Originally Posted by
rebelLT
As for shifters I had always assumed that any friction shifter would work with any derailleur as long as the cable pull is long enough? I’m thinking about using a megarange freewheel I have so having some extra travel might be oK? I know that the newer cassettes with more gears are more compact with tighter spacing, though there probably not much difference in the actual distance of the width of the cassette versus the freewheel? Even if there was a significant difference I would guess that the newer cassettes would have more cable pull so they should work with and older freewheel?
So I see my two options as either a stem friction (cheaper) or a bar end friction shifter (probably better setup). It all comes down to what I want to spend I suppose. I guess it’s time to watch ebay for some comparison shopping.
Any friction shifter will operate any derailleur, with the exception of some of the current SRAM derailleurs which use a very low actuation ratio (the distance moved by the derailleur cage compared to the distance the cable is pulled).
8-speed cassettes are the widest you'll see (they're the same width as 9- and 10-speeds ones, and one sprocket and spacer wider than 7-speed ones), and as I said above, I've run one on a friction shifter that was originally shifting a 6-speed system. A megarange freewheel is no wider than any other 7-speed freewheel or cassette, so you should be fine. Depending on the exact actuation ratio of your derailleur, and the amount of cable pulled by the shifter, you might conceivably run out of travel if you were using an 8/9/10-speed setup, but that's very unlikely with a 7-speed.
Regarding shifter fitting, there is also the possibility of using
the retroshift brake levers. You may have an issue fitting stem shifters to that bike, as they're designed to clamp to the 7/8" diameter stem quill used with a 1" steerer, but you've got a 1 1/8" steerer, which, assuming it isn't a threadless one, will take a 1" diameter quill. I'm sure you can get around that issue, but stem shifters can be nasty in a crash anyway - they're in a pretty good position to stick in the rider, depending on the lever position at the time.