hokiefyd 

I've got a 24" junior MTB on which I want to spend the least amount possible to make it safe to ride so I can either sell or donate it. It has a good Sunrace 6-speed freewheel, a functioning Falcon rear derailleur that I've cleaned and lubed, a broken friction shifter, and I have a spare Shimano 7-speed Revoshift grip shifter from another project. I think I need to buy *something* to get all of this working.

Case A: if the Falcon derailleur is compatible with index shifting (this bike is a Magna built in 1998), then I could buy a cheap Shimano-compatible 6-speed shifter and install that. Approx price: $15.

Case B: if the Falcon derailleur is compatible with index shifting, could I replace the current 6-speed freewheel with a 7-speed freewheel? If so, I could replace the freewheel and install the 7-speed Revoshift shifter. Approx price: $15.

Case C: if the Falcon derailleur is not compatible with index shifting, then I'd need a $10 Tourney rear derailleur and either a 6-speed shifter (as in A above) or a 7-speed freewheel (as in B above). Approx price: $25.

I believe the most I could get out of this bike is about $30-40, so I'd like to keep cost to a minimum (I will also put a new chain on it when I do this).

I suppose there actually is a Case D: buy nothing, install the 7-speed shifter, and I guess I would set it up so that 7th speed on the shifter is the smallest (6th) cog on the freewheel, right? I'd rather not do this...I do want to make it look and work right.

I appreciate any guidance you all could provide.

AnkleWork

I'd go with D if it could be made to shift well. On a $40 (or donated) bike nobody will care about the mismatch -- just represent it as a six-speed.

Bill Kapaun

Replace the friction shifter with the same.
They're pretty cheap and you don't have to worry about indexing.

The main reason I say this is the Falcon RDER. I'm not sure if Falcon is compatible with Falcon from my bike flipping experience. IIRC, their "index shifting" was just a lot of clicks with some of them having numbers?

Another option is putting on a 7 speed FW.
It might require a bit of tweeking, depending on hub spacing etc. There's still the question of the Falcon RDER though. It MIGHT work, but I wouldn't bet anything it will work "adequately".

hokiefyd 

Thanks for pointing out that this is an option (having hated the friction-shifted world, I usually don't even think about it). Not only is it an option, I agree that it's the best one, given the uncertainty about the derailleur being compatible with an index shifter.

I do like Case D, but the OCD in me will be bothered by the mis-match in numbers. Plus, if I'm honest, I have to figure in the "cost" of essentially throwing the $10 Revoshift unit away on a bike I'm selling. If I'm going to lose $10, I'd rather it be on a friction shifter on this bike than on a better shifter I could use on another project.

70sSanO

D won't work, don't even consider it. The cog spacing on a 6 speed freewheel will not match the 7 speed shifter cable pull.

John

9volt 

Donate it without changing anything and save yourself the headaches.

hokiefyd 

My local bike shop had the same Sunrace friction shifter you see on the big online bookstore, but for even cheaper ($6). This was a good fix. I did end up spending more than I intended, but bought some tools at the same time (chain breaker, etc) so that stuff will stay with me. I put a new chain on this bike, the friction shifter (which works great with that old Falcon derailleur), new brake cables, and some foam grips. Freshly painted, the bike looks smart. The chromed steel wheels and uber-cheap chromed caliper brakes that it still has from the factory aren't impressive. If I were keeping the bike for our use, I'd fix it up some more. But I should get my money back out of it on the used market.

Thanks again for the suggestion of the friction shifter.