Classic & Vintage - 83 Bridgestone for Hills?

I'm looking for advice on upgrading an 83 Bridgestone 400. A generous co-worker recently gave me this bike with the stipulation that I put the work into it to get it back into rideable condition - and ride it. It cleaned up pretty well despite spending the last 5 years sitting outside, but I'm thinking about replacing some of the components to make it a lighter weight replacement for my heavy mountain bike commuter setup. It will need to be comfortable to ride on a 35min commute involving about 1100' of climbing.

First, it has stem shifters which really bother me while I'm climbing; when standing out of the saddle my right knee often bumps the lever for the rear shifter, causing the bike to shift up to harder gears. Not cool. I have no experience with road bikes or friction shifting, but I know I should be able to find parts to move the levers to the downtube or to the end of the bars - any recomendation one way or the other?

Also, it has platform pedals without clips, so my feet have a tendency to slip of a lot. I haven't been able to remove the pedals yet (they're seized on tight), so I'm not sure if my clipless pedals have the right size threading to fit on this bike, but I intend to try them out soon. Otherwise, what thoughts do folks have on aesthetics and functionality for hillclimbing pedals on a bike like this?

Thanks! I'll put up some pictures soon.

You should be able to find clamp on shifters for the downtube. There are tons out there. Maybe put a request on the ISO/WTB thread. If you would prefer bar end shifters they are out there too but a little more expensive and in my opinion a little weird to use. Another option would be Kelly Take Offs which put the shifters near the brake hoods. Heck you could even mount some old "thumbies" from a mountain bike if you wanted (even though that would be weird). Your pedals should thread just fine once you get the old ones off or you might be able to get clips and straps for around $15 and use them as is. Just my 2 cents. I had a 400 once. It was a great little bike! I liked the color combo too. It was a silver/blue with silver lugs and the classic Bridgstone logo on the downtube. Snazzy! Have fun with it!

Kelly D.

man. you have a 3 minute commute with 1100 feet of climbing? You need to treat yousef to a majestic climbing machine, and consider yousef a blessed person. Dude, people would kill to have that trip every day...unless, maybe, when it is raining...

unh, you do go downhill on your way home, no?

Lets establish that it's a 35 minute commute (bout 5 miles with two dang big hills)... yes downhill on the way home, so maybe I could shoot for 3 minutes that way:D

Here's the bike as I received it:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2169/2072385699_7c6ef385af.jpg?v=0

And here it is in its current state; I'm not familiar with Kelly Take Offs... would they be friendly with these handlebars?
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2282/2072385823_59531de628.jpg?v=0

Nice job in bringing the BS back to life!

I don't believe the Kelly take-off shifters will not work because of the way you now have your brake levers mounted in the horizontal position. Kellys normally attach just below the lever band and sit to the inside of the hoods.

Barend or downtube shifters will be your next choices. To see which you might like, do some "pretend" shifting from both the downtube and the barends. One consideration is traffic. If you have a great deal, IMO, barends tend to be safer because you don't have to reach as far to shift and thus pay more attention to what drivers are doing.

Best of luck.

Bar end shifters are a good choice with the Moustache bars. Here is a set of 8 speed Ultegra's for $50 shipped:

http://cgi.ebay.com/FREE-SHIPPING-Shimano-Ultegra-8-Speed-Bar-End-Shifters_W0QQitemZ180186103735QQihZ008QQcategoryZ36140QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Just run them in the friction mode and they'll work nicely. You can often find NOS Suntours on E-bay for $20-30, at least you used to.

+1 to the Barends. Easiest fix for you. I put a pair of Suntours on my wife's bike; they're awesome.

So no problems with knees bumping the barends? The 'stache bars are pretty wide so I hope there is clearance, but I'll have to visualize it next time I ride.

Nice! I too have a Bridgestone 400, courtesy of a coworker (spent a whopping $100 on mine). Mine is an 86, with downtube shifters. Personally, I don't care for them, am considering bar ends.

Pedals should be no problem, I put a set of Crank Bro. Candy pedals on mine, works out well. I little antisieze on the threads should prevent them sticking to the cranks.

How do you like the mustache bars? I've thought about a set of them, just for something different.

Thom.

It seems to me that moustache bars are perfect for climbing: I grab the "drops" while standing out of the saddle and have a comfortable wrist position, good strength pushing against the pedals, and minimal breathing restriction.

I put on these bars partly because I'm used to flat bars on my mountain bike, but these give me way more hand positions plus the width for control like flat bars.

And they're different.

Another option would be Kelly Take Offs which put the shifters near the brake hoods.

I had never seen these before, but now I'm interested. I did a little searching online and found this sweet bike

http://homepage.mac.com/halaburt/bicycles/PhotoAlbum20.html

Complete with Take-Offs on a WTB mountain drop bar... not too far of the moustache bar! I'm torn now between trying these (if I can find them) or going with the barcons.