I could find myself getting
into
> an upgrade that I can't really afford. What I want is to to ride my bike without the gears
> slipping. Of course, that may not be possible without
a
> significant upgrade.
>
> *sigh*
>

You don't have to upgrade anything. All you need is a new freewheel (or cassette) and a new chain.
Try Harris Cyclery as someone else mentioned http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/freewheels.html .
They have a Shimano uniglide freewheel listed at $19.95 and they have Suntour freewheels for $39.95.

So by the time you add up a chain, freewheel and either a freewheel tool or a shop to install it, it
might cost a bit more than you'd like, but it's not really that bad, it's your bike, how could you
live without it?

 

I think you are looking for a five speed freewheel. You can get one at big-wheel.com. Regards, Ernie

Toxicdistortion wrote:

> Greetings!
>
> First time poster here but longtime Usenet junkie
>
> Anyway, my situation is somewhat bleak. I have an old Specialized bike set up as a road bike (not
> sure exactly what "kind" of frame it has, road or touring or what). The bike was given to me out
> of the blue many years ago, and I have been riding it ever since. I figure this bike would have
> been new in the mid 80's. The problem now is wear and tear. I'm looking for links, hints, tips,
> advice on where I can find some old parts for this bike. It's a 15 speed and the rear gears are
> pretty worn, causing the chain to slip. I've been told that rear 5 gear cassettes (did I use the
> right term?) are next to non existent. Also the rear fork is so narrow that there's really no room
> to "fudge" anything.
>
> I really like this bike and would hate to have to scrap it. I know modifications can be done but
> I'm just not sure it would be very cost effective. Any help greatly appreciated.
>
> TIA!
>
> -gk-

 

In article <[email protected]>, "one of the six billion"
<[email protected]> writes:

> You don't have to upgrade anything. All you need is a new freewheel (or cassette) and a new
> chain. Try Harris Cyclery as someone else mentioned
> http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/freewheels.html . They have a Shimano uniglide freewheel
> listed at $19.95 and they have Suntour freewheels for $39.95.

The last 5-spd HyperGlide clone I bought (just over 2 years ago) cost all of $10. Likewise the new
PC-48 chain to go with it. 5 bux for the LBS guy to remove the old weirdo freewheel that I wanted to
replace (he only wanted to charge me 2 bux, but I was appreciative).

I wouldn't replace old 2-notch SunTour freewheels with the same thing -- because I absolutely
*detest* that freewheel- remover-killing, 2-notch configuration. HyperGlide splines are such a sweet
improvement. And HyperGlides are a little less obsolete, they're cheap enough, and are a lot more
available locally. SunTour, UniGlide and HyperGlide all screw just as well onto the same hub.
Getting them _off_ is an horse of a different colour. HyperGlides are so pleasantly easy to remove.

> So by the time you add up a chain, freewheel and either a freewheel tool or a shop to install it,
> it might cost a bit more than you'd like, but it's not really that bad, it's your bike, how could
> you live without it?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Exactly!

In the long run, there's no such thing as a free bike. Maybe even a cheap bike. Transportation
always costs money, whether in shoe leather, carfare, bicycle parts, or fuel.

cheers, Tom

--
-- Powered by FreeBSD Above address is just a spam midden. I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn
[point] bc [point] ca

 

In article <[email protected]>, "Toxicdistortion"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> "Ryan Cousineau" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > In article <[email protected]>, "Toxicdistortion" <[email protected]>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Greetings!
> > >
> > > First time poster here but longtime Usenet junkie
> > >
> > > Anyway, my situation is somewhat bleak. I have an old Specialized bike
> set
> > > up as a road bike (not sure exactly what "kind" of frame it has, road
>
> > Hm. is it a cassette or a freewheel? in the former, the freewheeling mechanism (the "freehub")
> > stays with the wheel when you slied the cogs off. in the latter, the freewheel and gears screw
> > off the bike as a unit.
>
> Thanks for the quick reply. The guys at the shop next to where I work told me I have Suntour
> gears, and that (please bare with me here) you unscrew the outer gear and the rest slide off.
> Anyway, that's what they told me.

Ach! A Suntour cassette. Rare bird...

http://www.bikepro.com/arch_products/freewheels/asunt.html

I can't even tell you if an upgrade for your hub is available, but I doubt it.

Okay, best upgrade path is something like this: buy a new wheel with a Shimano-compatible hub and
cassette. The cheapest upgrade is to buy a new hub and cassette and relace your old rim and spokes
into it. Unless you have done this before or have a lot of time right now, I'd recommend against it.

> > > I really like this bike and would hate to have to scrap it. I know modifications can be done
> > > but I'm just not sure it would be very cost effective. Any help greatly appreciated.
> >
> > A bike that age is probably steel. if so, you can spread the rear triangle, replace (at worst)
> > the rear wheel, and upgrade to anything.
>
> Yeah, these guys mentioned that, but then I could find myself getting into an upgrade that I can't
> really afford. What I want is to to ride my bike without the gears slipping. Of course, that may
> not be possible without a significant upgrade.

Significant, but not hard. Replace the rear wheel. Cost, about $50 or so. The cassette will be
extra, maybe another $20-40. Your LBS will know what to do.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email protected] http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

 

In article <[email protected]>,
Ryan Cousineau <[email protected]> writes:

> Ach! A Suntour cassette. Rare bird...

Bring out the chainwhips. Or take it to the Bike Shop Guy to remove it for ya.

> http://www.bikepro.com/arch_products/freewheels/asunt.html

Which (rightly, IMO) suggests: "If you own a Suntour cassette rear hub, you may still find a Suntour
splines cassette at your local bicycle store, but you should mentally prepare to replace the rear
hub, with something that has the Shimano Hyperglide spline pattern."

> I can't even tell you if an upgrade for your hub is available, but I doubt it.
>
> Okay, best upgrade path is something like this: buy a new wheel with a Shimano-compatible hub and
> cassette.

I'll second that.

Get a nice, new, fairly contemporary, already-built rear wheel and cassette/freewheel. And a new
chain to go with it.

Then, maybe we gotta look at those ol' 3-bolt chainrings ;-) (but probably, not ... for now).

cheers, Tom

--
-- Powered by FreeBSD Above address is just a spam midden. I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn
[point] bc [point] ca

 

"Toxicdistortion" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Greetings!
>
> First time poster here but longtime Usenet junkie
>
> Anyway, my situation is somewhat bleak. I have an old
Specialized bike set
> up as a road bike (not sure exactly what "kind" of frame
it has, road or
> touring or what). The bike was given to me out of the
blue many years ago,
> and I have been riding it ever since. I figure this bike
would have been
> new in the mid 80's. The problem now is wear and tear.
I'm looking for
> links, hints, tips, advice on where I can find some old
parts for this bike.
> It's a 15 speed and the rear gears are pretty worn,
causing the chain to
> slip. I've been told that rear 5 gear cassettes (did I
use the right term?)
> are next to non existent. Also the rear fork is so narrow
that there's
> really no room to "fudge" anything.
>
> I really like this bike and would hate to have to scrap
it. I know
> modifications can be done but I'm just not sure it would
be very cost
> effective. Any help greatly appreciated.
>
> TIA!
>
> -gk-
>
>

1) Try - http://aebike.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=30&Category=5 - for cheap parts. Or try eBay - but
watch for "silly" prices, and even sillier "shipping" charges

2) Do a magnet test to determine what the frame material is. If it's steel, you can fairly easily
spread the dropouts to about 130mm - see http://www.sheldonbrown.com/frame-spacing.html for
details. If you spread the frame you can add spacers to the rear axle and use a 6, 7, or even 8
speed freewheel - assuming you have downtube friction shifters, or want to invest in some
indexed shifters