need shifters

David McDivitt said:

I just paid $60 for a Sekai CT Deluxe 2700. Anyone know when it was made?
The rims and tires are very thin, but perfectly straight! The bike is very
lightweight, too, for a steel frame, and is in near mint condition.

Problem is there are no shifters. The front and rear derailleurs are
present, but the shift wires are clean cut, dangle, and go two-thirds of the
way up the lower frame bar.

I don't want to get old-style friction type shifters. I have a Cannondale
mountain bike which I also got recently. It has perfect rims, too. Anyway,
on the Cannondale, there are two levers for each derailleur. One lever
shifts up and the other down.

For the Sekai I was thinking I could extend the shift wires or just replace
them, and make them long enough to go up on top of the handlebars. If
possible I'd like to have something similar to the Cannondale. The Sekai has
five speeds on the back and two on the front. Suggestions would be
appreciated.

If you have five speed, it's designed as friction shift only. A
six-speed Shimano downtube shifter sort of works with five speed if you
"dwell" on the shifter a little to make the chain change sprocket -
these sprockets don't have all the fancy modern ramps and cutouts - but
there's no real point.

David McDivitt said:

For the Sekai I was thinking I could extend the shift wires or just replace
them, and make them long enough to go up on top of the handlebars. If
possible I'd like to have something similar to the Cannondale. The Sekai has
five speeds on the back and two on the front. Suggestions would be
appreciated

Like Zog, I believe you have a mech that pre-dated indexed shifting,
you may be able to locate some old Shimano thumbshifters that have both
indexed and friction mode which will work fine in friction mode. My old
MTB had some Deore ones dating from the mid eighties

Thanks. Where is a good place online to view shifters? I looked at several
parts places but saw few shifters.

If I do not want friction shifters I assume I can change the derailleurs to
something else. What would be good derailleurs to get? I do not want the
shifters on the down tube but up on the handlebars.

I used to ride a bike all the time when I was a kid. Want to go on rides
with friends so I can get exercise. Hate exercise machines.

Quoted message said:

From: Zog The Undeniable <[email hidden]>
Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2004 18:20:39 +0100
Lines: 26

David McDivitt said:

I just paid $60 for a Sekai CT Deluxe 2700. Anyone know when it was made?
The rims and tires are very thin, but perfectly straight! The bike is very
lightweight, too, for a steel frame, and is in near mint condition.

Problem is there are no shifters. The front and rear derailleurs are
present, but the shift wires are clean cut, dangle, and go two-thirds of the
way up the lower frame bar.

I don't want to get old-style friction type shifters. I have a Cannondale
mountain bike which I also got recently. It has perfect rims, too. Anyway,
on the Cannondale, there are two levers for each derailleur. One lever
shifts up and the other down.

For the Sekai I was thinking I could extend the shift wires or just replace
them, and make them long enough to go up on top of the handlebars. If
possible I'd like to have something similar to the Cannondale. The Sekai has
five speeds on the back and two on the front. Suggestions would be
appreciated.

If you have five speed, it's designed as friction shift only. A
six-speed Shimano downtube shifter sort of works with five speed if you
"dwell" on the shifter a little to make the chain change sprocket -
these sprockets don't have all the fancy modern ramps and cutouts - but
there's no real point.

--
http://nonspiritual.com
http://freeconservative.org
http://todiscuss.com
http://elistman.com

The guy at a local bike shop said a 7 speed derailleur would cost $15, and a
7 speed sprocket $15. He said a more expensive derailleur would be $30, but
there would be hardly any difference except weight. Index shifters for up
top would be $20. The derailleur would be a Shimano Tourney and the shifters
Sunrace. So for $50 I can convert the 10 speed Sekai into 14 speed with
index shifter. I asked about sprocket width and he said it is the same as
the five speed already on the bike and the same chain would work. Would this
stuff work OK? Price seems OK.

Quoted message said:

From: MSeries <[email hidden]>
Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2004 18:34:21 +0100
Lines: 12

David McDivitt said:

For the Sekai I was thinking I could extend the shift wires or just replace
them, and make them long enough to go up on top of the handlebars. If
possible I'd like to have something similar to the Cannondale. The Sekai has
five speeds on the back and two on the front. Suggestions would be
appreciated

Like Zog, I believe you have a mech that pre-dated indexed shifting,
you may be able to locate some old Shimano thumbshifters that have both
indexed and friction mode which will work fine in friction mode. My old
MTB had some Deore ones dating from the mid eighties

--
http://nonspiritual.com
http://freeconservative.org
http://todiscuss.com
http://elistman.com

David McDivitt said:

I just paid $60 for a Sekai CT Deluxe 2700. Anyone know when it was made?
The rims and tires are very thin, but perfectly straight! The bike is very
lightweight, too, for a steel frame, and is in near mint condition.

Problem is there are no shifters. The front and rear derailleurs are
present, but the shift wires are clean cut, dangle, and go two-thirds of the
way up the lower frame bar.

I don't want to get old-style friction type shifters. I have a Cannondale
mountain bike which I also got recently. It has perfect rims, too. Anyway,
on the Cannondale, there are two levers for each derailleur. One lever
shifts up and the other down.

For the Sekai I was thinking I could extend the shift wires or just replace
them, and make them long enough to go up on top of the handlebars. If
possible I'd like to have something similar to the Cannondale. The Sekai has
five speeds on the back and two on the front. Suggestions would be
appreciated.

--
http://nonspiritual.com
http://freeconservative.org
http://todiscuss.com
http://elistman.com

That frame was made by Yamaguchi Frame, Osaka from Tange
butted tube, Nikko Sangyo lugs and forged Suntour ends.

The year is the first digit of the serial number, Y9XXX is a
1979, Y0XXX is a 1890, etc.

You probably have room for a standard SunRace or Shimano six
speed freewheel. That, a basic SIS type rear changer ($15 to
$30) and a chain would make your bike compatible with
top-mount six speed index levers($20). That's the cheapest,
simplest route to index on that bike.

Other formats will involve redishing the wheel for a seven
speed freehweel or replacing/rebuilding with a cassette hub
to go nine or ten speed (eight being pointless).

What do you expect of this bike? A Campagnolo Ergo setup
would require shifters, rear changer, hub, cassette, chain
and a wheel rebuild but the result would be great:
http://www.yellowjersey.org/ergokit.html
for example.

Your bike's long horizontal ends would also lend themselves
to a fixed gear project.

You mention a mountain bike shifter. Did you mean to imply
a straight-bar format?

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

The serial number of the Sekai is 76294923. Does not with a "Y". What year?
What do you mean by "long horizontal ends" and "fixed gear project"?
**************

Thanks for the info, Andrew. I posted another message in this thread about
changing the rear derailleur and sprocket to seven speed. The bike shop guy
said I could go six or seven and use the same shifter, but change the cam in
the shifter for six.

I wanted to do some biking. I was going to go out last week and buy
something. Thought I'd go to Sears and if I liked something, good. I called
one of my wife's friends, to get a phone number for one of her other
friends, to get her boyfriend's number and get his advice. He has a bike
fixing hobby. The first friend happened to have a Cannondale, ten or twelve
years old. I didn't know if I wanted a mountain bike, but it was a good
bike. I redid the bearings, but the bearing races in the bottom bracket were
pitted. When reassembled the peddles would make a popping noise.

I found new bottom bracket parts, spindle, races, and bearings for $20. But
while there I saw a real nice bike for $60, sitting alongside others going
for $900 to $3100. It was being sold on consignment. It appeared to be in
perfect shape and had been lowered from $120. The rims were perfect. The
tires were flat, but I was told they would hold air. Also, there were no
shifters, but there were derailleurs. After thinking a long time I decided
to go ahead. It's not that I couldn't afford it. I just didn't want another
item sitting around.

I've been doing research since buying the two bikes. The Cannondale has an
integrated brake and shifter. The shifter is on a flange coming off the
brake, and could easily have been mounted by itself, but the designers chose
to make it all one piece. What's really cool is that each shifter has two
levers. One shifts up and the other down. It would be nice if I could put
such on the Sekai.

I plan on using the Cannondale for trails and the Sekai for pavement. I
realize now I need to get two new seats, one for each. I am enjoying getting
up on new terminology since I last rode bicycles 35 years ago.

Spending $50 on the Sekai seems best for seven speed sprocket, derailleur,
and shifters. If I have a choice between six or seven speeds, and if each
takes the same space as the five speed sprocket I have, is there a reason
not to get seven? Thanks

Quoted message said:

From: A Muzi <[email hidden]>
Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2004 17:26:57 -0500
Lines: 59

David McDivitt said:

I just paid $60 for a Sekai CT Deluxe 2700. Anyone know when it was made?
The rims and tires are very thin, but perfectly straight! The bike is very
lightweight, too, for a steel frame, and is in near mint condition.

Problem is there are no shifters. The front and rear derailleurs are
present, but the shift wires are clean cut, dangle, and go two-thirds of the
way up the lower frame bar.

I don't want to get old-style friction type shifters. I have a Cannondale
mountain bike which I also got recently. It has perfect rims, too. Anyway,
on the Cannondale, there are two levers for each derailleur. One lever
shifts up and the other down.

For the Sekai I was thinking I could extend the shift wires or just replace
them, and make them long enough to go up on top of the handlebars. If
possible I'd like to have something similar to the Cannondale. The Sekai has
five speeds on the back and two on the front. Suggestions would be
appreciated.

--
http://nonspiritual.com
http://freeconservative.org
http://todiscuss.com
http://elistman.com

That frame was made by Yamaguchi Frame, Osaka from Tange
butted tube, Nikko Sangyo lugs and forged Suntour ends.

The year is the first digit of the serial number, Y9XXX is a
1979, Y0XXX is a 1890, etc.

You probably have room for a standard SunRace or Shimano six
speed freewheel. That, a basic SIS type rear changer ($15 to
$30) and a chain would make your bike compatible with
top-mount six speed index levers($20). That's the cheapest,
simplest route to index on that bike.

Other formats will involve redishing the wheel for a seven
speed freehweel or replacing/rebuilding with a cassette hub
to go nine or ten speed (eight being pointless).

What do you expect of this bike? A Campagnolo Ergo setup
would require shifters, rear changer, hub, cassette, chain
and a wheel rebuild but the result would be great:
http://www.yellowjersey.org/ergokit.html
for example.

Your bike's long horizontal ends would also lend themselves
to a fixed gear project.

You mention a mountain bike shifter. Did you mean to imply
a straight-bar format?

--
http://nonspiritual.com
http://freeconservative.org
http://todiscuss.com
http://elistman.com

David McDivitt said:

The serial number of the Sekai is 76294923. Does not with a "Y". What year?
What do you mean by "long horizontal ends" and "fixed gear project"?
Thanks for the info, Andrew. I posted another message in this thread about
changing the rear derailleur and sprocket to seven speed. The bike shop guy
said I could go six or seven and use the same shifter, but change the cam in
the shifter for six.

-snip a lot because after extensive top posting it was hard
to sort out.-

It's a 1977 . The "Y" was added in later years.
Sure, seven is a more-widely-supported format . and about
the same price for parts.

But, as I noted earlier, a 1976 bike will need some axle
spacing and a redish to use a seven freewheel.

The frame ends are long ( over an inch) and horizontal ( not
vertical) so if you wanted to build a fixed gear bike this
would be a good frame for that. Here is the next model up -
very similar styling:
http://www.yellowjersey.org/oakred.html
Note the ends. Yours are, IIRC, Suntour and even longer.
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

The picture shows a nice bike. Mine is same except paint is not as
elaborate, and light blue. Thanks for info

Quoted message said:

From: A Muzi <[email hidden]>
Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2004 22:09:45 -0500
Lines: 30

David McDivitt said:

The serial number of the Sekai is 76294923. Does not with a "Y". What year?
What do you mean by "long horizontal ends" and "fixed gear project"?
Thanks for the info, Andrew. I posted another message in this thread about
changing the rear derailleur and sprocket to seven speed. The bike shop guy
said I could go six or seven and use the same shifter, but change the cam in
the shifter for six.

-snip a lot because after extensive top posting it was hard
to sort out.-

It's a 1977 . The "Y" was added in later years.
Sure, seven is a more-widely-supported format . and about
the same price for parts.

But, as I noted earlier, a 1976 bike will need some axle
spacing and a redish to use a seven freewheel.

--
http://nonspiritual.com
http://freeconservative.org
http://todiscuss.com
http://elistman.com