Bicycle Mechanics - Crankset Question

Greetings,

Would a double crankset from a 9 speed bike work on a bike equipped with a 6 speed freewheel?

I'm in the process of building a time trial bike. The frame is an 80's Nishiki and originally ran 6 speed freewheel. I'm trying to decide if I should either build it up with 6 speed stuff or have the dropouts widened to 130mm so I could upgrade the bike to 9 speed.

If I decide to keep the 6 speed freewheel would the cranks off of a 9 speed bike work?

Zack

Isn't an '80's bike a little have to timetrial with?

Would a double crankset from a 9 speed bike work on a bike equipped with a 6 speed freewheel?

Yes, it will work fine. If your frame is steel you can probably spread the rear wide enough to slide a new (130mm) wheel in.

I did all of this to my old "favorite" 1986 Spec. Allez Se. I have truly enjoyed having my Allez back.

All: Thanks for the replies.

Bikedud: Thanks for the info. I'll snag up the cranks before he decides to sell them to someone else :)

1OldRoadie: At this point the weight of the bike doesn't matter. Once I lose some weight, OK, alot of weight, then I'll start to worry about the weight of the frame.

Below is a picture of style of the frame. The frame I bought was pointed solid red.

Zack

Would there be any issues with the chain thickness. 9speed chains are very narrow. Have the rear cogs got any thinner in the move from 8 to 9 speed ?

Hey Zack...


The frame I bought was pointed solid red.

Did you do the white yourself?

Use a 9 speed chain. With regard to internal width there are really only 2 chain sizes - 1/8" which is strictly older single speeds and true track fixed gear and 3/32" which is the size for all multispeed bikes. The external widths are different with higher speed chains being narrower to accomodate the narrower cassette spacing. 9sp will work with anything though some have expressed concern that the narrower width might possibly have some affect on shifting because, for instance, the front der, which pushes on the outside of the chain, may not move quite as it should. I use all types of combinations with no apparent problem. If you decide to use friction shifters almost everything is irrelevant because you can just move the shifter as needed to achieve a shift while index shifters move the derailleur a specific distance.

Terry:

No, I haven't dont any painting on the frame. I just posted that picture so folks would have some idea what the frame I'm talking about looks like. What I want to do is have the frame painted like the American Flag. Blue with Starts up front with a fade to red and white stripes.

I've always wanted a bike like that so I might as well paint this one that way :)

Zack

Zack

Sounds good be sure to show us a pic when you get it done.

Rainman is right -- you can often mix and match components with impunity. In fact, a friend just replaced his daughter's Shimano SIS rear derailleur with the original SunTour VGT left over from my 1971 Nishiki, and even the 7-speed indexing works properly!