Bicycle Mechanics - STI upgrade success!

Lately, I've asked a few questions on this site about upgrading my '86 Shogun road bike to STI. Got different opinions and many helpful tips, but now everything is in place and I took it out for it's first test ride today. I gotta say, STI levers are the best invention since gears themselves! No more pausing to reach down to the drops to go for a shift! My hands stayed on the bars the whole time and every shift was a pleasure. Here's what I did:

Replaced down tube shifters with 8 speed 105 STI (ebay item).
Replaced 7 speed rear wheel with new Ultegra/Mavic Open Pro 8 speed cassette.
Replace non-index Shimano 600 rear Der. with new Ultegra.
All new cables
New SRAM Powerlinkchain.
Adjustments to everything.

Total cost-about $300.00

P.S. The old 600 der. would have worked, except for one thing-The geometry was such that the cage traveled farther per shift increment than a der. made for indexed shifting. It would jump two sprockets on some shifts.
Thanks for all the help!
Rich

Sounds good, what did you do for the front der.?

Originally posted by Coaster


P.S. The old 600 der. would have worked, except for one thing-The geometry was such that the cage traveled farther per shift increment than a der. made for indexed shifting. It would jump two sprockets on some shifts.
Thanks for all the help!
Rich Yep,derailer has to know how to dance to the right tune.But,why not 9 speed while you were at it?

The front der. worked fine with the STI.
Pokey, I knew I'd get asked that question, To make the story short, I bought the 8 speed shifters b/c I thought Shimano made an 8 speed freewheel. Thought I could keep my old wheel.
Of course, I could always sell the shifters on ebay and pick up a nine speed setup (and a new freewheel) but I'm a happy camper for now.
Rich

Coaster,
You can do fine with 8. The beauty of cassettes is that they are easy to pull apart and customize so you can make a combination that is exactly what you want. I would say you did pretty good for $300!
Regards,
Raymond

bought the 8 speed shifters b/c I thought Shimano made an 8 speed freewheel. Thought I could keep my old wheel.
Well, SRAM still makes 8-speed freewheels (go to http://www.bikeusa.com/MERCHANT2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=MSGI&Category_Code=FreewheelsSRAM )
If you want to go from a 7-cog to an 8-cog freewheel, you will probably need a longer axle, and will need to redish your your wheel, too.

Originally posted by D*Alex

Well, SRAM still makes 8-speed freewheels (go to http://www.bikeusa.com/MERCHANT2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=MSGI&Category_Code=FreewheelsSRAM )
If you want to go from a 7-cog to an 8-cog freewheel, you will probably need a longer axle, and will need to redish your your wheel, too. Yeah,but they are campy 8 speed spacing(5.0c-c),which is close enough to shimano 8 speed(4.8) that it MIGHT work with an 8 speed shimano drivetrain.But why bother with 8 speed freewheels and the increased potential for bent or broken axels.

campy and shimano spacing to not mesh together too well. I have worked on bikes with it, and well, the bikes didn't work to well.