WWYD -- Shifters

[Mike Elliott]

What Would You Do?

My fiancee has this old Centurion Sports bike that she's having more darn fun riding. It's been
modified to be more comfortable for her, a small woman with narrow shoulders and short arms. Kind of
like a little T Rex in that regard.

With flat bars and short-reach levers, riding and braking are working for her. But the old downtube
friction shifing is awkward and clunky. There's not a lot of room on the bars for any shifters I
can think of.

But I bet the folks on this forum will have some Mite-E-Fine ideas about how to make some
improvements.

Please see http://www.jmscrapbook.com/2003/CenturionBB.html

for a photo and a description of the various relevant bits on the bike.

Thanks!

MikeE

 

[Alex Rodriguez]

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
>What Would You Do? My fiancee has this old Centurion Sports bike that she's having more darn fun
>riding. It's been modified to be more comfortable for her, a small woman with narrow shoulders and
>short arms. Kind of like a little T Rex in that regard. With flat bars and short-reach levers,
>riding and braking are working for her. But the old downtube friction shifing is awkward and
>clunky. There's not a lot of room on the bars for any shifters I can think of. But I bet the folks
>on this forum will have some Mite-E-Fine ideas about how to make some improvements. Please see
>http://www.jmscrapbook.com/2003/CenturionBB.html for a photo and a description of the various
>relevant bits on the bike.

You could do shimano RF+ or gripshift. RF+ pods would require no modification to the current setup
and would work with the current drivetrain. Gripshift would require cutting the grips a bit to fit.
Not that difficult to do and should not be too pricy either.
-----------------
Alex __O _-\<,_ (_)/ (_)

 

[David L. Johnso]

On Fri, 27 Dec 2002 14:36:33 -0500, Mike Elliott wrote:

> What Would You Do?
>
> My fiancee has this old Centurion Sports bike that she's having more darn fun riding. It's been
> modified to be more comfortable for her, a small woman with narrow shoulders and short arms. Kind
> of like a little T Rex in that regard.

Watch those comments or she'll be your x-fiancee.

>
> With flat bars and short-reach levers, riding and braking are working for her. But the old
> downtube friction shifing is awkward and clunky. There's not a lot of room on the bars for any
> shifters I can think of.
>
Why not use Shimano Rapid-Fire shifters/levers? That's what I put on my wife's road bike when she
insisted on upright bars. The rear will shift perfectly as long as you match the number of gears.
The front will not be perfect, but you can set the center position first, then use the limit stops
on the derailleur to adjust the other two. The mountain-bike front shifters pull more per click than
road ones, but it works OK this way for her. With her weird front shifter maybe the situation will
be even better.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | It is a scientifically proven fact that a mid life crisis can _`\(,_ | only be cured by
something racy and Italian. Bianchis and (_)/ (_) | Colnagos are a lot cheaper than Maserattis
and Ferraris. -- Glenn Davies

 

[G.T.]

Alex Rodriguez wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,
> [email protected] says...
>
>>What Would You Do? My fiancee has this old Centurion Sports bike that she's having more darn fun
>>riding. It's been modified to be more comfortable for her, a small woman with narrow shoulders and
>>short arms. Kind of like a little T Rex in that regard. With flat bars and short-reach levers,
>>riding and braking are working for her. But the old downtube friction shifing is awkward and
>>clunky. There's not a lot of room on the bars for any shifters I can think of. But I bet the folks
>>on this forum will have some Mite-E-Fine ideas about how to make some improvements. Please see
>>http://www.jmscrapbook.com/2003/CenturionBB.html for a photo and a description of the various
>>relevant bits on the bike.
>
>
> You could do shimano RF+ or gripshift. RF+ pods would require no modification to the current setup
> and would work with the current drivetrain. Gripshift would require cutting the grips a bit to
> fit. Not that difficult to do and should not be too pricy either.

I'd go thumbshifters. Shouldn't be too hard finding some NOS XT or Suntour
XC-Pro thumbies. Will the RF or Gripshift index properly with that 5 spd?

Greg
--
"Destroy your safe and happy lives before it is too late, the battles we fought were long and hard,
just not to be consumed by rock n' roll..." - The Mekons

 

[David L. Johnso]

On Fri, 27 Dec 2002 14:54:58 -0500, G.T. wrote:

> XC-Pro thumbies. Will the RF or Gripshift index properly with that 5 spd?

I didn't notice the bit about the 5-speed. But if she has 130mm rear spacing, you can put in a
cassette road hub, and give her 9-speed in the bargain for not very much money, if you can re-build
her wheel.

That might be enough to make up for the t-rex crack.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | What is objectionable, and what is dangerous about extremists is _`\(,_ | not that they are
extreme, but that they are intolerant. (_)/ (_) | --Robert F. Kennedy

 

[Mike Elliott]

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] says...
> Alex Rodriguez wrote:
> > In article <[email protected]>,
> > [email protected] says...
> >
> >>What Would You Do? My fiancee has this old Centurion Sports bike that she's having more darn fun
> >>riding. It's been modified to be more comfortable for her, a small woman with narrow shoulders
> >>and short arms. Kind of like a little T Rex in that regard. With flat bars and short-reach
> >>levers, riding and braking are working for her. But the old downtube friction shifing is awkward
> >>and clunky. There's not a lot of room on the bars for any shifters I can think of. But I bet the
> >>folks on this forum will have some Mite-E-Fine ideas about how to make some improvements. Please
> >>see http://www.jmscrapbook.com/2003/CenturionBB.html for a photo and a description of the
> >>various relevant bits on the bike.
> >
> >
> > You could do shimano RF+ or gripshift. RF+ pods would require no modification to the current
> > setup and would work with the current drivetrain. Gripshift would require cutting the grips a
> > bit to fit. Not that difficult to do and should not be too pricy either.
>
> I'd go thumbshifters. Shouldn't be too hard finding some NOS XT or Suntour
> XC-Pro thumbies. Will the RF or Gripshift index properly with that 5 spd?

Can anyone suggest a source for XT or Suntour XC-Pro thumbshifters? I thought Harris Cyclery might
have them, but struck out.

MikeE

 

[David L. Johnso]

On Fri, 27 Dec 2002 16:39:15 -0500, Mike Elliott wrote:

> Well, near as I can tell, the RF shifters, like on www.harriscyclery.com, are pretty expensive.
>
May be. I got mine for $40 at a swap meet.

> Looking more closely, her rear spacing is 128mm.

Close enough. Road rear standard now is 130. That will work fine.

> Would something like "NOS Grip Shift Twist Grips For Drop Bars $59.95 CX-DT 128 8-speed" work?

Personally I don't like twist grips. Rapid Fire are much better.

The price is not too high. That then brings me to converting her
> rear 5sp to an 8sp -- a good path to take?
>
These days, I would go to 9. Price difference is minimal.

> MikeE "Who knows better than to let her see his comment about the T-Rex thing"

Unless she reads this newsgroup.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | "What am I on? I'm on my bike, six hours a day, busting my ass. _`\(,_ | What are you on?"
--Lance Armstrong (_)/ (_) |

 

[bobqzzi]

On Fri, 27 Dec 2002 20:40:44 GMT, Mike Elliott
<[email protected]> wrote:

>In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] says...
>> Alex Rodriguez wrote:
>> > In article <[email protected]>,
>> > [email protected] says...
>> >
>> >>What Would You Do? My fiancee has this old Centurion Sports bike that she's having more darn
>> >>fun riding. It's been modified to be more comfortable for her, a small woman with narrow
>> >>shoulders and short arms. Kind of like a little T Rex in that regard. With flat bars and
>> >>short-reach levers, riding and braking are working for her. But the old downtube friction
>> >>shifing is awkward and clunky. There's not a lot of room on the bars for any shifters I can
>> >>think of. But I bet the folks on this forum will have some Mite-E-Fine ideas about how to make
>> >>some improvements. Please see http://www.jmscrapbook.com/2003/CenturionBB.html for a photo and
>> >>a description of the various relevant bits on the bike.
>> >
>> >
>> > You could do shimano RF+ or gripshift. RF+ pods would require no modification to the current
>> > setup and would work with the current drivetrain. Gripshift would require cutting the grips a
>> > bit to fit. Not that difficult to do and should not be too pricy either.
>>
>> I'd go thumbshifters. Shouldn't be too hard finding some NOS XT or Suntour
>> XC-Pro thumbies. Will the RF or Gripshift index properly with that 5 spd?
>
>Can anyone suggest a source for XT or Suntour XC-Pro thumbshifters? I thought Harris Cyclery might
>have them, but struck out.
>
>MikeE
There are always some on E-bay