Shimano 105 7 speed upgrade question

[Joe]

I'm in the midst of upgrading a beater bike with 105 on it.
It has 1990-era "New" 105 components on it (7 speed). I was
originally thinking about moving it up to 9 speed, but now
think 8 speed will do just fine. It is currenty on a frame
spaced for 126mm, but I will be moving it to another beater
frame spaced for 130mm. I have a new 105 rear hub/freewheel
assembly for 8 speed (spaced for 130 as well).

Given the increase in spacing, will my older 7 speed
derailer work for 8 speed as well?

I'll be getting new shifters as well, but is there anything
else I need to be considering?

 

[daveornee]

Originally posted by Joe
I'm in the midst of upgrading a beater bike with 105 on it.
It has 1990-era "New" 105 components on it (7 speed). I was
originally thinking about moving it up to 9 speed, but now
think 8 speed will do just fine. It is currenty on a frame
spaced for 126mm, but I will be moving it to another beater
frame spaced for 130mm. I have a new 105 rear hub/freewheel
assembly for 8 speed (spaced for 130 as well).

Given the increase in spacing, will my older 7 speed
derailer work for 8 speed as well?

I'll be getting new shifters as well, but is there anything
else I need to be considering?

If you have a hub for 8 speed that is 130 mm OLD and your frame accepts it, I would go to 9 speed unless you already have all the 8 speed components. 9 speed is easier to find and often lower priced than 8 speed.

 

[Dan Daniel]

On 14 Jun 2004 11:03:21 -0700, [email protected] (Joe) wrote:

>I'm in the midst of upgrading a beater bike with 105 on it.
>It has 1990-era "New" 105 components on it (7 speed). I was
>originally thinking about moving it up to 9 speed, but now
>think 8 speed will do just fine. It is currenty on a frame
>spaced for 126mm, but I will be moving it to another beater
>frame spaced for 130mm. I have a new 105 rear hub/freewheel
>assembly for 8 speed (spaced for 130 as well).
>
>Given the increase in spacing, will my older 7 speed
>derailer work for 8 speed as well?
>

Yes.

>I'll be getting new shifters as well, but is there anything
>else I need to be considering?

As someone else mentioned, you might want to consider if 9
speed is better. It will be easier to find parts, etc.. When
you say a new hub and freewheel, do you mean a free*wheel*
or a freehub- using a cassette?

Then again, for a beater, maybe just use the parts that you
have and drive them into the ground.

 

[Joe]

daveornee <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Joe wrote:
> > I'm in the midst of upgrading a beater bike with 105
> > on it. It has 1990- era "New" 105 components on it (7
> > speed). I was originally thinking about moving it up
> > to 9 speed, but now think 8 speed will do just fine.
> > It is currenty on a frame spaced for 126mm, but I will
> > be moving it to another beater frame spaced for 130mm.
> > I have a new 105 rear hub/freewheel assembly for 8
> > speed (spaced for 130 as well). Given the increase in
> > spacing, will my older 7 speed derailer work for 8
> > speed as well? I'll be getting new shifters as well,
> > but is there anything else I need to be considering?
>
>
>
> If you have a hub for 8 speed that is 130 mm OLD and your
> frame accepts it, I would go to 9 speed unless you already
> have all the 8 speed components. 9 speed is easier to find
> and often lower priced than 8 speed.

I guess my question is, moving from 126mm to 130mm and from
7 to 8 speeds (or 9 speeds, for that matter), do I need to
upgrade the derailer as well, or will the old Shimano 7
speed 105 derailer work? (assuming I get new shifters)
>
>
>
> --

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] (Joe) wrote:

> daveornee <[email protected]> wrote in
> message
> news:<[email protected]>...
> > Joe wrote:
> > > I'm in the midst of upgrading a beater bike with 105
> > > on it. It has 1990- era "New" 105 components on it
> > > (7 speed). I was originally thinking about moving it
> > > up to 9 speed, but now think 8 speed will do just
> > > fine. It is currenty on a frame spaced for 126mm,
> > > but I will be moving it to another beater frame
> > > spaced for 130mm. I have a new 105 rear
> > > hub/freewheel assembly for 8 speed (spaced for 130
> > > as well). Given the increase in spacing, will my
> > > older 7 speed derailer work for 8 speed as well?
> > > I'll be getting new shifters as well, but is there
> > > anything else I need to be considering?
> >
> >
> >
> > If you have a hub for 8 speed that is 130 mm OLD and
> > your frame accepts it, I would go to 9 speed unless you
> > already have all the 8 speed components. 9 speed is
> > easier to find and often lower priced than 8 speed.
>
>
> I guess my question is, moving from 126mm to 130mm and
> from 7 to 8 speeds (or 9 speeds, for that matter), do I
> need to upgrade the derailer as well, or will the old
> Shimano 7 speed 105 derailer work? (assuming I get new
> shifters)

Yes, it will work fine. I use a 105 6-speed indexed
derailleur to shift 8 speeds.

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

 

[Art M]

"Joe" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm in the midst of upgrading a beater bike with 105 on
> it. It has 1990-era "New" 105 components on it (7 speed).
> I was originally thinking about moving it up to 9 speed,
> but now think 8 speed will do just fine. It is currenty
> on a frame spaced for 126mm, but I will be moving it to
> another beater frame spaced for 130mm. I have a new 105
> rear hub/freewheel assembly for 8 speed (spaced for 130
> as well).
>
> Given the increase in spacing, will my older 7 speed
> derailer work for 8 speed as well?
>
> I'll be getting new shifters as well, but is there
> anything else I need to be considering?

Probably. I currently use an 8 spd wheel on my 126mm spaced
7 spd bike without any modifications. I can easily spread
the stays on my steel frame to fit it. The only adjustment
needed is to reset the low limit screw to use the large cog.
Because I haven't changed my downtube 7 spd shifters this
gear is not indexed and will annoyingly slip back to 2nd
gear when I need it the most (high chain tension gradually
pulls the shifter). If I know I am going to need the gear
for a ride (very rare since there are no hills here) I
adjust the barrel to get the use of the lower 7 cogs.

You could certainly try this as a temporary solution to
ensure that your derailleur works. You may find that this is
good enough until you decide to upgrade to a new bike.

--Art