adyl said:Hi, I've got a beautiful 20 year old hand-built british Reynolds 531 steel bike by "M Steel" in Randonee geometry. It's got around 6000 miles on it, and I'm currently using it for 18 miles a day commuting. The frame is in good condition. The route is hilly and I use a triple chainset, running a 28 38 40 onto a 14 to 32 6 speed freewheel with downtube indexing shifters and Deore DX original front & rear mechs.
The freewheel and two of the front rings are worn and need replacing, but I'm having problems with my left shoulder, I think due to leaning on it every time I change gear (and I have to change gear a lot on this route). I reckon I have two options...
1) Remove the downtube levers, put on new STI levers, re-space the rear triangle to accommodate a 9 speed MTB cassette (12 to 32 or 34), possibly replace the 105 double pivot brakes (only if necessary as they're fine), re-build the rear wheel onto a new freehub. I reckon this option will cost at least £600.
2) Put the bike into storage as M Steel no longer make bikes - it was locally built and will in time become a classic for shows etc. Buy a new comfortable commuter. Budget around £1000 but using the Cycle to Work scheme from my employer I can save quite a lot of money. The new bike would need to have drop handlebars, a triple chainring as before, lowest front ring 28 teeth onto a 32 rear or 30 onto 34. I must have mudgaurds and be able to add a rack in future. I've looked at Kona Jake the Snake and the Specialized Tricross Comp (but would need to swap the double chainring out for a triple). I might even consider a rear hub gear if I can get the same range as the triple chainset.
Any suggestions???
Well, I guess there are two schools of thought with regard to vintage framesets ...
Because I always upgraded/changed components as I felt was necessary, I am not in the camp that believes a bike needs to look as though it is ready for the museum ...
So, I would be inclined toward updating the frame ...
And, in part, it is because I would be doing the work myself, and the cost would be closer to half of what you are suggesting.
FWIW. Look around for some 10-speed Campagnolo ERGO shifters ... the ONLY 'QS' you want will be on Chorus-or-better (I'm not sure if there was a Record with a QS shifter) ... the other Campagnolo shifters with a 'QS' on the left shifter are best left for someone else. There may still be some NOS pre-2007 shifters available ... those would be THE shifters to look for.
The 10-speed Campagnolo ERGO shifters can be mated to almost any indexed drivetrain with just a little fiddling ... the exception would be the new 11-speed Campagnolo drivetrains.
Respacing the rear triangle is relatively easy ... it just takes a moderate amount of upper body strength (NO additional leverage should be used) ... I estimate that about 30 lbs of force should be applied to BOTH stays at the same time by grabbing the dropouts & pulling outward ... measure & repeat until the stays are at 130mm.
The rear derailleur hanger is readily aligned by sandwiching the dropout between two small scraps of plywood & tweaking the dropout with a pipewrench. BOTH dropouts should be aligned.
Your cost could be closer to £300 ...
BAR END shifters are another option ... your cost would certainly be less than £100.
ALSO, those cheesy stem mounted shifters which were on a lot of inexpensive bikes 20-to-30 years ago would be extraordinarily inexpensive if you can find a set ... certainly, £5 might be a feasible anticipated cost ... heck, you could probably by a bike with those shifters for £15 & spare your current stem from possibly becoming marred by the clamp.
