Upgrading to 7 speed STI's - difficult/ worthwhile?

[G Brunsdon]

Hi there

I have an Evans touring bike that currently has a Shimano RX100 groupset
– 7 speed, with bar end shifters. (bought about 15 years ago.)

I would like to move over to STI levers and have seen the following on
the St Johns Cycles web site.

'7spd Shimano Sora ST-3307 triple STI levers - inc cables and stops.'

So I wondered if the above would work on my bike? and what level of work
would be involved/ other components that would need to be changed/ what
other options would be better?

Regards

Gary Brunsdon

 

[[email protected]]

They would work fine as long as you have ordinary brakes. With
cantilever brakes you will need short cantilevers to give enough pull.
I changed from bar-ends to STIs simply because bar-ends are a bit
vulnerable on airplanes. Not a huge advantage otherwise.

 

[MartinM]

G Brunsdon wrote:
> Hi there
>
> I have an Evans touring bike that currently has a Shimano RX100 groupset
> - 7 speed, with bar end shifters. (bought about 15 years ago.)
>
> I would like to move over to STI levers and have seen the following on
> the St Johns Cycles web site.
>
> '7spd Shimano Sora ST-3307 triple STI levers - inc cables and stops.'
>
> So I wondered if the above would work on my bike? and what level of work
> would be involved/ other components that would need to be changed/ what
> other options would be better?

done it myself (from down tube shifters); not hard; you may even get
away with leaving the bar tape in situ. The spacing on the cassette is
the same irrespective of the method of shifting AFAIK. If you can Ebay
for some better ones (RSX/RX100) they are better quality, but with 7
speed you are not exactly spoilt for choice. Shop around for the Soras
too, I've seen 'em cheaper.

 

[G Brunsdon]

MartinM wrote:
> G Brunsdon wrote:
>
>>Hi there
>>
>>I have an Evans touring bike that currently has a Shimano RX100 groupset
>>- 7 speed, with bar end shifters. (bought about 15 years ago.)
>>
>>I would like to move over to STI levers and have seen the following on
>>the St Johns Cycles web site.
>>
>>'7spd Shimano Sora ST-3307 triple STI levers - inc cables and stops.'
>>
>>So I wondered if the above would work on my bike? and what level of work
>>would be involved/ other components that would need to be changed/ what
>>other options would be better?
>
>
> done it myself (from down tube shifters); not hard; you may even get
> away with leaving the bar tape in situ. The spacing on the cassette is
> the same irrespective of the method of shifting AFAIK. If you can Ebay
> for some better ones (RSX/RX100) they are better quality, but with 7
> speed you are not exactly spoilt for choice. Shop around for the Soras
> too, I've seen 'em cheaper.
>
Thanks for that info.

Did actually notice 8 speed Sora STI's on Ebay - wondered, do you happen
to know if they work with a 7 speed setup?

 

[Pete Biggs]

G Brunsdon wrote:

> Did actually notice 8 speed Sora STI's on Ebay - wondered, do you
> happen to know if they work with a 7 speed setup?

The derailleur would travel 4.8mm per click instead of 5.0mm. You'd have
to either live with that or work out some bodge.

~PB

 

[Jim Price]

G Brunsdon wrote:
> Did actually notice 8 speed Sora STI's on Ebay - wondered, do you happen
> to know if they work with a 7 speed setup?

Yes. They do. Shimano 7 and 8 speed rear cog spacing is the closest of
anything with different numbers I can think of.

JimP

--
Let's think the unthinkable, let's do the undoable, let's prepare to
grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not eff it after
all. - DNA

 

[G Brunsdon]

Jim Price wrote:
> G Brunsdon wrote:
>
>> Did actually notice 8 speed Sora STI's on Ebay - wondered, do you
>> happen to know if they work with a 7 speed setup?
>
>
> Yes. They do. Shimano 7 and 8 speed rear cog spacing is the closest of
> anything with different numbers I can think of.
>
> JimP
>
thats great -thanks for the advice