Classic & Vintage - More Gears

I ride a 1972 Holdsworth Mistral with Campy Rally grupo. Double chain ring and six speed cluster. I'd like more gear selections. What's the best way to do it. Triple chain ring (if I can find a Campy triple) or try to fit more cogs into the space available at the back. ? It's already pretty tight back there with 6 cogs.
Does anyone make a super thin cog set that might fit ?

This is my first post so be merciful please : > )

I'd spring for a triple.

I agree with sydney.
You can find a campy triple that is age appropriate to
your bike.
No messing with spreading dropouts, cold setting etc.

marty

Yeah.. kinda thought that would be the way to go... now ...

"Wanted .. one Campy triple to fit a '72 Holdsworth"

Thanks all.

I'd check e-buy, I see them there all the time.
Remember you need a new BB to use the triple.

Marty

This is my first post so be merciful please : > )

Ya. sometimes we get a little overexcited here...I am in the process of converting a late '70's Trek to triple. I haven't been able to get a Campy triple crank so I settled on a NOS Avocet - much cheaper and period correct (roughly). The problems that I have encountered:

1. You have to find the right length spindle for your bike, your bottom bracket, and your rear spacing. This can be a little burdensome. I'm fortunate to have an understanding LBS that let me try different axles until I hit on the right one (a Campy 68SS120 - X3 worked like a dream, just like it was made for it...).
2. Inner chainring bolt clearance can also be difficult. With a great chainline, the bolts just grazed the stay. I ended up finding bolts (at Home Depot!) with a thinner head.
3. The campy record front derailleur sweeps far enough from side to side for a quad, probably, but doesn't have the front to rear length to run the smaller sizes of front chainring. The chain hits the roller at the back of the derailleur if the inner ring is too small. You can shop for a smaller big ring (didn't want to spend the money), or use a larger rear ring. The gearing that I decided on - with a 52 front, and 24-13 in the rear - I can run a 31 tooth inner chainring.
4. I have a nuovo record long-cage in the rear, and the wrap with these gears is just enough to use all of the cogs on the small back ring (disclaimer: I try never to run big-big or small-small, but you know, sometimes it just happens...). The Rally rear is a far superior design, but this setup works just great for me.
5. I have campy friction bar end shifters with this setup. For the current gearing, all of the lever motion is used up. I think you'd get about the same cable wrap with campy down tube shifters. Expect this to be about the most finicky part of the setup.

You can get a Willow triplizer for a 144bcd at the same price as a chainring. The triplizer is essentially a chainring with tabs that come off the ring and allow you to bolt on a 74bcd granny ring. You might need a slightly longer spindle for a better chain line. I have used them and they work fine. The Rally rd should work fine. You can use this as a stopgap measure until you can find a campy triple.

Your 6-speed freewheel has either standard or narrow spacers between the cogs. If it has standard spacers, as the Regina on my 1980 Bianchi did, then you already have 126mm rear dropout spacing and can trivially upgrade to a 7-speed freewheel, as I did on my Bianchi. I simply added a grannie, going from 50-42/13-15-17-19-21-23 to 50-42/13-15-17-19-21-23-26. (Stock gearing was 52-42/13-15-17-19-21-23, but 50-42 gives me much smoother gear ratio development and a more-than-tall-enough 104" top gear.)