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08-19-11, 10:39 AM
Hi Everyone,
I thought I'd share a recent project I did on my commuter.
I've been using downtube friction shifters on a 8 speed Freewheel but the shifting was annoying requiring constant trimming. On the lowest geat, the lever sits almost parallel to the ground which snags my shorts.
So I thought about upgrading to a pair of STIs or bar ends. I don't like bar ends and Brifters are $$ so I came up with a cheaper alternative. I decided to mount a pair of rapidfires on my drop bars.
People have tried unsucessfully because the clamp Dia (22.2 mm) of the shifters are too narrow to fit over drop bars (23.8 mm).
I used Shimano STX-RCMC38 Rapidfire because it has a removable and meaty clamp to work with. A few minutes of sanding on the drum sander and Voila!
I'm quite pleased with the results. She works perfectly on the SunRace Freewheel
Here's how it looks.
http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/zz160/badgerbadger1/ShimanoSTX-RCMC38RapidfireModded.jpg
http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/zz160/badgerbadger1/mtbshiftersondropbars1.jpg
http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/zz160/badgerbadger1/mtbshiftersondropbars2.jpg
http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/zz160/badgerbadger1/mtbshiftersondropbars3.jpg
http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/zz160/badgerbadger1/mtbshiftersondropbars4.jpg
I thought I'd share a recent project I did on my commuter.
I've been using downtube friction shifters on a 8 speed Freewheel but the shifting was annoying requiring constant trimming. On the lowest geat, the lever sits almost parallel to the ground which snags my shorts.
So I thought about upgrading to a pair of STIs or bar ends. I don't like bar ends and Brifters are $$ so I came up with a cheaper alternative. I decided to mount a pair of rapidfires on my drop bars.
People have tried unsucessfully because the clamp Dia (22.2 mm) of the shifters are too narrow to fit over drop bars (23.8 mm).
I used Shimano STX-RCMC38 Rapidfire because it has a removable and meaty clamp to work with. A few minutes of sanding on the drum sander and Voila!
I'm quite pleased with the results. She works perfectly on the SunRace Freewheel
Here's how it looks.
http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/zz160/badgerbadger1/ShimanoSTX-RCMC38RapidfireModded.jpg
http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/zz160/badgerbadger1/mtbshiftersondropbars1.jpg
http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/zz160/badgerbadger1/mtbshiftersondropbars2.jpg
http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/zz160/badgerbadger1/mtbshiftersondropbars3.jpg
http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/zz160/badgerbadger1/mtbshiftersondropbars4.jpg