MTB rapidfire shifter on Shimano 600

[Anders]

Hi,

I'm considering buying an old road bike with a complete Shimano 600 series drivetrain and would like
to make it into a city cruiser with a MTB style handlebar. I would therefore like to put a MTB
rapidfire shifter on the bike instead of the old non-indexed frame located shifter. I don't plan on
using the front derailleur at all.

How much do I have to change in order to achive this: both the cogs and the rear derailleur?

And is the hub in the 600 series compatible with the newer free cassettes?

Thanks,
- Anders

 

[Twitch]

Ahh, memories. Back in 93 when I was just starting out in Senior 4, I used to run a 7speed rapid
fire (or whatever they called it) on my right drop next ot my brake.

Worked super smooth.

I was cheap, but I went from Senior 4 to senior 2 due to my sprinting ability (and that sweet
bar shifter)

"Anders" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Hi,
>
> I'm considering buying an old road bike with a complete Shimano 600 series drivetrain and would
> like to make it into a city cruiser with a MTB style handlebar. I would therefore like to put a
> MTB rapidfire shifter on the
bike
> instead of the old non-indexed frame located shifter. I don't plan on
using
> the front derailleur at all.
>
> How much do I have to change in order to achive this: both the cogs and
the
> rear derailleur?
>
> And is the hub in the 600 series compatible with the newer free cassettes?
>
> Thanks,
> - Anders

 

[Jeff Wills]

"Anders" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Hi,
>
> I'm considering buying an old road bike with a complete Shimano 600 series drivetrain and would
> like to make it into a city cruiser with a MTB style handlebar. I would therefore like to put a
> MTB rapidfire shifter on the bike instead of the old non-indexed frame located shifter. I don't
> plan on using the front derailleur at all.
>
> How much do I have to change in order to achive this: both the cogs and the rear derailleur?
>
> And is the hub in the 600 series compatible with the newer free cassettes?
>

No. If you have a non-indexed Shimano 600 system, it's probably 6-speed Uniglide. The least you can
get away for Rapidfire is 7-speed Hyperglide, which will require swapping the freehub body or
perhaps the hub, in addition to the rear derailleur and cogs.

Jeff

> Thanks,
> - Anders

 

[Ron Abramson]

On Tue, 18 Nov 2003 19:42:46 +0100, Anders wrote:
***
> And is the hub in the 600 series compatible with the newer free cassettes?

I don't think so. On a similar setup, I had to rebuild the rear wheel with a Shimano 105 9-speed hub
and used a Shimano 9-speed cassette and matching chain. That worked perfectly with an MTB 9-speed
rapidfire shifter (Shimano LX). Those changes cost upwards of 100 bucks, and that was with reusing
the spokes and rim and having the LX shifters laying around. Good as it was, eventually I ended up
going fixie with this bike, and will probably keep it that way.

 

[Peter Cole]

"Anders" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Hi,
>
> I'm considering buying an old road bike with a complete Shimano 600 series drivetrain and would
> like to make it into a city cruiser with a MTB style handlebar. I would therefore like to put a
> MTB rapidfire shifter on the bike instead of the old non-indexed frame located shifter. I don't
> plan on using the front derailleur at all.
>
> How much do I have to change in order to achive this: both the cogs and the rear derailleur?

I did this to set up an old bike for my son to use as a commuter. I'd recommend getting a freehub
rear wheel. You can get a hybrid type rear wheel very cheap (<$50), slap on a cassette, & you're
good to go. A well set up, even cheap, new rear wheel will be more reliable anyway. You can buy one
mail-order, tension and stress relieve it, and it will give very good service. Your old rear
derailer will probably work fine, if it doesn't, you can get a (probably better one) for $20 or so.
I left the downtube friction shifter & front derailer on the bike, even old ones usually work fine.
Cantilever brake levers work well with older calipers, V-brake levers probably don't. With new front
pads, braking on the conversion I did is excellent.