Road Cycling - 2 bikes, want 1 What should I do?

My brother gave me his old road bike. It is old, ~30yrs, but at the time, it was quite high end. (Shimano600 groupo). My bike is much newer (index shifting) but with with very low end components. I would like to use my bro's bike (it fits better), but I am afraid I have been spoiled for too many years of SIS and really do not wish to return to the world of FRICTION.

I was thinking about combining the two bikes into something suitable, but am not sure about a few things. Mostly, would it work to put the shifters from my bike (SIS) onto my bro's bike (FRICTION), or do I need to transplant more , such as deraileurs, and cogs? I really don't know that much about the workings of SIS.
:confused:
Another possibility is to transplant the whole groupo to my bro's bike, but with the difference in component quality......

Any ideas would be VERY much apreciated.

Craig
eclindholm@yahoo.ca

If your brothers bike has a different number of gears than yours you will need to swap most of the drivetrain except maybe the crank/chainrings. Try riding the older bike some first, you might not be annoyed by the friction/downtube shifters. They have the advantage of almost never being out of adjustment.

Each individual bike will different fitting problems. each one! Too many details to know exactly what will happen,I have combined some different drivetrains,BUT it's not usually cost effective,and I knew I was starting with something compatible.It may cost as much as a new low end road bike or it may be not too bad.Even the brake calipers that go with sti shifters are different because the sti leverage is diferent.The list is long.If it were me,after my experience in and out of a bike shop I would not bother,just try the old bike as it is.You can get indexing downtube shifters if the rest of the bike is compatible.That's a small change.Once you finish a conversion like that it has little resale value (probably less than the sum of the parts).Try getting a quote from a local bike shop,you really have to see the bikes to get even a good idea.They can see some of the things you will run into.How many speeds is the new bike? does it have the same number as the old bike? If not it's a huge project.Probably better to buy a new bike.

Why not keep both as they are? I'm sure your 30 yr old bike is a nice classic, so you might want to treat it as such. Besides riding your classic, you can even talk about it in classic forums such as one listed here or any others out there such as Classic Rendevoux.....is one that comes to mind.
I say do not alter your classic......nothin' wrong with having 2manybikes.....we all do......

Yesterday I was on my old Lotus for the first time this year and I had forgotten about the subtleties of friction shifting.

George has a good point. I could not have said it better.

George:
do I see a hint of a fixie junkie? 4 bikes minus one bike with a derailleur= three fixed ? Or what?

2manybikes...........yep, you're right. Having a blast with my one-geared bikes. It's been months since I last shifted a gear.

George: I understand.
It's hard to imagine how much you can love a bike like that.Untill you own one.
I was amazed.Everyone told me how good it would be for training of all kinds.
But two years later I'm still excited about it.Good stuff!